Latest news with #Banneker
Business Journals
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Banneker Ventures Expands Its Impact as a Regional Leader in Real Estate Development
Silver Spring, MD – Since its founding in 2005, Banneker Ventures has emerged as one of the Mid-Atlantic's most dynamic and purpose-driven real estate development and construction firms. Banneker is a fully integrated enterprise offering a seamless blend of real estate development, general contracting, construction management, and facilities operations. Banneker is redefining what it means to build vibrant, inclusive communities. The firm's portfolio showcases an impressive range of urban infill housing, mixed-use projects, civic buildings, and public-private partnerships that have helped transform the built environment across the Washington, D.C. region. From high-impact renovations of federal buildings to neighborhood-defining affordable housing developments, Banneker has earned a reputation for execution, innovation, and community-centered results. A signature milestone in Banneker's journey came in 2024 with the completion of The Clara on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave, a landmark project named after Clara Muhammad, in the heart of Washington's historic Anacostia neighborhood. The Clara features 81 units of beautiful affordable housing and 11,000 square feet of commercial space. The firm's forward momentum continues into 2025 and beyond, with a pipeline of real estate projects exceeding $1 billion, including over $300 million set to break ground this year. Upcoming developments will feature mixed-use, affordable housing, and community spaces across D.C. and Maryland. These projects are not only ambitious in scale—they are also deeply aligned with Banneker's commitment to equitable development and urban revitalization. To help steward this growth, Banneker recently named Eric D. Jenkins as Chief Operating Officer. A veteran of real estate and public-private partnerships, Jenkins brings two decades of experience and a strategic lens to scaling Banneker's operations. 'With Eric's leadership, we're elevating our capacity to drive transformative projects that meet the moment for the communities we serve,' said Omar, Banneker's CEO. At the core of Banneker's success is its vertically integrated model, allowing the firm to manage the entire development lifecycle in-house—from concept and financing to construction and long-term asset management. This structure delivers a rare combination of quality control, speed, and adaptability, giving Banneker a competitive edge in fast-moving urban markets. It also ensures alignment between vision and execution—a critical factor when working with public agencies, nonprofits, and private partners with high-stakes goals. Yet what sets Banneker apart most is its mission-driven ethos. The company is not just building structures—it's building futures. Through its nonprofit arm, The Banneker Foundation, the firm has invested over $4,000,000 in youth programming, STEM education, and community service initiatives. With bold projects on the horizon and a leadership team rooted in both excellence and empathy, Banneker Ventures is poised to shape the future of urban development in the Mid-Atlantic—and do so in a way that truly uplifts the communities at its heart.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Benjamin Banneker's legacy, contributions to Black history live on in Baltimore County
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore County native Benjamin Banneker's contributions to Black history are stories of resilience, activism, and ingenuity. Banneker was born on a farm in 1731 in Oella, Maryland. Near the heart of Catonsville, in Baltimore County, are the keys to an impressive legacy at the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum. "Mr. Banneker, you see his name pop up on different types of buildings, schools, library buildings, etcetera, like this one," said Nicholas Anderson, with the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park & Museum. "It's actually because he's pretty significant in the foundation of the United States of America." Who is Benjamin Banneker? The "Banneka" family settled on the land in Oella which historians described as a wild area, yet untapped by the young nation's westward expansion. "Like even as they called it Baltimore town in 1756ish, were really worried about invasion from the French and the Indigenous allies, so this area would have been largely unsettled and going under periods of cultivation where individuals are coming in and clearing the land planting tobacco," Anderson said. Historians said Banneker was self-taught, a multi-racial person, whose paternal grandmother was a white British woman who came to America as an indentured servant. Raised by his parents who were freed slaves, Banneker taught himself math and science, and he was obsessed with astronomy and studying the stars in the sky, thanks to a neighbor down the Patapsco River named George Ellicott, one of three Quaker brothers from Pennsylvania who settled nearby, creating Ellicott Mills, which is now Ellicott City. "He was innately gifted, and I believe his interest, George Ellicott, introduced him to astronomy, and so he actually creates almanacs charting the stars," said Dr. Ida Jones, an archivist and historian at Morgan State University. "This is the 1700s where he's doing this with very little technology in terms of the telescope and the fancy gadgets that you eventually have by the mid-19th century." "It's a transformative moment for him because he gets to see some modern technology," Anderson added. "He has access to the mill store but he also gains a friend in George Ellicott. With him being several years younger than Mr. Banneker is actually a standard of how much Mr. Banneker knows, as a self-taught mathematician and that kind of opens up his world." Banneker died in 1806 at the age of 74. Brains behind the boundaries of Washington, D.C. From accurately charting eclipses over the Indian Ocean and London to creating the first known wooden clock in America from scratch, Banneker was a man of many talents, which also included farming and surveying. In 1791, Thomas Jefferson hired George Ellicott's brother – Andrew Ellicott – to survey 100 square miles of land that would become a federal square that we know now as Washington, D.C. Banneker was hired as an assistant surveyor, capitalizing on his brilliance in astronomy to calculate and establish the southwestern parts of our nation's capital. Today, the southwest boundary stone sits in the middle of a Falls Church, Virginia, neighborhood at Benjamin Banneker Park, as a national historic landmark. "So you have Silver Spring, Maryland, Falls Church, Alexandria and Seat Pleasant down here," Anderson said. "This territory is kind of swampy, it's an area where there is tidal run-off so you can see what he's working in, and they were hoping that Mr. Benjamin Banneker contributed to turning this big chunk of wilderness into an area where legislation is eventually going to be passed, where people can come and have discourse." "And he had a photographic memory to remember L'Enfant's plans as well, so had he not remembered those plans, who knows what Washington D.C. would have looked like in terms of its configuration." Civil rights activism Banneker was also known for his almanacs which would be dispersed around the nation and eventually overseas with help from the likes of Thomas Jefferson. Not to be lost in Banneker's brilliance was his activism for civil rights and those still in chains by way of slavery. Banneker wrote a 14-page letter to Jefferson on the attributes of his giftedness. "And that this one drop of white blood did not make any smarter or less smarter than those enslaved Africans," Jones said. "This is an individual who has proved that these people are intelligent, not less than," Anderson added. Banneker and the African American diaspora was always so much more than the boxes America placed them in. Generations later, on that same farm in Oella, his legacy lives on to inspire and contribute to the rich tapestry that is Black history and American history. Trump, Musk take questions at White House Flu deaths outpace COVID deaths in 22 states for first time since pandemic began Trump could meet Putin in Saudi Arabia; Federal worker buyouts resume
CBS News
12-02-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Benjamin Banneker's legacy, contributions to Black history live on in Baltimore County
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore County native Benjamin Banneker's contributions to Black history are stories of resilience, activism, and ingenuity. Banneker was born on a farm in 1731 in Oella, Maryland. Near the heart of Catonsville, in Baltimore County, are the keys to an impressive legacy at the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum. "Mr. Banneker, you see his name pop up on different types of buildings, schools, library buildings, etcetera, like this one," said Nicholas Anderson, with the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park & Museum. "It's actually because he's pretty significant in the foundation of the United States of America." Who is Benjamin Banneker? The "Banneka" family settled on the land in Oella which historians described as a wild area, yet untapped by the young nation's westward expansion. "Like even as they called it Baltimore town in 1756ish, were really worried about invasion from the French and the Indigenous allies, so this area would have been largely unsettled and going under periods of cultivation where individuals are coming in and clearing the land planting tobacco," Anderson said. Historians said Banneker was self-taught, a multi-racial person, whose paternal grandmother was a white British woman who came to America as an indentured servant. Raised by his parents who were freed slaves, Banneker taught himself math and science, and he was obsessed with astronomy and studying the stars in the sky, thanks to a neighbor down the Patapsco River named George Ellicott, one of three Quaker brothers from Pennsylvania who settled nearby, creating Ellicott Mills, which is now Ellicott City. "He was innately gifted, and I believe his interest, George Ellicott, introduced him to astronomy, and so he actually creates almanacs charting the stars," said Dr. Ida Jones, an archivist and historian at Morgan State University. "This is the 1700s where he's doing this with very little technology in terms of the telescope and the fancy gadgets that you eventually have by the mid-19th century." "It's a transformative moment for him because he gets to see some modern technology," Anderson added. "He has access to the mill store but he also gains a friend in George Ellicott. With him being several years younger than Mr. Banneker is actually a standard of how much Mr. Banneker knows, as a self-taught mathematician and that kind of opens up his world." Banneker died in 1806 at the age of 74. Brains behind the boundaries of Washington, D.C. From accurately charting eclipses over the Indian Ocean and London to creating the first known wooden clock in America from scratch, Banneker was a man of many talents, which also included farming and surveying. In 1791, Thomas Jefferson hired George Ellicott's brother – Andrew Ellicott – to survey 100 square miles of land that would become a federal square that we know now as Washington, D.C. Banneker was hired as an assistant surveyor, capitalizing on his brilliance in astronomy to calculate and establish the southwestern parts of our nation's capital. Today, the southwest boundary stone sits in the middle of a Falls Church, Virginia, neighborhood at Benjamin Banneker Park, as a national historic landmark. "So you have Silver Spring, Maryland, Falls Church, Alexandria and Seat Pleasant down here," Anderson said. "This territory is kind of swampy, it's an area where there is tidal run-off so you can see what he's working in, and they were hoping that Mr. Benjamin Banneker contributed to turning this big chunk of wilderness into an area where legislation is eventually going to be passed, where people can come and have discourse." "And he had a photographic memory to remember L'Enfant's plans as well, so had he not remembered those plans, who knows what Washington D.C. would have looked like in terms of its configuration." Civil rights activism Banneker was also known for his almanacs which would be dispersed around the nation and eventually overseas with help from the likes of Thomas Jefferson. Not to be lost in Banneker's brilliance was his activism for civil rights and those still in chains by way of slavery. Banneker wrote a 14-page letter to Jefferson on the attributes of his giftedness. "And that this one drop of white blood did not make any smarter or less smarter than those enslaved Africans," Jones said. "This is an individual who has proved that these people are intelligent, not less than," Anderson added. Banneker and the African American diaspora was always so much more than the boxes America placed them in. Generations later, on that same farm in Oella, his legacy lives on to inspire and contribute to the rich tapestry that is Black history and American history.
