Executives from the T. Rowe Price Group marked the company’s 85th anniversary by breaking ground today for its new global headquarters at Harbor Point.
When complete in 2024, the 550,000-square-foot building at 1307 Point St. will replace the company’s current headquarters at 100 E. Pratt St.
It’s the first of two major projects to begin construction this year at Harbor Point, site of the former Allied Signal chromium plant, and it marks a firm commitment by the global investment management organization to remain in the city where it began.
“We’re excited to break ground on our new headquarters during the firm’s 85th anniversary year,” said T. Rowe Price’s CEO and President Rob Sharps. “We have been in Baltimore since 1937, and we remain committed to supporting our community and creating a sustainable environment for our associates to thrive.”
According to T. Rowe Price, the company employees who are based in downtown Baltimore will be housed in the new building. As of Dec. 31, that was about 1,750 employees at 100 East Pratt St. The total number of associates in the Baltimore area, including Owings Mills, is about 5,200. Globally, the company had 7,259 associates as of Dec. 31.
“I am grateful for T. Rowe Price’s decision to commit to Baltimore,” said Mayor Brandon Scott. “With this groundbreaking, they are making a bold statement that they are here to stay and share our vision for Baltimore’s renaissance.”
Michael Beatty, president of Beatty Development Group, master developer of the 27-acre Harbor Point community between Harbor East and Fells Point, told dignitaries gathered for the T. Rowe Price groundbreaking ceremony that construction work will begin shortly on a second large parcel at Harbor Point.
Plans for that property, a full city block near Caroline and Dock streets called Parcel 4, include about 550 apartments, 1,250 parking spaces, a hotel and ground-level retail space.
Beatty told the audience that he has been trying to get T. Rowe Price to move its headquarters to Harbor Point for more than a decade, and company executives finally said yes on the third try.
He said he hopes to see other corporations move to Harbor Point, because that’s how the city will keep growing.
“Baltimore needs more projects like this,” he said. “The reason we do is because it sparks other things. You get these big projects going and it creates a domino effect.”
Beatty is developing the T. Rowe Price headquarters in partnership with Armada Hoffler Properties. Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) is the design architect for the T. Rowe Price building. Beatty Harvey Coco (BHC) is the architect of record and Gensler is the Interior Architect. Armada Hoffler is the general contractor for the project. Nearly 1,600 jobs will be created during construction, and the developers say special opportunities will be available for minority- and women-owned businesses.
As designed by KPF and BHC, the T. Rowe Price headquarters will consist of two seven-story buildings — clad in glass, linked by an all-glass lobby atrium and framing a courtyard with views toward Baltimore’s harbor.
Besides upper-level offices with sweeping views of the harbor, the headquarters will contain a client conference center, an auditorium and other meeting spaces in a variety of sizes. Eco-friendly features include a water harvesting system that will save about 1.55 million gallons of potable water a year. Just west of the headquarters, Beatty is creating a 4.5-acre waterfront park called Point Park.
Beatty said the only parcel left to develop at Harbor Point after the T. Rowe Price headquarters, Point Park and Parcel 4 is land on the west side of the property that has been set aside for a tall building, most likely for a mix of uses. KPF has completed preliminary studies showing it could be one of the tallest buildings in the city. Beatty said he hopes to have the entire mixed-use community complete by the end of 2027.
