§ (15). Land development and redevelopment.

(a) Property acquisition.

To acquire, within the boundary lines of Baltimore City, land and property of every kind, and any right, interest, franchise, easement or privilege therein, including land or property and any right or interest therein already devoted to public use, by purchase, lease, gift, condemnation or any other legal means, for development or redevelopment, including but not limited to, the comprehensive renovation or rehabilitation thereof; provided, however that any land or property owned by the State of Maryland or the Housing Authority of Baltimore City shall not be acquired by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore without the prior consent of the State or the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, as the case may be;

(b) Development.

To develop or redevelop, including but not limited to, the comprehensive renovation or rehabilitation of, any and all land or property acquired by any of the methods hereinbefore mentioned;

To sell, lease, convey, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of said land or property, regardless of whether or not it has been developed, redeveloped, altered or improved and irrespective of the manner or means in or by which it may have been acquired, to the United States of America or the State of Maryland, or any department or agency thereof, or to any private, public or quasi-public corporation, partnership, association, person or other legal entity, for development or redevelopment, including but not limited to, the comprehensive renovation or rehabilitation thereof; any lease or rental agreement entered into based upon, or pursuant to, the power and authority contained in this subsection (15) or entered into in connection with any of the purposes or objects contemplated by said subsection is hereby declared to be exclusively for business or commercial purposes, and any lessee or tenant who is a party to any such lease or rental agreement, or any successor in interest or title, shall not have any right to redeem the rent, fee or charge reserved or to be paid by any such lessee or tenant, or any successor in interest or title, under the terms of any such lease or rental agreement, except to the extent and in the manner set forth in any such particular lease or rental agreement, if any such right is specifically and definitely granted therein;

(d) Preservation for public use.

To preserve for the United States of America, the State of Maryland or the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, or any departments or agencies thereof, any of said land or property, or any rights or interests therein, for public use, irrespective of the manner or means in or by which it may have been acquired;

(e) Grants and loans.

To petition for, and accept from, the United States of America, or the State of Maryland, or any department or agency thereof, or any other source, any loan, grant or aid of any character and, upon the sole approval of the Board of Estimates, make and execute any contract or other legal instrument with any of said parties, in connection with any and all of the purposes and objects mentioned in or contemplated by the provisions of this subsection (15); and, in order to enable the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore to obtain such financial assistance from the United States of America, or the State of Maryland, or any department or agency thereof, or any other source, as may be available from time to time, for assisting said municipality in carrying out the purposes and objects mentioned in or contemplated by the provisions of this subsection (15), in addition to its general and special powers, to borrow money to finance undertakings for the accomplishment of the purposes and objects mentioned in or contemplated by the provisions of this subsection (15) and in connection therewith to issue bonds, notes or other obligations (including refunding bonds, notes or other obligations), all of which shall be fully negotiable, payable, as to both principal and interest, solely from, and secured solely by a pledge of and lien upon either or both of the following (a) and (b):

(a) any or all of the income, receipts, proceeds, revenues, and funds derived from, or available or to be made available for, any undertakings for the accomplishment of the purposes and objects mentioned in or contemplated by the provisions of this subsection (15), including, but not limited to, the proceeds of grants or contributions from the United States of America, or the State of Maryland, or any department or agency thereof, or from any funds of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore that may be lawfully available therefor, or any other source, and compensation paid from appropriated funds by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore for land retained by it; and

(b) any contract or rights thereunder then existing between the United States of America, or any department or agency thereof, and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore with respect to any undertakings for the accomplishment of the purposes and objects mentioned in or contemplated by the provisions of this subsection (15).

Any and all of such bonds, notes or other obligations shall not be general obligations of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and shall not be a pledge of or involve the faith and credit or the taxing power of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and shall not pledge, convey or mortgage any real property of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, and shall not constitute a debt of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, all within the meaning of Section 7 of Article XI of the Constitution of Maryland or within the meaning of any other constitutional, statutory or charter provision limiting or restricting the sale or issuance of bonds, notes or other obligations of said municipality.

Any and all such bonds, notes or other obligations shall be issued by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore pursuant to an ordinance of said municipality without the necessity of submitting the question of such issuance to the legal voters of Baltimore City for approval or disapproval. Any such ordinance may prescribe, among other things, the form, terms, provisions, manner or method of issuing, and the time or times of issuance, and any and all other details of any such bonds, notes or other obligations, and vest in the Board of Estimates any or all of the power and authority which the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore has or may hereafter have in connection with the issuance of any of the notes, bonds, or other obligations authorized to be issued under the provisions of this paragraph (e);

(f) Contract restrictions.

To require the insertion of appropriate provisions in any legal instrument pertaining to the sale, lease, conveyance, transfer or other disposition of any of said land or property to any legal entity for any of the purposes and objects contemplated by this subsection (15), providing that such legal entity shall begin its operations within a predetermined reasonable period of time; that the standards of population density, property maintenance, type of land use and other standards established for the particular parcel of land or property involved shall be maintained, and that all covenants and restrictions contained in any such legal instrument shall be binding on any subsequent purchaser, lessee, transferee or any other successor in interest;

(g) Administration.

To vest jurisdiction or authority to exercise or perform all or any part of the aforegoing powers in any suitable board, commission, department, bureau or other agency of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore now in being or in any new board, commission, department, bureau or agency of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, which it is hereby empowered to create and establish for such purposes; and

(h) Conflicts of interest.

No officer, official or employee of any agency of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, which is vested with any power or authority to be exercised under the provisions of this subsection (15), shall become financially interested in any way in any land or property which may be acquired under any of the provisions of this subsection (15), and no such officer, official or employee shall be or become financially interested in any way in any legal entity, other than the United States of America, the State of Maryland or the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, who may undertake to develop or redevelop any land or property under or pursuant to the provisions of this subsection (15);

(i) Revenue bond financing.

(1) To borrow money and use the same for the public purpose of assisting the financing of development and redevelopment, including but not limited to, new construction or the comprehensive renovation or rehabilitation, of land or property located within the boundary lines of Baltimore City, to be used for residential housing purposes, including related commercial and community facilities, which financing may be effected through loans made directly or indirectly (including, in whole or in part, the purchase of mortgages, notes or other securities) to any public, quasi-public or private corporation, partnership, association, person or other legal entity, or through subsidizing rent or interest payments with respect to such development and redevelopment, and in connection therewith to issue bonds, notes or other obligations (including refunding bonds, notes or other obligations), all of which shall be fully negotiable, and payable, as to both principal and interest, solely from, and secured solely by, a pledge of and lien upon the revenues realized from or produced by the property, facilities, developments and improvements whose financing is undertaken by issuance of said bonds, notes or other obligations, and realized from or produced by existing facilities to which such new facilities and improvements are related, or upon mortgages, notes, or other securities which may be acquired for or in connection with such purpose with bond sale proceeds and pledged to debt service payments on such bonds.

(2) To enter into agreements with any legal entity or entities and to ordain any ordinance or ordinances that may be necessary or proper to exercise any and all of the power and authority vested in the municipality by this subparagraph (i). Any and all loans to be made pursuant to the provisions of this subparagraph (i) shall be subject to the prior approval of the Board of Estimates of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, and the terms and provisions of any agreement relative to any such loan shall be subject to the approval of the Board of Estimates and the City Solicitor of the municipality.

(3) Any and all of such bonds, notes or other obligations shall not be general obligations of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and shall not be a pledge of or involve the faith and credit or the taxing power of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and shall not constitute a debt of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, all within the meaning of Section 7 of Article XI of the Constitution of Maryland or within the meaning of any other constitutional, statutory or charter provision limiting or restricting the sale or issuance of bonds, notes or other obligations of said municipality.

The debt authorized by the provisions of this subparagraph (i), and the bonds, notes or other obligations issued and sold pursuant thereto and their transfer, and the principal and interest payable thereon (including any profit made in the sale thereof) shall be and remain exempt from any and all State, county and municipal taxation in the State of Maryland.

Any and all such bonds, notes or other obligations shall be issued by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore pursuant to an ordinance of said municipality without the necessity of submitting the question of such issuance to the legal voters of Baltimore City for approval or disapproval. Any such ordinance may prescribe, among other things, but not limited to, the form, terms, provisions, manner or method of issuing and selling (including negotiated as well as competitive bid sale), and the time or times of issuance, and any and all other details of any such bonds, notes or other obligations, and the issuance and sale thereof, and may authorize and empower the Commissioners of Finance {Board of Finance} by resolution to determine and set forth any and all of the things hereinabove mentioned, and to do any and all things necessary, proper or expedient in connection with the issuance and sale of such notes, bonds, or other obligations authorized to be issued under the provisions of this subparagraph.