Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Maryland taxpayers to sink $166M into Baltimore Harborplace scheme


It's deja vu all over again in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. A great gem - a doorstep to the city, if you will! - has somehow fallen into disrepair. But it's not up to the property owner, nor the elected officials who've run the city it's the doorstep to the whole time, to sacrifice for a solution. No, it's you, the hardworking taxpayer of Maryland who must step in, and share your hard-earned dollars with very wealthy developers. Stop me if you've heard this before. 

Are we talking about Union Station in Washington, D.C.? No, it's the Harborplace development in Baltimore. But both now share a special pedigree. These properties have failed...twice. And each time, the taxpayer has involuntarily-volunteered to pick up the tab for "renewal" and "rejuvenation." 

You can't entirely blame the political machines of Charm City and the District of Columbia. They know both cities are more transient than most in America. And both are rapidly gentrifying African-American residents out of their homes and neighborhoods, to make room for more luxury condos for rich, white people. Why, you probably haven't lived here long enough to realize this isn't the first time the city's gemstone was tarnished.

Except, some of us have. I remember when Union Station and the Inner Harbor were said to be in desperate need of revitalization. Some years, and many more taxpayer dollars later, we were told the effort was successful. Shops! Restaurants! Gleaming and new!

Three decades pass.

And suddenly, it's happened again.

Union Station and Harborplace are derelict! They're outdated and have fallen behind the times! Nobody goes there anymore! Wealthy development firms are standing by to save the day, but...they're going to need your help. So they're going to cut us in on the deal? We'll earn a dividend for the tax dollars we're putting up, just like the other investors?

Oh, no. And your investment is not optional. We just rammed it through in Annapolis. The taxpayers of Maryland - yes, even you in the hinterlands, are going to fork over $166 million. And Baltimore City residents, many of whom are living paycheck to paycheck, get to hand over an additional $1 million.

Why are Union Station and Harborplace "derelict and underperforming?" The tenants! Well, wait a minute. Union Station has Shake Shack, Pret-a-Manger, Au Bon Pain and CAVA, names about as hip as train station commercial retail can get. Tourist-driven Harborplace has tourist traps like UNO Chicago Grill, Johnny Rockets and Hooters - it even has The Cheesecake Factory, for Pete's sake! What else would you want to eat by the water? 

Want local, small businesses instead? Charge a rent they can afford for the empty storefronts. 

Well, it's not the tenants or the times, you see. Why don't people want to go to Harborplace or Union Station?

It's that the D.C. government let crime and the homeless take over Union Station. Columbus Circle at sunrise can resemble a giant bedroom, as the least-fortunate of Washington awake from slumber among scurrying rats and trash. Baltimore City let crime run rampant in the Inner Harbor, with tourists often the target. At some point, elected officials have to be held accountable. This is a novel idea in Washington and Baltimore.

$166 million? You could put 415 homeless people into permanent homes in the D.C. area, and even more in Baltimore, for that amount. It could be a not-insubstantial down payment on building the Red Line, especially the Dollar General version of the Red Line pols are cynically trying to pass off on West Baltimore these days. "By the time the buses start running, those voters will have been gentrified out of there, anyway," elected officials must figure. Imagine the parks you could build. Or schools that actually have air conditioning!!

But a better recipient than the general public has been found - wealthy and well-financed developers. The public involuntarily gives generously. Buildings are demolished. New ones rise in their place. The property is sold. Profits are made. Elected officials fail to execute their basic functions to provide a strong business climate, maintain city infrastructure and ensure public safety. 

And the cycle starts over again. We've seen this here in Montgomery County, where a greedy mall buyer along with County officials allowing crime to get out of control led to the demise of Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg. As long as our elected officials get away with directing our money to their developer sugar daddies, we'll see it again.

Inner Harbor crime:

"Inner Harbor Mayhem"

"Death at Baltimore's Inner Harbor"

"Dangerous at night"

"3 people robbed at gunpoint in Inner Harbor"

"New Jersey family attacked at Baltimore's Inner Harbor"

"If this is what a Saturday night at the Harbor is going to be like, we will not be going there"

25 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:03 AM

    The rampant crime, especially right around there, will undo any progress. We need to face up to that fact.

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  2. Anonymous5:08 AM

    Our wonderful new Dem. Governor signed about 100 bills the other day.... simply cannot be transparent with such a political effort. They don't rule by fiat, wake up!!

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  3. Anonymous5:30 AM

    I have been to Baltimore a number of times this past year. The downtown is heart breaking with grand but vacant buildings and poor mentally ill all over the place. Robert is correct, those folks will not see any benefit from this pork Who wants to open a business with open season for shoplifters? Not even many coffee shops.

    I would recommend the Maritime Museum. I went on the US Constitution and a WWII era submarine. Imagine being drafted and assigned to a submarine!

    Learning

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  4. It's called decades of failed Dem leadership or lack thereof. Inner Harbor is an absolute crap hole and so is Union Station which, yes, used to be incredible. Crime run amok, defund the police, look the other way. You get the picture?

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  5. Anonymous5:53 AM

    This is an exceptionally poorly researched diatribe, Robert.

    Only a small fraction of the $166M is earmarked for the PUBLIC - not PRIVATE - Inner Harbor promenade.
    None of the $166M (which was allocated two budget cycles ago under Hogan - you're way late to the game, Robert) goes towards the new Harborplace developer. The developer didn't even own the property when the money was allocated.

    $50M of the $166M was previously spent moving state employees out of State Center so that area can be redeveloped. The remaining money is earmarked for:

    $11.5 million for the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore to create innovative and safe spaces throughout downtown
    $7.5 million to start renovating the Inner Harbor Promenade with an additional $60 million pre-authorized in fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025
    $7.5 million to raze Baltimore City Community College’s Bard Building near Power Plant Live! and temporarily transform it into a green space until further development can occur
    $5.5 million for the Reginald F. Lewis Museum
    $5 million for the National Aquarium
    $5 million for streetscaping the new Warner Street Entertainment District between M&T Bank Stadium and the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore
    $4 million for a second phase of redevelopment at Rash Field Park, with planning to start next month for a concept that includes more open space, gardens and exercise equipment
    $3.25 million for Port Discovery
    $3 million for the Maryland Science Center
    $2.5 million for the USS Constellation
    $750,000 for the Pride of Baltimore II
    $400,000 for the Peale Center
    $200,000 for the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company.

    Now add up all the state money that's spent in MoCo, Robert. I'll wait.

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  6. Anonymous10:25 AM

    $10 measly bucks for that area is too much. It's lost, give up.

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  7. Anonymous10:59 AM

    Please explain how money for streetscapes, parks, and museums is not in the public interest. Just this budget cycle MoCo got money from the state for 13 county parks projects. Is that spending not in the public interest either or is it only when the money is spent in Baltimore that it's a problem?

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  8. Anonymous11:51 AM

    JAC - It’s funny that you mentioned Union Station, without mentioning that Harborplace and Union Station as well as Mazza Gallerie were all run into the ground by the same horrible private landlord, Ashkenazy Acquisitions.

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  9. Anonymous2:50 PM

    Doesn't matter how much taxpayer dollars are set on fire as long as democrats run the show. Baltimore in particular is a shining example of what happens when leftists like Marilyn Moseby, (lost her primary last year and is still awaiting trial for perjury), now Ivan Bates.

    With Moore now in charge, Maryland is in serious trouble as the democrats driving the bus have to make sure we all use proper pronouns without giving a second thought to crime.

    They're having hearings today on Jawando's bill to eliminate traffic stops for minor offenses. Their version of equity will be, as usual, a gift to criminals at the expense of law abiding citizens.

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  10. 11:51 - Oh, I'm sure the landlord has some culpability no doubt. But everyone of those projects have suffered from failed leadership and deserve a lot of blame. Inner Harbor is awful and has been for some years.

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  11. Anonymous8:17 PM

    250 you are correct, unfortunately. I left the state of Maryland and will leave the country if necessary. Saw an encouraging video today that gives me some hope. A few peaceful protesters in Ft Worth, TX were holding signs to the effect that children should not be subjected to "drag queen shows" when an Antifa thug came up and pepper sprayed them. To their credit the police ran that guy and two other Antifa bullies down and arrested them after a struggle. We'll see.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:56 PM

      Those Antifa thugs would be heroes up here, maybe on staff in our State / County somewhere.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:32 AM

      Need more proof that the leftist trans ideology is nothing more than grooming? Look what happened in Florida City when organizers canceled a drag queen event due to the new law banning those underage from attending these shows.

      Why cancel if you're not hoping to groom children? The left is pathetic.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous6:08 AM

    Well, I'm glad there's 1 person actually commenting on the substance of the article. As for the rest of the garbage, unrelated, right wing nonsense comments...sigh. It's unfortunate even local blogs are trolled by these trashy people.

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  13. 6:08 - Ah, there it is folks, right on cue. Right wing orientated Americans are trashy. Harry Reid would be proud to read that overt smear.

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  14. Anonymous7:19 AM

    Robert, I believe 608 referring to me and other posters as "trashy" may violate your posting policy? But if Lefties didn't resort to insults and contempt they wouldn't have anything to say.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous11:44 AM

    It's funny how right wingers go from bully to crying victim in about three seconds flat. No wonder they spend their days trying to pick on different marginalized groups - they know they aren't strong enough to pick on someone their own size.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:40 PM

      Lol, yeah… bringing up trans agenda is where this “jumped the shark”

      Delete
  16. Anonymous3:04 PM

    Let everything speak for itself, we're going down the drain and it's obvious why. We may never be able to recover especially after these last two years.

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  17. Anonymous3:29 PM

    Where did your receive your indoctrination 1144?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:10 AM

      11;44, the Master of Projection! Very funny attemp to turn it around, ala Alinsky!

      Delete
  18. Anonymous4:28 PM

    11:44 Specializes in gaslighting. Can't defend policies that everyone can see as absolute failure so blame the party that has zero power. What does your therapist say about that?

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  19. 2:10 - Bill O'Reilly used to call them Left Wing bomb throwers.

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  20. Anonymous10:52 AM

    @ 11:56 - I’m curious why anti-Fascist has negative connotations to you.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous7:46 AM

    @1:40 I agree but not for the same reasons. Liberals have been interjecting racism, transgenderism and (name your social media outrage of the week), into daily life since Obama but I get it, only the left can point out hypocrisy without looking in the mirror.

    ReplyDelete