LIVE. WORK. CREATE.

Phoenix International is proud to lead Live. Work. Create. — a cross-organization, cross-agency initiative to develop a mixed-income workforce housing and cultural center in Charles County, Maryland.

Charles County is growing, but housing affordability is an urgent challenge. Median home prices exceed $460,000 and two-bedroom rents surpass $2,300, making it increasingly difficult for teachers, first responders, service employees, and working artists to live in the communities they serve. At the same time, the region lacks dedicated cultural infrastructure — the kind of space where the arts can anchor economic development, tourism, and quality of life.

Live. Work. Create. brings these two needs together in a single, transformative project: approximately 150 mixed-income housing units paired with a regional arts and cultural destination that supports Southern Maryland's creative economy (think: The Artists Flats and Toby’s Dinner Theater in Columbia, MD). The cultural center will serve as a hub for performance, exhibition, creative enterprise, and community gathering — a permanent home for the kind of work Phoenix International and the The Arts District SOMD have been building for years.

This initiative is backed by the Charles County Board of Commissioners President Reuben Collins and is the subject of a $1,000,000 FY27 Congressionally Directed Spending request to Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks to fund a comprehensive pre-development feasibility study, including market analysis, site evaluation, financial modeling, community engagement, and preliminary architectural concepts.

Live. Work. Create. is not just a building project. It is an investment in the idea that arts, culture, and community can drive economic opportunity — and that Southern Maryland deserves a world-class destination to prove it.