Timothy Keane has been nominated to take over as Baltimore’s housing commissioner, less than six months since he was appointed to lead the city’s planning agency.

Mayor Brandon Scott announced the move Wednesday morning at a weekly news conference, saying the selection follows a search process that included local and national candidates. In a late-morning news release, he added that Keane would lead a six-month study into whether the two agencies could be combined.

“We believe that there are serious potential benefits to getting those planners together in one room, working on projects together,” he said.

Keane, whose nomination must still be approved by the City Council, replaces Alice Kennedy, who was expected to step down from the sprawling housing department in November. She stayed on as Baltimore’s top housing officer as City Hall’s search took longer than expected.

Kennedy, credited as the “chief architect” of the city’s vacant housing initiative, appeared at a City Council hearing Tuesday night to answer questions about the department’s approach to revitalizing neighborhoods, which emphasizes including “whole blocks” at a time. She will stay on in city government as executive director of community affairs and engagement in the mayor’s office.

On Tuesday night, she emphasized the housing department’s renewed focus on including residents in the process of overhauling neighborhoods — and in communicating the expectations to developers early and often.

Baltimore’s housing department is among the biggest and most powerful organizations in city government, encompassing permits, code enforcement, homeownership and preservation programs, real estate development, and finance. Kennedy has also served as vice chair of the Baltimore Vacants Reinvestment Initiative, a city and state partnership designed to reduce the city’s supply of derelict buildings — estimated at 12,000 houses and some 20,000 lots.

The department’s outsized role in city life means it is routinely subject to intense questioning by the City Council, including about its role in Baltimore’s shaky rollout of its new permitting system. Over the next few months, agency leaders are expected to appear before the council to respond to inquiries about renter safety, vacant land, affordable housing financing, and the disposition of vacant buildings.

News of Kennedy’s expected departure from the housing commissioner post came last fall as anger over the permitting system mounted. Months earlier, Scott pledged a fix the system or “folks will be looking for employment elsewhere in the city of Baltimore.” Justin Williams, then the city’s deputy mayor for economic development, was also reassigned amid the shakeup. He now serves as permit czar.

Keane arrived in Baltimore after stops in Atlanta; Charleston, South Carolina; Boise, Idaho; and Calgary, Canada. In the Wednesday news release, Scott’s office said he has experience with nearly every facet of the housing department and also had led the consolidation of past government offices.

Renata “Ren” Southard, the current leader of the city’s Neighborhood Development Division, was nominated to fill Keane’s spot as planning director. Southard joined the city in 2018, spending most of that time working in the planning department. She is a licensed architect, planner and urban designer with past stints in Minneapolis, Detroit and Nashville.

During a news conference, Scott said he’s eager for Keane and Southard to get to work in their new positions, which will become effective in an acting capacity March 2.

“As we take on the next phase of housing and development in Baltimore, from our effort to tackle vacants to the development of downtown, we want to be thoughtful, but also very intentional to make sure that our agencies are positioned to meet the moment,” Scott said.