The Inner Harbor does a good job attracting tourists, but not people living in downtown, Fells Point, Federal Hill, Otterbein, or Locust Point.
That may change if developer David Cordish can have his way. You know Cordish Co. as the company that built the ESPN Zone and Power Plant Live. Now they want to buy the three-story malls that house shops and restaurants around the Inner Harbor.
Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. has put Harborplace and the Gallery, two of Baltimore’s most prominent retail sites, on the market to raise capital to pay down debt. Cordish has approached General about buying the properties, but he is worried about the amount of debt General Growth is carrying on them. For now he is staying on the sidelines.
The Baltimore Business Journal quotes Cordish as saying, “They’ve got too much debt. It’s just so complicated with the debt on it. Those, honestly, we could turn around in our sleep, but that isn’t the issue. The complexity is they are interwoven into a company.”
If Cordish can extricate Harborplace and the Gallery from the larger company, we may just finally get something more to attract the home folks. Stay tuned.
If you live in Baltimore, what kind of new development would it take to entice you into the Inner Harbor on a regular basis?
Photo by Justin Wong
Posted in: Inner HarborNo Comments
It would help if 80% of the stores didn’t suck. I also think the restaurants in Fells, Canton, Federal Hill and Harbour East are better.