With litigation over a long-stalled development plan for State Center apparently close to wrapping up, Gov. Larry Hogan this morning announced his administration is kicking off the process of finding a new developer to tackle an overhaul of the aged Midtown government complex.
Baltimore’s City Council is pressuring state legislators and Gov. Larry Hogan to “protect the participation and planning process” for the nixed redevelopment proposal for the State Center government complex.
Speaking to state lawmakers on Tuesday, shortly after the release of a new study on the future redevelopment potential of Baltimore’s State Center complex, developer Caroline Moore blasted the Hogan administration for gutting her firm’s $1.5 billion redevelopment project and commissioning a study whose recommendations were similar to her company’s years-old plan.
State officials have picked a team of top designers to study the possibility of expanding the Baltimore Convention Center and replacing Royal Farms Arena downtown, and have broadened the scope of a separate study regarding the future of State Center.
Concerned about the possibility of 3,000 state employees leaving Baltimore, City Councilman Eric Costello wants Gov. Larry Hogan to come up with an acceptable development plan for the 28-acre State Center renewal area.
Are all the office tenants at State Center moving to Metro West?
The top story on Baltimore Fishbowl this week was Ed Gunts’ weekly real estate development column, which led with the news that yet another store is leaving downtown Towson. The kitchenware and home furnishings retailer Williams Sonoma, located in Towson Town Center, has posted signs on its windows indicating it plans to close.
Instead of having a grocery store and housing and offices, the State Center redevelopment area may one day have a sports arena.
Our community could only watch as Governor Hogan slipped a last-minute agenda item into the final Board of Public Works’ meeting of 2016, pulling the plug on the State Center Redevelopment Project. With little explanation and no public comment, the State of Maryland flushed a project down the drain, taking a lot more down with it than most realize.
