The highly anticipated Baltimore Food Hub, designed to spur new food enterprises in a blighted 3.5-acre swath of East Baltimore, is slated to begin construction in the spring.

Demolition of the building on the site that will house a 15k SF kitchen incubator began late last year and the plan is to reuse the materials, says American Communities Trust project manager Christina Moore. Construction should begin in the spring and open by the end of the year, Christina says. ACT and Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition are overseeing the Baltimore Food Hub development.

Humanim’s social enterprise City Seeds will operate the incubator with the goal of creating culinary jobs and helping food entrepreneurs get their goods in restaurants, universities and hospitals. City Seeds is currently renting a kitchen in East Baltimore and has its first contract with Bon Appetit Management Co to produce a grab-and-go line for Johns Hopkins University.

Three historic buildings on East Oliver Street will be turned into offices, flex space and food truck parking in 2018. The site will also include food trucks, an urban farm and, possibly, a farmers market.