1715 N. Broadway
Inspired by her background in child and family social work, Tanisha Everett designed the striking tangerine-hued home at 1715 N. Broadway hoping to spark children’s creativity with bright colors. Now, a young family rents the formerly vacant space, adding life to the block Everett eventually wants to restore to full occupancy.
Everett began rehabbing in Baltimore City to exercise her creative passion for home design. She says she also feels a kindred connection to the city as a survivor of childhood trauma. “I felt that Baltimore was like a mirror to my life,” says Everett. “If you walk through, on the surface you see vacants, you see trauma, you see destruction. But beneath it, there is value and opportunity, a canvas to build. When I zoom out, if people really knew my backstory, they may say, ‘How did this person make it?’ But underneath the surface, I had so much value, so many gifts, so much opportunity, so much creativity. So, it was a celestial connection that I felt with Baltimore City when I began to really walk the streets.”
"I knew I did not want it to be like every other building on the block."
1717 N. Broadway in Broadway East, on a block where nearly half the homes have Vacant Building Notices, was Everett’s first project. She renovated the space into a multifamily rental home for traveling health care professionals, the location offering a less than 10-minute drive to the Johns Hopkins Medical campus. After completing the rehab and leasing, Everett’s excitement for home renovation grew. From there, she decided she wanted to acquire the vacant house next door: 1715 N. Broadway. “I was skip tracing,” says Everett. “I was looking for the owner. I was sending emails, calls. I was really doing my due diligence to try to acquire the property.” But the owner lived out of state and Everett never reached them. Luckily, she subscribed to One House At A Time’s mailing list and one day saw the property listed for receivership auction. “My experience [with One House] was seamless,” says Everett, relating what happened after winning the bid and purchasing the property. “I think it outlined very clearly what the expectations were…That made the process of this renovation easier.”
That bit of ease was much needed as Everett faced several trials with the project going forward. While her first renovation seemed like a smooth introduction to the business, facing only standard challenges, she soon learned from her next attempt that not all rehab projects are alike. The primary issue she faced with 1715 N. Broadway was funding it. She exhausted every financial avenue in her search, from city incentive programs to local lenders to even asking relatives for assistance. “I had so many people tell me no because the cost superseded the value,” says Everett. Eventually, she connected with Baltimore Community Lending (BCL). “BCL was the only lender that took a chance on my second project, with fair terms, fees and rates,” says Everett in a testimonial included in BCL’s 2024 Annual Report. “Other lenders were unwilling to fund a scope that was over 100% of the acquisition, or willing to fund with poor terms.”
Permitting was also an issue for Everett and her team. The home had a Violation Notice & Order to Abate Lead Hazards which rendered them unable to obtain permits. After working with Baltimore City’s Health Department and following abatement procedures, the team applied for a building permit. But they then found that they also required several trade inspections and approvals from the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to remove the notice and issue permits. DHCD was transitioning to their new permitting system at the time, which Everett says added to the delay to move forward. To top off those challenges, the property also experienced a break-in and copper wire theft. “Not to mention, I had a full-time job at the time as a social worker, while also managing the 1717 property, while I’m a mommy and a wife. So, it was a lot.”
"The environment matters when children are walking past buildings that have broken windows."
While it was a struggle to get there, the finished, three-story 1715 N. Broadway is a dazzling shock of neon color on the block. Everett says she took great care with the design, which was a fulfilling creative feat. “I knew I did not want it to be like every other building on the block,” she says. “I wanted it to be unique. Like in Italy, they have all these different colored row houses. That was my frame of thinking. I wanted it to be vibrant.” Along with Italian architecture, Everett found inspiration in the imaginations of children. “I thought about when children walk past a building, when they’re in their community, what will trigger them to want to do something creative and what will help them grow. I’ve dedicated my entire career to families and children, and I’ve been in neighborhoods that are rough and tough. The environment matters when children are walking past buildings that have broken windows.”
The interior design of the four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom home is equally dazzling. It includes a spiral staircase, high ceilings, vinyl flooring, an open-concept gourmet kitchen, an en-suite bathroom, walk-in closets, an outdoor deck, and three ornate chandeliers throughout the house—two of which function as hybrid chandelier/ceiling fans. Though much of the 1700 block of N. Broadway is still in rough shape, Everett stresses the importance of not only rebuilding the block, but also creating aesthetically pleasing, quality living spaces. “People deserve that,” she says. “I’m putting my time and effort, my everything into all of it.” Everett hopes to one day move her development operations to full-time and eventually acquire and renovate the other vacant properties on the block. She says she wants to see the entire block back in productive use.
"You could just tell they are basking in the space, and that was the goal."
Once finished the 1715 N. Broadway project, Everett says she didn’t immediately get to enjoy the accomplishment because she was still in “hustle mode,” worrying about any loose ends that needed fixing. The rehab cost too much money to additionally furnish the home for short-term renters like she did with the 1717 property. So, she intended to sell 1715, which was a struggle since the area’s market comps weren’t compatible with the value of the renovation. She also didn’t get many bites when she switched gears and sought out renters. But eventually, her real estate agent found a family to rent the space.
Everett saw her vision for creating an inspiring family environment realized when conducting a quarterly walkthrough of the property after the new renters moved in. “I became emotional when I saw children relaxing [in the home],” says Everett. “I saw a mother taking her time to decorate. That really made me tear up. The children have bunk beds. You could just tell they are basking in the space, and that was the goal…I once went to a Beyoncé concert, and she was looking around, taking in the crowd, and she was like, ‘This is my dream. All of you are in my dream.’ That’s what it felt like when I did my quarterly.” She says the happy renters eventually intend to purchase the home.
