Baltimore theater-makers are leading a construction boom. In January 2013, the Everyman Theatre – one of the city’s few Equity houses – moved from its longtime space (a former bowling alley turned black box) to a beautifully refurbished building downtown. One year later, Single Carrot Theatre completed the renovations that transformed a tire shop in Remington into a brand-new theater of its own. This past September was the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s turn, as the classical troupe – previously based in Howard County – opened its new home just north of the Inner Harbor.

Yet the most exciting and transformative groundbreaking might still be to come. Earlier this year, a collective of companies from Baltimore’s vibrant DIY arts scene submitted an RFP to purchase three abandoned properties in the 400 block of North Howard Street. Decades ago, Howard Street was home to several of the city’s most storied theaters, but today these buildings are crumbling; to many Baltimoreans, the Howard Street corridor is best known as the place where the light rail slows to a crawl as it trundles between the University of Baltimore and the Convention Center.

The members of the as-yet-unnamed collective – for now they call themselves the Howard Street Incubator – plan to transform these old storefronts into a trio of performance spaces supporting half-a-dozen companies, plus an assortment of offices; community, rehearsal, and storage rooms; and a café. When fully operational, the enterprise could provide as many as 50 jobs for local artists and administrators.

“We hope to be a driving example for the creation of more artist ownership in the city – one that actively engages a community long-term rather than simply serves as an interim solution for economic development in a given neighborhood,” says Carly Bales, artistic director for EMP Collective. Along with the Baltimore Annex Theater and Psychic Readings, EMP Collective would act as a “parent company,” running the spaces and deciding on programming. Several other companies would join the venture as residents. These include the Acme Corporation, which currently produces shows in a Baltimore church, and StillPointe Theatre Initiative, which recently staged Sweeney Todd on a warehouse loading dock. Bales also intends for the Incubator to host a dance company.

“The companies involved all have their own distinct styles,” says Ryan Haase, artistic director for StillPointe. “It can be this amazing bubble of weirdoes doing really cool theater.” Bales agrees: “We can appreciate each other’s work without having to compete for audiences.”

Whatever the group ends up calling itself, the idea of incubation is crucial to its vision for the future. Lack of affordable, reliable space – both to rehearse and perform in – is perhaps the biggest obstacle to the growth and long-term health of Baltimore’s many theater companies, young and old. An unsettling number of losses has countered the gains noted above: this past year the Strand Theater Company, the Mobtown Players, and the Baltimore Rock Opera Society lost their established homes. The Howard Street project would give countless artists “the ability to take risks and succeed or fail with the cushion of a space to support them,” says Bales.

In July the Incubator got good news: The Baltimore Development Corporation approved its RFP, and the group is eligible to apply for tax credits that will help to offset the cost of buying, renovating, and rebuilding the three properties. To operate debt free, the Incubator will need to contribute approximately $3.8 million, which means that much of the upcoming year will be devoted to fundraising. If all goes according to plan, the venues will open in 2016. For Baltimore’s theater-makers, that day can’t arrive soon enough.

benglar@dramatistsguild.com