The Top of the World observation deck will be allowed to stay open until Nov. 30, 2025, under an amended lease agreement between the City of Baltimore and the Maryland Port Administration, and city officials are talking with state representatives about keeping the space open even longer.
Baltimore’s Board of Estimates on Wednesday voted 5 to 0 to approve a request from the Mayor’s Office to amend a lease that has enabled the city to operate the Top of the World attraction on the 27th floor of the World Trade Center Baltimore at 401 E. Pratt St for the past two decades.
The port administration serves as landlord for the state-owned office tower, where the 27th floor has always been leased by the city of Baltimore. The city’s lease was due to expire on May 30 and the port administration had given notice that it wouldn’t grant an extension because state officials wanted to take back the space and use it for other, unspecified, purposes.
But Robyn Murphy, interim CEO of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA), which operates the attraction for the city, told a City Council budget committee last week that state officials have agreed to let BOPA keep operating it past the end of May.
Murphy didn’t say exactly how much longer the Top of the World might stay open, but the lease amendment that was presented to the Board of Estimates states that it is six months. Tonya Miller Hall, Senior Advisor of Arts and Culture in the Mayor’s Office, presented a written request to the board as a walk-on item.
“This First Amendment to Lease Agreement will allow the City to continue occupying the 27th floor (Top of the World) of the World Trade Center through November 30th, 2025,” the request stated.
According to Geoff Shannon, deputy communications director for the city Comptroller’s office, state officials approved the lease amendment before it was presented to the Board of Estimates, so the six-month extension doesn’t need further approval from the state’s Board of Public Works. According to Richard Scher, director of communications for the port administration, the state agency only needs to receive a signed copy of the lease amendment from the city “and then it’s done.”
The Top of the World Observation Deck offers a 360-degree view of the city and surrounding region from high above and is popular with both tourists and area residents. The lease extension also means that the 9/11 Memorial of Maryland will remain on public view until the end of November, because it’s part of the Top of the World footprint.
According to the written request presented by Miller Hall, city officials are having discussions with the port administration about leasing the 27th floor past November.
“The original 20-year lease expired on May 30th with no renewal option,” her request noted. “For the past two decades, BOPA has sublet the space to host public events and serve as an observation site for tourists. There appears to be renewed interest in retaining the space. This extension gives us time to continue negotiations” with the port administration.
“As everyone knows, the Top of the World space is a much-beloved space,” Miller Hall told the board. “We’re asking for this extension, one, to sort of button up some of the hardscape and fixtures and things that they’ve requested that we remove from the facility, but also there is a small appetite to maybe extend the lease past [November], and so that gives us a little bit more runway to further those conversations.”
“I want to express my full-throated support for trying to extend the lease” past November, said City Comptroller Bill Henry, who sits on the Board of Estimates and voted for the lease extension.
“I think that the Top of the World is a great space and I think it would be a disappointment if the city were to lose it unless the state was going to basically run it the same way but themselves, and I suspect that that might not be what the state intends,” Henry continued. “I think it’s just going to become office space, and I think frankly we can find a better way to show off what is really a unique piece of property in the harbor.”
“I could not agree more,” said City Council President Zeke Cohen, who also voted for the six-month lease extension.
