[Baltimore Sun] State Center and the high cost of lost opportunities | STAFF COMMENTARY
Read Time:3 Minute, 58 Second
There once was a plan to turn an aging, drab collection of state office buildings in Baltimore into a thriving mixed-use development with retail and residential components. The nearby historic Fifth Regiment Armory would even house a large grocery store. The project would tie what had been an isolated concrete island to the nearby University of Baltimore and Maryland Institute College of Art and it would provide a much-needed boost to the local transit systems including subway, light rail, bus and even Amtrak.
In short, it checked all the boxes. Public-private partnership? Absolutely. Smart growth? No question. Community benefits? Thousands of jobs were involved.
And then it went away.
On Wednesday, Gov. Wes Moore, Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman and State Treasurer Dereck Davis — all Democrats — voted as members of the Board of Public Works to approve a $58,500,000 payment, settling a legal action brought by developers of the abandoned project officially axed eight years ago. State Center’s 20-year odyssey should serve as a case study in how politics and greed conspire to keep Baltimore economically disadvantaged. The settlement may seem large but it’s peanuts compared with the price the city and state paid in lost opportunities.
Initially, the idea of turning the 28-acre State Center campus (if the dull mid-20th century collection of buildings can be described as anything akin to a “campus”) to a thriving mixed-use district had unqualified support. It was endorsed by Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Gov. Martin O’Malley, his Democratic successor. The state office buildings needed to be upgraded or replaced. The city needed the economic jumpstart of a prestigious employment center and then there was the convergence of all those state-managed transit systems, a real rarity in the Baltimore area.
What happened next? First, it was attacked by downtown real estate investors like the late Peter G. Angelos who saw the plan as taxpayer-subsidized competition and wanted those state jobs steered their way. And then there was Gov. Larry Hogan who declared the inherited deal a “boondoggle” — echoing his view of the Red Line, the proposed east-west light rail line, that he also shelved at great cost to the city. Only after some serious lobbying by some local leaders including now-Senate President Bill Ferguson did the Hogan administration even agree to keep State Center jobs in Baltimore. Meanwhile, litigation involving the snubbed partners dragged on (likely raising this week’s settlement cost).
Here’s a number to ponder: 39,810. That’s the total number of votes Hogan received from Baltimoreans in his unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Senate seat two weeks ago. Given his costly double-salvo “War on Baltimore,” how did he receive so many (albeit less than one-quarter of the 173,504 city votes cast for Angela Alsobrooks)? Hogan and his supporters like to claim that both decisions saved taxpayers large sums but how do you calculate the cost of doing little to nothing to revive Maryland’s largest city, one so clearly disadvantaged by redlining, concentrated poverty and racism?
It seems that the long-term costs of neglect — in terms of chronic unemployment and lack of opportunity, substandard housing, isolation, drug addiction and crime — could prove a far greater burden on taxpayers. And that bill keeps getting bigger. Every. Single. Day.
There are, of course, efforts underway to launch another redevelopment plan for the Preston Street area yet it’s doubtful it will approach the $1.5 billion project that might have been. It’s clear enough that the return of President Donald Trump will not be ushering in a golden era of federal support for Baltimore, a city he has observed mostly for its rodent population. The hope is that Moore can find ways the state can support whatever comes next. Yet one has to wonder, particularly given rising concern over state budget deficits, whether this particular ship has already sailed.
Maybe the original State Center redevelopment plan would not have succeeded. We can never know for sure. Just as Harborplace redevelopment plans approved by voters earlier this month aren’t guaranteed of success. But this much is clear: Doing nothing does provide certainty — of continued dysfunction and failure. How many more of these high-profile projects can we afford to abandon?
Surely, there are potential investors and developers watching and waiting to see if Baltimore can generate new economic opportunity in spaces beyond Harbor East or Baltimore Peninsula. Or will the city and its willing partners continue to have the rug pulled out from underneath when it matters most?
Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0