$50M Mixed-Use Inner Harbor High-Rise Is in the Works

BALTIMORE-A new proposal for the vacant Baltimore City Community College-owned Inner Harbor parcel at 500 E Pratt St.–a victim of a handful of failed development plans–has been made through a presentation to the Baltimore Department of Planning’s Design Advisory Panel. Developers David S. Brown Enterprises Ltd. and A&R Development Corp. have revealed plans to build a 28-story high-rise that would contain residences, retail and a hotel segment. Designed by the local architectural firm of Brown, Craig, Turner, the mixed-use tower is expected to cost over $50 million to realize.

The DSB and A&R concept is an upscale one and calls for the creation of a skyscraper containing 120 rental apartment units, 60,000 sf of retail space, and a 250-room hotel component. All signs indicate that the project’s offerings would be in great demand. According to Delta Associates’ Mid-Year 2004 Apartment & Condo Report, the city’s stabilized class A apartment vacancy rate is a low 1.1%. And, citing a dearth of hotel rooms in the area to accommodate coveted conference attendees at the upgraded 1.2 million-sf Baltimore Convention Center, local authorities have been cheering the Design Advisory Panel’s recent approval of a proposed 750-room Hilton Hotel to anchor the meeting complex; thusly, the lodging portion of the 500 E. Pratt St. plan will likely be greeted warmly, as well.