Second phase of $1 billion housing development begins in East Baltimore

Wearing brown leather shoes, a blue plaid suit and a white hard hat, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott climbed into the cab of the excavator, pushed and pulled on the levers, and — under the supervision of a trained operator — began to demolish the final vacant building in what was once a block full of public housing units. The made-for-TV moment capped off a groundbreaking Wednesday afternoon for the second phase of one of the city’s most ambitious housing developments.