Former Baltimore mayors urge yes vote on Harborplace ballot issue

Three former Baltimore mayors have announced their support for a bill that would allow a private company to redevelop the aging Harborplace Pavilions in the Inner Harbor.

Former mayors Kurt Schmock, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Bernard C. “Jack” Young urged voters to vote “yes” on Question F. Their support was announced in a press release from the Baltimore group New Harborplace, which is trying to rally support for the proposed MCB Real redevelopment Estate.

If approved, the ballot measure would allow for residential development in Harborplace that is currently zoned as parkland.

Rawlings-Blake said voting “yes” on the ballot would pave the way for a better future for Harborplace and the city as a whole.

“Many of us have cherished memories of our childhood times at Harborplace,” she said, according to the press release. “But we can’t let nostalgia for what once was keep us from building the Baltimore our children deserve.”

The announcement came three days after a group of commercial tenants at the former MCB development in Canton warned against approving a ballot question that would have given the firm authority to overhaul Harborplace. The company is known to have broken its promises, prioritized national chains over local businesses, and ultimately sold the complex at a loss earlier this year, the group alleges.

A spokesman for the firm called the tenants’ comments “another desperate attempt” to deflect Question F. The spokesman said no other commercial tenants at the company’s other properties had raised similar concerns.

While critics have questioned the density of the proposed development, which would include 32-story and 25-story residential towers, former mayors and another former government official said MCB’s plans, headquartered in Baltimore, represent an important opportunity.

“The debate over the new harbor and Question F has brought to light some of the worst tendencies in our city—betting against ourselves,” Young said, according to the press release. He said it was time to “make a big bet on Baltimore and make a big bet on our future, rather than clinging to some old ideas from before most of the city was born.”

Matt Gallagher, former chief of staff to Martin O’Malley, the former governor and mayor of Baltimore, said in a statement that MCB managing partners P. David Bramble and Peter Pinkard have “patiently and thoughtfully taken on some of the city’s most complex and challenging challenges.” are overlooked by development projects, and I am grateful that they continue to choose Baltimore as a home for their investments.”

MCB’s plans call for the demolition of the existing two-story retail and restaurant pavilions in favor of two adjacent residential towers containing 900 apartments plus two large commercial buildings. The projects include space for retail, restaurants, a park and an amphitheater.

The company’s announcement last fall, made at the Inner Harbor Pavilion on Light Street, included remarks and praise from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Mayor Brandon Scott and other local lawmakers who offered their full support.

The project is expected to cost at least $900 million, and Bramble said at least $400 million will come from the public sector, although he said it will not come from the city government. Pre-development legislation nearly passed through the Baltimore City Council earlier this year.

“More than four decades ago, a visionary developer, despite opposition, reimagined our city’s Inner Harbor and created what has become our crown jewel,” said Schmoke, who served as mayor of Baltimore from 1987 to 1999, according to a news release. “Harborplace has since become the heart of our town centre, but it no longer inspires civic pride as it once did. It’s time for a new generation of Baltimoreans to reimagine it as a vibrant place for all of us.”

Baltimore Banner reporter Holly Miller contributed to this report.