In Town of the Big House, a new five-part podcast series hosted by WYPR, local documentary producer Richard Yeagley embeds with an unknown Virginia real estate developer named Kahan Dhillon, who seemingly arrived out of nowhere in Baltimore in 2016, proposing a massive $10 billion citywide development plan.

Dhillon’s pitch to the city, which he dubbed “The Baltimore Renaissance,” earned him interviews and headlines from much of the local media—including WBAL, The Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Business Journal, as well as WYPR. He claimed personal and private investment commitments of $200 million for the effort and garnered meetings with numerous community leaders and local officials, including City Council President Jack Young, former Mayor Sheila Dixon, and William Cole, president and CEO of the Baltimore Development Corp. (Young even sent out an email introducing Dhillon to his fellow council members.)

City Councilman John Bullock eventually invited Dhillon—founder of a small Alexandria, Virginia, real estate company—to air his plan at a council hearing in July 2017, which is where everything kind of fell apart.

It all sounded too vague, not to mention too good to be true, to a couple of council members—especially when Dhillon said he was seeking $3.5 million in planning fees to launch his project. In particular, Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer and Eric Costello questioned the seriousness and real-world clout behind Dhillon’s thin initiative. “The Baltimore Renaissance” plan basically died on the spot, although Dhillon has remained on the periphery of city politics and community activism.

In Town of the Big House, Yeagley, who spent 18 months tracking Dhillon as he promoted his project, raises the specter that the would-be developer was, at least initially, part of a Baltimore-based political corruption investigation by the FBI. “That’s my working theory,” he told Baltimore magazine. Specifically, Yeagley tries to connect the timeline of Dhillon’s early efforts with the timeline of the FBI investigation into former state Sen. Nathaniel Oaks. In January of 2017, six months before Dhillon’s formal pitch to the City Council, Oaks confessed to the FBI that he had accepted payments from an informant posing as an out-of-town developer. Ultimately, Yeagley posits—albeit without definitive evidence—Dhillon just ran with the project after the FBI was forced to end their investigation.

According to the FBI, “as a result of Oaks’ deliberate and intentional conduct in tipping off” another political target of their investigation, their covert investigation into that politician, and “possibly other politicians” was no longer viable.

The podcast doesn’t provide any answers to the basic questions it raises and certainly does not claim any criminal wrongdoing by Dhillon. But it is a compelling recount of a strange saga, and a revealing look behind-the-scenes at Baltimore politics and the outsized role developers play in shaping the city.

It is also a tale of a city desperate for big change and susceptible to big promises.

Responding by email, Dhillon defended his integrity and said of series: “The podcast simply put is full of false commentary, innuendos and alternative facts.” He also sent a link to an audio clip put together by a supporter than does not address the fundamental issues raised in Town of the Big House, but disparages Yeagley’s purpose and character.

We suggest you check the podcast, it’s a fun and compelling listen, do some further research if you wish, and decide for yourself what it all means.

In recent years, the popularity of Airbnb-style rentals has surged in Baltimore—especially in places like Fells Point, Canton, and Federal Hill due to their waterfront amenities. Since the emergence of these temporary rental properties, some residents and hotel chains have had varying issues with the influx of traffic to the neighborhoods. Residents have complained about increases in vandalism, crime, and noise, while hotels complain that the renters are getting away with paying less in taxes for the same amenities.

Councilman Eric Costello of the city’s 11th district heard those complaints and decided to take action by proposing a bill that would require hosts of those properties to register with the city and impose a 9.5-percent hotel tax on all stays. The ban also would prevent hosts from renting other properties besides their primary homes. The bill passed on Thursday night.

“It gives the city a swift and decisive mechanism to revoke problem operators licenses,” Costello said in a statement. “Number two, it captures the hotel tax which the city was missing out on. Number three, it prevents neighborhoods from becoming overly transient.”

In addition, Costello introduced an amendment to the bill earlier this week that would make sure that residents from outside the city can take advantage of the grandfather clause that allows existing hosts to rent their primary properties plus on additional property.

Local Airbnb “superhost” Natalia Cruz, who frequently hosts guests at her Inner Harbor apartment, has no problem with the bill saying it’s a fair move that will help grow the city’s economy.

“The majority of my guests are business travelers who coming to Baltimore for conventions and corporate work,” she explains. “Part of these taxes will go to Visit Baltimore that brings most of the conventions to the city. So why should I be opposed to it? As much as I want to keep more money to myself, I like to be fair. As an Airbnb host, I am taking a fair share from other hotels who pay taxes and other fees. If they start closing, it would be good for Airbnb hosts, but what about the city?”

Baltimore is not the first city to impose these types of rules and taxes on short-term rentals. As companies like Airbnb and HomeAway gain popularity, cities across the country have begun levying taxes on these properties. Montgomery County currently charges 7 percent of the listing price including any cleaning fee and guest fee for reservations 30 nights and shorter.

Beginning in 2019, Seattle will begin collecting taxes of $14 per night for short-term home rentals and $8 for short-term room rentals. The money collected from the tax will support community-initiated development projects and creating affordable housing. Hosts are also required to obtain a special license and can only operate on rental at a time.

Similarly, two years ago, Airbnb guests in Loveland, Colorado began paying the city’s 3-percent lodging tax as part of a direct partnership between Airbnb and the city.

In Baltimore, the 9.5-percent hotel tax will be effective at the end of 2018 and is forecasted to raise nearly $1 million per year. The other restrictions—including renting one property at a time—will take effect at the end of 2019.

Last night, Mayor Catherine Pugh, City Council president Bernard C. “Jack” Young, interim police commissioner Gary Tuggle, City Councilman Eric Costello, and dozens of South Baltimore residents packed the gazebo at Riverside Park for a community meeting to address gun violence in the city.

During a subsequent Safety Walk down Riverside Avenue toward Digital Harbor High School, residents stopped to take a moment of silence for all of the city’s homicide victims this year. Among them was Timothy Moriconi, a 25-year-old who was fatally shot while walking home from a relative’s house in Riverside around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 27.

The tragedy, which Baltimore City Police Department chief spokesperson T.J. Smith called “a deplorable act of violence,” is part of a recent spike in homicides throughout the city, which has seen more than 200 this year.

In the wake of the shooting, the Federal Hill community has bonded to memorialize Moriconi’s life with candlelight vigils, while also pushing for a higher police presence in the neighborhood.

“A lot of people’s emotions are shifting toward frustration and anger,” says Brian Acquavella, a Federal Hill resident, who owns Blue Agave and One Star Country Club in the neighborhood. “We feel very hopeless. How do you prevent something like this happening at 7:30 on a Thursday evening on a highly populated street? We can’t prevent anything. This is up to our leadership in Baltimore.”

On Tuesday, October 2, Acquavella and the team at One Star are hosting a fundraiser from 4 p.m. to close, donating 100 percent of all food and drink proceeds to the family of Moriconi, who was a regular at the bar.

“He was a great customer and became friends with a lot of the staff,” Acquavella says. “When you see someone a couple days a week, it’s hard to not become friends with them.”

In an attempt to raise as much money as possible, the bar will not be offering any particular food or drink specials.

“It’s not about us,” Acquavella says. “We’re not keeping any of this money or trying to drive business, we’re just trying to make as much as we can for that family. We’re going to open our doors like normal and hopefully we can bring a lot of people in.”

Bartenders have even pledged to donate their tips to the family, and some staff members are coming in on their day off to assist with the crowds. Acquavella says that his team is an example of the resilience of the Federal Hill neighborhood, which has been known to come together in the wake of tragedy.

“That is a shining light in all of this,” he says. “South Baltimore is never going to be a place where everyone gets along and has the same views 100 percent of the time. But when tragedy does happen, this is definitely a neighborhood that will do anything for anybody when needed. That’s what I love about it here.”