(BALTIMORE – November 3, 2023) – In celebration of its 21st Anniversary, BMORENews has partnered with STEMCITYUSA to present a “Welcome Back to Baltimore” Reception for BEYA.org, featuring the Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards. The event is scheduled for Saturday, December 9, 2023, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Baltimore Unity Hall, situated at 1505 Eutaw Place, Baltimore, MD 21217. The keynote speaker for this momentous occasion is Attorney Billy Murphy, Jr.
To attend this special event, RSVP at BlackWallStreetREUNION.eventbrite.com.
This collaborative effort between BMORENews.com and STEMCITYUSA.com, on behalf of the Official Committee Reception, serves a twofold purpose: 1) to extend a warm welcome to the Black Engineer of the Year Awards in their return to Baltimore, and 2) to commemorate and support BMORENews.com’s 21st Anniversary.
Receiving a LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD is none other than Dan Henson.
Who is Mr. Henson?
Daniel P Henson, III is President of The Henson Development Company, Inc., (THC) a Baltimore-based real estate developer of affordable housing and communities of choice. Immediately prior to founding THC, from 1993 until December 1999, he held the dual positions of Commissioner of Housing and Community Development and Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. During that period, he developed and implemented a $400 Million plan to redevelop Baltimore’s most distressed public housing. The successful plan allowed Baltimore to demolish all of its decrepit family high-rise projects and to rebuild mixed-income housing on the former sites of Lafayette Courts, Lexington Terrace, Murphy Homes, Flag House Courts, and Broadway Homes.
Just before his work with the City of Baltimore, Dan had been a successful developer in that city, specializing in the adaptive reuse of older properties and workforce housing, both rental and homeownership.
Since returning to the private sector, Henson led teams that produced affordable and mixed-income housing. He has most recently worked on redeveloping sites in Northwest Washington as mixed-income housing: Golden Rule Apartments, The Severna and The Severna at K. He also redeveloped a historic police station into mixed-income housing and retail at Fells Point Station in Baltimore. THC recently completed 1405 Point Street (289 luxury apartments at Harbor Point in Baltimore), Plaza West (233 apartments, including 50 designated for grand families in Washington, D.C.), The Belnor Senior Residences, and the Suitland Town Center Senior Residences in Prince Georges County and Mt. Jezreel Senior Residences (75 apartments for 62 and over in Montgomery County).
His team is leading the $1 Billion redevelopment of the Perkins/Somerset/Oldtown Choice Neighborhood Plan in Baltimore and a 17.5-acre parcel in Central Park Heights.
During the administration of President Jimmy Carter, Dan served as the Regional Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and as the National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) in the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Continuing his support for minority-owned businesses he worked at the Greater Baltimore Committee where he created and chaired the Development Credit Fund and wrote the legislation for the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority. He also co-hosted a weekly talk show on TV called “City Line”.
Dan is a Chair Emeritus of the Board of Overseers of the Baltimore School for the Arts, a Board Member of the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training (McVet), and a Board Member of the Waterfront Partnership and the Levindale Geriatric Center. He has also taught at the University of Maryland College Park, School of Architecture. He previously served on the HUD-appointed Board of Commissioners for the Housing Authority of New Orleans. Dan is a graduate of Morgan State University with a degree in history. Morgan provided the platform for a diverse career that started Dan as a social studies teacher in the Baltimore City Public Schools. He is a member of the 1964 First Line of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., and is a Life Member and an active member of the Gamma Omicron Omega Alumni Chapter.
Dan lives in Baltimore and is the husband of Del and father of Darren, a construction supervisor and Dana who is a vice president of The Henson Development Company.