I find it ironic that the provocatively titled Stephen Walters column (Is Baltimore Doomed?) appeared in the same April 7 edition of this paper as a 40-page special section on Baltimore?s strong real estate market. That this section featured two major articles on Baltimore City neighborhoods (Homeland and the Waterfront) only underscores the fact that Baltimore is a place of choice for residents and investment within the region.
At the outset, the column ignores the well-documented trend among young and old alike who are currently flocking into Baltimore City to live closer to work, nightlife and cultural amenities. And it overlooks the strong levels of business investment and job growth.
As of last year, there are roughly 100,000 people working in Downtown Baltimore ? up 6.8 percent from the year before. When faced with expiring leases and the option to move anywhere in the region, major employers, such as T. Rowe Price and M&T Bank, have chosen to stay and grow in Baltimore City.
More than 36,000 people now live in downtown alone, and many more are on the way. Research by Downtown Partnership shows that the vast majority of these residents are from outside Baltimore City. They are adding to the city?s overall financial health with their tax dollars and personal investments, and they are stimulating growth among restaurants and retailers that want to serve the growing downtown market.
As for economic investment, last year in downtown more than $551 million in new development was completed while projects worth an additional $722 million were under construction. This does not include the substantial investments being made by projects such as the bioparks in east and west Baltimore or the revitalization of older industrial properties in places like Brewer?s Hill, Station North, and along the Middle Branch. And it ignores the resurgence of neighborhoods like Pigtown, Charles Village, Hampden and Hamilton.
More than 980 new residential units hit the downtown market in 2005. Another 780 units are under construction and 4,000 are in the development pipeline. Condominium projects, even those away from the water in neighborhoods such as Station North and Woodberry, are leasing ahead of schedule. Closer to the water, there are long wait lists of people wanting to purchase homes in the city. Indeed, last year, more people bought homes in Baltimore City than Baltimore County for the first time in at least 30 years. In the rental market, projects are experiencing robust leasing, including Spinnaker Bay in Harbor East ? which set a record last year as the fastest-leasing property on the East Coast.
I agree with Walters that the city should continue to find ways to reduce the property tax rate, with more cuts along the lines of Mayor Martin O?Malley?s rate reduction announced last year. Also, the city should explore whether it could provide tax credits on the closing costs paid by people moving into and within the city. However, Walters? column greatly oversimplifies the complex social and demographic issues that, on a national level, fueled an out-migration of city residents into suburbia over the past decades. Also, he does not recognize that people could save up to $6,000 per year by giving up one of the automobiles they need in suburban locales ? giving the city a competitive advantage over the suburbs.
All in all, Walters? column seems like it was written 10 years ago, when much less development was occurring in the city. Fortunately, the trend is changing, and it?s changing rapidly. These facts certainly undercut Walters? opinion that the city “has been repelling both residential and commercial investment.”
Kirby Fowler is President of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc., anonprofit working to make downtown Baltimore a better place for businesses, employees, residents and visitors. Previously, he worked as a private litigator and as an economic development specialist.
