Former $50M Inner Harbor Project Is Cut Down to Size

BALTIMORE-As of just a few weeks ago, a long-vacant parcel on Pratt Street in the Inner Harbor had been destined to become home to a towering 29-story, mixed-use high rise, but developers David S. Brown Enterprises Ltd. and A&R Development Corp. have just decided to erect a three-story retail complex on the Lockwood Place site instead. It seems that, however, everything old is new again, as the new proposal is not really new at all. The three-story retail plan had been in place prior to the high-rise concept. Deals had even been arranged with retailers to occupy 60% of the center.

DSB and A&R ran into trouble with the Baltimore Department of Planning’s Design Advisory Panel, which met for the second time on the project on Aug. 5. The panel took issue with certain elements of the proposed design and, apparently, sent the team back to the drawing board one time too many. What could have been was a skyscraper featuring 120 rental apartment units, 60,000 sf of retail space and a 250-room hotel. Now, what will be is a 90,000-sf shopping center that will cost significantly less to build at an estimated range of $10 to $15 million.