Board Of Public Works Blocks $1.5B State Center Project, Looks For New Proposal
More than 10 years after selecting a developer to build a $1.5B downtown Baltimore mixed-use project, Maryland is back to the drawing board.
After the Board of Public Works unanimously voted to void the state's agreement with the State Center development team, Gov. Larry Hogan said he is committed to finding a new proposal for the site, the Baltimore Sun reports.
The 28-acre site near North Eutaw Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard currently houses old state government buildings.
The proposal for the site, from developer Ekistics and architects Mithun and Design Collective, had six phases adding up to more than 5M SF of mixed-use development. The first phase would have featured two buildings anchoring each end of the site and included 530k SF of offices, almost fully occupied by the state, 20 residential units and 55k SF of retail.
The BPW approved the project nearly seven years ago, but after lengthy legal battles and an administration change, Hogan, a developer himself who sits on the board with Maryland's comptroller and treasurer, decided the proposal did not make economic sense.
Hogan has not proposed any specific alternatives but said he wants to find a path forward for redevelopment of the site. Comptroller Peter Franchot proposed building a new stadium to draw an NBA or NHL team to the Charm City, an idea Hogan supported and commissioned a study on. [Sun]
