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In celebrating a project that achieves several goals, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) joined representatives from Enterprise Community Partners of Columbia, SunTrust Bank and other business and community partners in the opening Monday of Miller's Court, a $22 million affordable homes project in Baltimore.

Miller's Court is a 77,000-square-foot, mixed-use apartment building with 40 units intended for teachers, with office space with reduced rent for Teach for America and other educational nonprofits serving Baltimore city public schools.

In addition, Miller's Court is a brownfield reclamation development seeking gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program for environmentally sustainable design and development.

The building will now, according to information from Enterprise, serve as a catalyst for additional development in the mostly residential Charles Village neighborhood in Baltimore, near the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Built a century ago as the H.F. Miller and Sons tin box manufacturing company, Miller's Court recently underwent the $21.9 million renovation with financing from a $9.4 million New Markets Tax Credit allocation from Enterprise Community Investment and $9.5 million from SunTrust Community Capital, according to information from Enterprise Community Partners.

Additional financing was provided by federal and state historic tax credit equity and loans from the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore. U.S. Bancorp's Community Development Corp., SunTrust Community Capital and Seawall Development Co. also participated in financing the project.

"Enterprise is a leader in creating green affordable housing and Miller's Court is a wonderful example of how our New Markets Tax Credit allocations are being used to bring sustainable workforce housing, mixed-use development and community services to America's cities," said Charles R. Werhane, president and CEO of Enterprise Community Investment, in a statement.

"We are proud to partner with the state of Maryland, city of Baltimore and Seawall Development to bring together the financial resources and technical expertise to create homes for teachers and a hub for educational nonprofits serving local students and their families."

"It is an honor to be here today to unveil this beautiful building, which will provide valuable office space and affordable housing for teachers," O'Malley said.

Teach for America, a national organization that recruits, trains and supports college graduates to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools, was "instrumental in the conception of the project," according to Enterprise information, and will lease office space in the new building, which had been abandoned for more than a decade.

In May, Enterprise, a national nonprofit that provides capital and expertise for affordable housing and community development, through its subsidiary ESIC New Markets Partners, received $95 million in New Markets Tax Credit authority from the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.

According to Treasury information, almost $12 billion in private-sector capital has been invested through the tax credit program in urban and rural communities nationwide to develop or rehabilitate more than 68 million square feet of real estate, create 210,000 construction jobs and create or maintain 45,000 full-time equivalent jobs at businesses in low-income communities.