Harborplace

A view of the complex in February 2009 at sunset.
Location	Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Coordinates	39°17′09″N 76°36′42″W / 39.28575°N 76.61166°W / 39.28575; -76.61166
Address	201 E. Pratt Street 301 S. Light Street
Opening date	July 2, 1980; 45 years ago (1980-07-02) (original) April 2018; 7 years ago (April 2018) (2015 renovation)
Renovated	2015–2018 (partially completed)
Closing date	Fall 2026 (demolition is expected to begin in the fall of 2026)[1]
Previous names	Harborplace & The Gallery (1987–2012)[2]
Developer	The Rouse Company (original) Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation (2015 renovation)[3]
Management	MCB Real Estate LLC
Owner	MCB Real Estate LLC
Architect	Benjamin Thompson and Associates, Inc.
Stores and services	20+ (at peak)
Anchor tenants	7 (4 open, 3 vacant, 1 scheduled for closure)
Floors	2 in both pavilions
Parking	Garage
Public transit	at Charles Center or Shot Tower BaltimoreLink routes 54, 63, 65, 71, 154, CityLink Brown, CityLink Navy, CityLink Orange, CityLink Purple, CityLink Yellow Charm City Circulator Banner, Purple, and Orange routes Baltimore Water Taxi
Website	www.harborplace.com (2016 archive) www.ourharborplace.com (Redevelopment)

Harborplace is a festival marketplace on the Inner Harbor in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland. It consists of three malls; the Pratt Street Pavilion, the Light Street Pavilion, and The Gallery at Harborplace (now closed), all of which were developed by The Rouse Company and opened in the 1980s. Other adjacent structures include an office tower on 111 S. Calvert Street known as Harborplace Tower, and the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, both adjacent to the defunct Gallery mall. However, the pavilions are scheduled for demolition and redevelopment, which is expected to begin in the fall of 2026.

The Gallery at Harborplace

The mall's central atrium in September 2014.
Address	200 E. Pratt Street 111 S. Calvert Street
Opening date	September 3, 1987; 38 years ago (September 3, 1987)
Renovated	2001
Closing date	January 21, 2022; 3 years ago (2022-01-21)
Developer	The Rouse Company
Management	Brookfield Properties
Owner	Brookfield Properties
Architect	Zeidler Roberts Partnership[4]
Stores and services	20+ (at peak) ~0 as of January 2022
Anchor tenants	1 junior (vacant since March 2016)
Floors	5 (4th and 5th floors have been closed from the public since 2016)[5]
Parking	Garage
Website	www.thegalleryatharborplace.com (2015 archive)

The Gallery at Harborplace was a five-story, glass-enclosed shopping mall that was also built by The Rouse Company and opened in September 1987. It is currently owned and managed by Brookfield Properties.^[6]

In 1981, after Harborplace had its grand opening, The Rouse Company purchased a large city block that was once a parking lot in downtown Baltimore, and they were looking to activate this area by opening a regional mall that would be an expansion of the Harborplace complex. This mall would be James Rouse's final project before retiring from The Rouse Company entirely. The Rouse Company announced the mall would also feature a 28-story office tower and a 12-story hotel which the city wanted to support the new convention circuits at the Baltimore Convention Center.^[7]

Rouse hired architect Eberhard H. Zeidler, who also designed Toronto Eaton Centre in Canada, to design the mall and the adjacent structures. Zeidler was already in discussions about Harborplace in the mid-1970s, citing the Inner Harbor as a "desolate wasteland."^[8]

Zeidler and the Rouse team had the plans drawn up and submitted them for approval. The new Gallery mall was announced to have five floors, with three floors of retail stores, with the third floor having a walkway that turned 180 degrees that gave access to a food court overlooking the Inner Harbor, and there would also be a pair of escalators giving access to the fourth floor, which would be part of the hotel and entertainment area, and all throughout the mall would be plants and suburbs taking in sunlight from the massive glass ceiling above the atrium. The fifth floor would offer a view of The Gallery from the bottom. The Gallery was designed to have a diagonal cut right through the building, a center water display, and a spiral staircase.^[9]

Rouse hoped the new development would be enough to attract New York-based Bloomingdale's to open in The Gallery. Bloomingdale's signed a letter of intent, but the deal "fell apart in the corporate capital allocation" of its then-parent, Federated Department Stores (now Macy's Inc.). As a result, The Rouse Company announced that Brooks Brothers would be The Gallery's only anchor.^[10] The Gallery began construction in 1985 and had its grand opening on September 3, 1987.

The Gallery at Harborplace, just like the pavilions, was acquired by General Growth Properties in 2004 following an acquisition of The Rouse Company. Following Brookfield's acquisition of GGP Inc., all of its properties, including The Gallery and Harborplace Tower, were transitioned to Brookfield Properties in 2018.

Unlike the pavilions, The Gallery at Harborplace was a five-story mall and is adjacent the Harborplace Office Tower and the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. Because of its large size, The Gallery is the largest of the three malls in the complex. It included tenants such as Forever 21, Starbucks, Gap & Gap Kids, and Bath & Body Works. Due to its vertical exterior design, the mall is without traditional senior anchor tenants many malls had at the time such as Sears, Macy's, and JCPenney. The mall's only junior anchor was Brooks Brothers. The mall is connected to the Pratt Street Pavilion via a skywalk that has been closed since the 2000s, which later became a permanent closure in 2022 after the mall itself was closed. The Pratt Street Pavilion remained open, but the door that leads to the skywalk is blocked off.

From the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel on the fifth floor, the Gallery was visible through the windows, but the fifth floor was integrated into the mall itself and has been restricted from access from the mall itself when the fourth floor closed from the public in 2016. After that, the fifth floor could only be accessed through elevators.^[11]

In the early 2000s, The Rouse Company announced a renovation for The Gallery to modernize it, with an intent to make it more competitive with newer shopping malls in Maryland like Arundel Mills and the recent 1990s renovation and expansion of Towson Town Center. This included replacing the grand central staircases with escalators, and adding exterior entrances to ground-floor stores. The renovation required the closure of the skywalk connecting the mall to the Pratt Street Pavilion. The renovation was completed in 2001. The mall has not been updated since then.^[12]

Like the pavilions, The Gallery at Harborplace has also faced significant decline for many of the same reasons as the pavilions, but it faced its own issues. The mall was not managed by Ashkenazy Acquisitions in the 2010s. The mall remained in ownership of General Growth Properties until 2018 when Brookfield Properties acquired GGP and Rouse Properties. While it was not managed by Ashkenazy, which neglected the pavilions, this mall had its own issues and even a permanent closure in 2022. Firstly, the mall has not been updated since a renovation in 2001. Without any up-to-date renovations, the mall was unable to compete with many other modern malls in Maryland, like Towson Town Center, White Marsh Mall, The Mall in Columbia, and Arundel Mills. By the 2010s, just like the pavilions, tenants began to close. In January 2015, Wet Seal closed its Gallery at Harborplace location because the company was in the process of liquidating all its stores after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Its closure was not related to the problems with Harborplace, but it was another tenant that closed its doors in the area, leading to an empty spot.^[13] In March 2016, Brooks Brothers closed its Gallery at Harborplace location because the company announced that it was relocating to a new location in Harbor East.^[14] In 2020, Johnston & Murphy closed its Gallery at Harborplace location, along with a sports bar on the first floor.^[15]

The mall's food court on the fourth floor was converted into an office area called Spaces in 2016, which led to an exodus of multiple food tenants, which included McDonald's and some other restaurants. Once the conversion was finished, the fourth floor was closed from the public.^[16]

The mall's decline was significantly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which also increased the rise of e-commerce. In late 2021, Brookfield Properties began ceasing operations of the mall by telling the remaining tenants that they have to vacate the mall by the end of the year. Before 2021, the mall was already losing tenants. This included Forever 21, GNC, Gap & Gap Kids, Starbucks, The Children's Place, and Bath & Body Works.

By January 2022, the mall had no tenants, and was later permanently closed. While the adjacent structures being Harborplace Tower and the Renaissance Hotel remain open, their entrances to The Gallery are blocked off.

In 2023, Brookfield Properties painted a mural titled "Our Baltimore" over the windows and entrance to the former Gallery to cover up the interior of the defunct mall from public view, and to revitalize the surrounding area.^[17] Brookfield Properties has stated that they will reevaluate options for The Gallery, but unlike the pavilions, which will be demolished and replaced with mixed-use buildings, The Gallery has remained vacant and shuttered from the public with no plans for redevelopment or any form of revitalization as of 2025.

Demolition of The Gallery would be challenging due to its connection to the Harborplace Office Tower and the Renaissance Hotel.

Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel
The Renaissance Hotel in 2008.
Interactive map of Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel
General information
Status	In operation
Type	Hotel
Location	202 E. Pratt Street
Year built	1988
Construction started	1985
Completed	1988
Opening	April 1988
Renovated	2016, 2019
Owner	The Buccini/Pollin Group[18]
Management	PM Hotel Group
Height
Top floor	12
Technical details
Floor count	12
Design and construction
Architect	Eberhard H. Zeidler
Architecture firm	Zeidler Roberts Partnership
Developer	The Rouse Company

The Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel is adjacent to The Gallery at Harborplace and Harborplace Tower. Unlike both structures, which are managed and owned by Brookfield Properties, the hotel, while adjacent, has separate ownership and is currently owned and managed by The Buccini/Pollin Group (BPG) and PM Hotel Group, respectively.

The hotel has undergone several renovations. One of which include a $4.5 million renovation in 2016 which updated meeting, dining, and event spaces.^[19]Another includes a multi-million dollar renovation on the hotel's guest rooms, which occurred in 2019.^[20]

The hotel includes an indoor pool, a gym, and dining (Watertable and Starbucks). Some rooms even have harbor views and coffee makers.^[21]

Harborplace Office Tower
Harborplace Tower in August 2024, also contains the Renaissance Hotel and the defunct Gallery mall.
Interactive map of Harborplace Office Tower
Former names	Legg Mason Tower (1987–1997)
Alternative names	111 S. Calvert Street • The Gallery at Harborplace Office Building
General information
Status	In operation
Type	Office building
Location	111 S. Calvert Street
Year built	1987
Construction started	1985
Completed	1987
Opening	September 1987
Renovated	2022
Owner	Brookfield Properties
Management	Brookfield Properties
Height
Top floor	28
Technical details
Floor count	28
Design and construction
Architect	Eberhard H. Zeidler
Architecture firm	Zeidler Roberts Partnership
Developer	The Rouse Company

111 S. Calvert Street, also referred to as the Harborplace Tower or the Gallery at Harborplace office building, is an office tower adjacent to both The Gallery and the Renaissance Hotel. Its current tenants include Lupin Pharmaceuticals, whose name was on the building,^[22] but was removed in 2025. More current tenants include Brookfield Renewables, Wells Fargo Bank, Cigna Health, Northwestern Mutual, SIA Solutions, and Ballard Spahr LLP. Its former tenants include BB&T and Legg Mason. Legg Mason was an original tenant for the building, but it relocated its headquarters to the nearby 100 Light Street office tower.^[23]

The tower undergone a $12 million renovation in 2022, which involved upgrades to the lobby, a new fitness center, "Move-in ready" suites, which was planned by Brookfield Properties and completed in 2022 by Rand Construction Corporation.^[24]

The property consists of two pavilions, each two stories in height; one along Pratt Street, the other on Light Street, and a five-story mall adjacent to the Pratt Street Pavilion called The Gallery at Harborplace that has been closed and vacant since 2022. The pavilions housed a range of stores and restaurants, some of which once sold merchandise specific to Baltimore or the state of Maryland, such as blue crab food products, Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens merchandise, Edgar Allan Poe products, and University of Maryland Terrapins clothing.

In 1964, then Baltimore mayor Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin initiated the first Inner Harbor Master Plan to clear out derelict piers and industrial warehouses. In 1977, then Baltimore mayor William Donald Schaefer hired James W. Rouse, known for Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, Massachusetts, to create a similar vibrant commercial hub. In 1978, because the land was owned by the city and was in an area designated as a park in the city charter, a citywide referendum was required to proceed with the project, championed by William Donald Schaefer.^[25] The amendment "limited the size of any project there to the top of the U.S.S. Constellation docked in front of the Pratt Street Pavilion."^[26] Voters approved the use of 3.2 acres of public parkland for the development, provided the surrounding 26 acres remained public open space. The Inner Harbor promenade where Harborplace now sits was completed in 1974.

The Rouse Company announced Harborplace in November 1978, and the project was estimated to cost around $20 million.^[27]

Rouse hired architect Benjamin C. Thompson, who also designed Faneuil Hall Marketplace, to design the Harborplace pavilions, and Harborplace officially began construction in January 1979 on the site of the former Baltimore Steam Packet Company docks.^[28]

Harborplace had its grand opening celebration on July 2, 1980, as a centerpiece of the revival of downtown Baltimore. The celebration lasted until July 6, 1980, but most of the events and festivals happened on July 2, 1980.^[29] The event involved a ribbon-cutting ceremony, speeches by James Rouse and William Schaefer, a releasing of balloons into the sky, and was filled with music from various groups, including multiple bagpipe bands that paraded through the area. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performed a live concert at the water's edge. The event concluded at sunset with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, accompanied by firing cannons and a major fireworks display. Harborplace was so successful that it attracted more visitors than Walt Disney World in its first few years.^[30] Both pavilions were filled with multiple local specialty shops and restaurants. The Pratt Street Pavilion was a retail and dining-based mall, while the Light Street Pavilion included a second floor food court and a ground-floor market known as The Sam Smith Market. Some original tenants included City Lights, Phillips Seafood, Lee's Ice Cream, Hats in the Belfry, and Athenian Plaka.^[31]

The Baltimore "festival marketplace" became an "architectural prototype, despite opening several years after Quincy Market," attracting both local residents and out-of-town visitors, and spawning a series of other similar projects: The Waterside Marketplace in Norfolk, Virginia, Portside Marketplace in Toledo, Ohio, Jacksonville Landing in Jacksonville, Florida, Bayside Marketplace in Miami, Florida, and even non-waterfront projects like Owings Mills Mall in Owings Mills, Maryland, The Gallery at Market East in Philadelphia, Washington's Pavilion at the Old Post Office, and Sixth Street Marketplace in Richmond, Virginia.^[32]

Additionally, The Rouse Company built The Gallery at Harborplace connected to the Pratt Street Pavilion and opened in September 1987. This led with the Harborplace complex having three malls. The Renaissance Harborplace Hotel was built adjacent to The Gallery and the Harborplace Tower and opened in 1988. The development of The Gallery at Harborplace, the Harborplace Tower and the Renaissance Hotel also led to similar projects, such as Pioneer Place in Portland, Oregon, Westlake Center in Seattle, Washington, and Arizona Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

In January 1998, The Rouse Company allowed Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith to break ground for a Planet Hollywood restaurant in the Pratt Street Pavilion. It closed permanently in September 2001.^[33] It was replaced with M&S Grill in October 2003, which closed permanently in October 2018.^[34]

General Growth Properties (GGP) acquired Harborplace from the Rouse Company in 2004 as part its $12.6 billion acquisition of the company.^[35]

On the weekend of July 1, 2005, Harborplace celebrated its 25th anniversary with a ceremony featuring Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Baltimore Mayor Martin J. O'Malley, and Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association (BACVA) president Leslie R. Doggett.^[36]

Harborplace celebrated its 30th anniversary in July 2010.^[37]

A Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium museum opened in the Light Street Pavilion on June 26, 2012,^[38] and closed permanently in May 2020.^[39]

In November 2012, the pavilions were sold to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation for $100 million.^[40] Renovations were announced in 2015^[41] and ended in 2018, three years later than expected.^[42]

On June 3, 2019, the Baltimore Business Journal reported that as of May 30, 2019, Harborplace was placed into court-ordered receivership and that Ashkenazy Acquisitions lost both management and ownership of Harborplace as a result. Deutsche Bank cited Ashkenazy's default on its loan, and a $1.13 million judgment against them from a lawsuit filed by Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in 2016^[43] for "failing to maintain in good order and repair" the common areas, and that "multiple vendors" had been unpaid for months. The BBJ reported that the Baltimore Circuit Court had appointed IVL Group, LLC of Montclair, NJ to manage, maintain, lease, provide security for Harborplace, and the receivership order also authorizes IVL Group to seek a new buyer. The property was acquired by MCB Real Estate in 2022.^[44]

The first national tenant to open in Harborplace was Hooters, which opened in October 1990.^[45] The Cheesecake Factory announced in 1995 that it was going to open in the Pratt Street Pavilion. The tenant had its grand opening in 1996.^[46]

In the 2000s and early 2010s, the original local tenants that occupied the pavilions since their grand opening in 1980 began to close. In this period, many of them were replaced with national tenants. In 2011, Phillips Seafood, the last original tenant in the pavilions, permanently closed their Harborplace location because the restaurant announced that it was relocating to the former ESPN Zone space in the nearby Pratt Street Power Plant. The former Phillips Seafood space was replaced with a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant in 2012.^[47] Additionally, in 2012, Ripley's Believe It or Not! took over a large portion of the Light Street Pavilion that once housed smaller local tenants on both floors. H&M has also taken over a large portion of the Light Street Pavilion that previously housed smaller local tenants on both floors. Consequently, when Ripley's and H&M closed in the 2020s, it left massive empty spaces in the Light Street Pavilion. Many tourists and locals described the new tenants as General Growth Properties turning Harborplace into a "generic tourist trap mall" that did not align with James Rouse's original vision for Harborplace. Similarly, GGP through Howard Hughes Corporation turned Riverwalk Marketplace, also developed by Rouse, from a festival marketplace into an outlet mall in 2014 with national chains like Nordstrom Rack, highlighting a pattern of GGP making festival marketplaces more appealing for those who just want to shop and dine.^[48] Anyone could find a Hooters, a Cheesecake Factory, or a Ripley's anywhere else in the country. Additionally, many tourists and locals complained about the new national tenants because they had higher prices than the original local tenants. They could no longer find a good meal in the pavilions that is under $25.^[49]

In the 2010s, tenants began to close in the pavilions again. The Fudgery closed its Harborplace location in 2018 due to underperformance. Other tenants like Five Guys, Tir Na Nog and Noodles & Co. also closed. While Five Guys is planning to return to the Inner Harbor in 2026, its new location is at the nearby Lockwood Place shopping center, not Harborplace.^[50] The former Urban Outfitters space was replaced with Neighborhoods Urban Goods. By the late 2010s, the pavilions faced strong competition with other festival marketplaces or similar markets nearby, particularly the Broadway Market in Fells Point which had a massive renovation in 2019.

Following the Bubba Gump lawsuit in 2016, the tenant, along with many others, complained of many maintenance issues that Ashkenazy largely ignored, which included worn-out floors, dirty bathrooms, non-functional escalators, malfunctioning or non-functional HVAC systems, a non-functional fire sprinkler system following a fire at Ripley's in April 2017, chipped or worn-out painting, defective and damaged doors and broken windows, poor or defective lighting, fire hazards from faulty electrical outlets and overloaded electrical systems, rodent infestations and leaking roofs. Tenants also complained that Ashkenazy did not provide adequate security for the pavilions. As a result, in 2019, after defaulting on a loan and failing to maintain the property, Ashkenazy was evicted from ownership and management of Harborplace, and the property was put on receivership with IVL Group LLC managing the property while also trying to find a new buyer.^[51]

By the 2020s, Harborplace's decline significantly exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which also accelerated e-commerce. Many more tenants like Ripley's Believe It or Not! closed their doors in 2020. Shortly after Ripley's closed, the Light Street Pavilion's second floor was completely closed off because no tenants remained. The pandemic was known to be the "final blow" for Harborplace and The Gallery.

In April 2022, the Baltimore development firm MCB Real Estate entered into an agreement to purchase Harborplace.^[52] The deal was finalized by the Baltimore City Circuit Court in December 2022.^[53]

On February 10, 2022, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. closed their location in the Light Street Pavilion because the restaurant was shut down by the Baltimore City Health Department for major maintenance issues and failing to renew their food permit for the restaurant that has indoor and outdoor seating on the Harborplace promenade. Luke Kosters, an attorney and executive for Kelly Companies, which operated the Harborplace Bubba Gump, confirmed that the restaurant was closed permanently. He also cited that the major maintenance issues that caused their restaurant to shut down in the pavilion was a direct consequence of previous owner Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp.^[54] H&M closed their location in the Light Street Pavilion in March 2022. As a result, the Light Street Pavilion only had two remaining tenants in March 2022 and was almost totally vacant.

In September 2022, UNO Pizzeria & Grill "temporarily" closed its location in the Pratt Street Pavilion, citing repairs, then never reopened. MCB Real Estate confirmed that the closure was permanent shortly thereafter. The restaurant moved its operations in Baltimore to The Shops at Canton Crossing, but that location also closed in August 2024. Additionally, the restaurant’s signage was removed.^[55] After UNO Pizzeria & Grill closed, the Pratt Street Pavilion's last major sit-down restaurant tenant was The Cheesecake Factory. The Pratt Street Pavilion had just three tenants in September 2022 and was also almost completely vacant.

By 2023, the pavilions had become "dead malls", with only a handful of tenants still open. Specifically, about four tenants were still open at this time, and more specifically, the Light Street Pavilion only had one tenant remaining. The Pratt Street Pavilion still had three tenants remaining. By April 2023, the Light Street Pavilion's only remaining tenant was Hooters. The entrances to the pavilion and even restrooms were blocked off, with signs redirecting people to enter Hooters through the anchor tenant's main entrance. The Pratt Street Pavilion was still open to the public, but its only major sit-down restaurant still open was The Cheesecake Factory. Other tenants included IT'SUGAR, and some small souvenir and jewelry stores. Everything else—ranging from small restaurants to national retailers—was closed.

In January 2024, Hooters sued both Ashkenazy and MCB Real Estate for failing to provide adequate security for the Light Street Pavilion following a break-in in September 2023. They also described the pavilion as "unkempt, dirty, and poorly maintained." When the tenant closed in June 2024, the Light Street Pavilion had become fully vacant.^[56] However, in November 2024, MCB Real Estate countersued Hooters, citing that the tenant violated its lease by reducing hours before leaving.^[57]

On December 4, 2025, The Cheesecake Factory, which has been a tenant in Harborplace for nearly 30 years, announced that it was closing its Harborplace location on January 24, 2026, citing that after an "extensive review and analysis", The Cheesecake Factory made the "difficult decision to discontinue operation." This leaves the Pratt Street Pavilion with no more restaurant tenants because The Cheesecake Factory was the last major sit-down restaurant tenant available at Harborplace after Hooters closed. Additionally, its closure makes IT'SUGAR the last remaining national tenant in Harborplace.^[58]

The Harborplace pavilions are scheduled for permanent closure and demolition in the fall of 2026.

Harborplace Redevelopment
Interactive map of Harborplace Redevelopment
Alternative names	The Sail • The Park at Freedom's Port • 303 Light St Apartments • The Wildset • 203 Pratt St
General information
Status	Proposed
Type	Mixed-use
Location	201 and 203 E. Pratt Street 301 and 303 S. Light Street
Estimated completion	Early 2030s
Technical details
Floor count	10/9 (Pratt Street) 32/25 (Light Street)
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Gensler, 3XN Architects, BCT Design Group and various others[59]
Developer	MCB Real Estate LLC

On October 30, 2023, MCB Real Estate announced a proposal to demolish both pavilions and replace them with a 32-story apartment building known as the South Tower and a 25-story apartment building known as the North Tower on 303 Light St, and two commercial and retail buildings, and another retail building with an amphitheater on Pratt St. The Gallery at Harborplace, however, has remained closed and vacant since January 2022 with no plans for redevelopment, even though Brookfield Properties did state they are "re-evaluating many options for The Gallery."^[26] To proceed, the project would require a charter amendment to allow residential development, rezoning changes, and an amendment to the city's urban renewal plan governing the Inner Harbor,^[60] which was approved by Baltimore voters in 2024.^[61]

The new 201 Pratt St building is planned to offer both retail and commercial space. It will house a marketplace on the first two floors, and its design was inspired by the water. It is colloquially called "The Sail" due to its shape. The 203 Pratt St building between The Sail and the World Trade Center will offer waterfront commercial space, and public space underneath a cantilevered second floor. The amphitheater will be known as "The Park at Freedom's Port" and will have ~2,000 seats, including an elevated space for dining and recreation. Underneath the dining space and amphitheater will be artistic and retail lining an eastward extension of Camden St towards the water. The 303 Light St apartment towers will offer multifamily residential on the upper floors, while the first two floors will involve retail, dining, and community space. 301 Light St will involve a retail building nicknamed "The Wildset", which is planned to house retail and dining options. The design is inspired by Maryland's shipbuilding heritage and local seafood.^[62] MCB Real Estate plans to make Harborplace a 24/7 environment, extending the complex beyond its original focus solely as retail and dining.

The redevelopment plan consolidates with MCB's plan for a 300 East Pratt Street mixed-use building.^[63]

However, the redevelopment plans have been criticized, with complaints that the new 303 Light St apartment towers block views, and fears that the apartment towers, along with the 203 Pratt St building, is privatization of the waterfront. People have also expressed concerns that the apartment towers will limit general public access.^[64] Former Baltimore mayor Martin O'Malley famously stated that the redevelopment plans were a "terrible developer grab of public waterfront parkland", voting "No" during Question F in November 2024. Some people have also argued for alternatives to demolition, such as renovation of the pavilions into an entertainment district with local restaurants and music activity, similar to the nearby Power Plant Live! and Norfolk's Waterside District both owned and managed by The Cordish Companies. Others have proposed to replace the pavilions with a full "parks-only" space which involved turning the area into an exclusive green space, similar to Jacksonville's Riverfront Plaza, which was built on the former site of the Jacksonville Landing.^[65]

James Rouse's sons, Jimmy Rouse (nicknamed James W. Rouse Jr.) and Ted Rouse have also criticized the redevelopment plans, with Jimmy Rouse arguing for an alternative for demolition by renovating the pavilions for markets, such as seafood, produce, and crafts, echoing James Rouse's vision. The Rouse family has also criticized the apartment towers, seeing them as intrusive, and that the plans lack what James Rouse intended, calling it a "blank check giveaway" for a developer.^[66]

Ted Rouse pushed for mandatory design review and underground parking for aesthetics. He also pushed for funding commitments before demolition to prevent the risk of the Harborplace site from becoming an empty, undeveloped plot, similar to the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre.^[67]

David Bramble, a managing partner of MCB Real Estate responded to the criticism by rejecting parks-only replacements, arguing that an exclusive green space is not in the best interest of Baltimore, as the current pavilions, albeit largely vacant, are a critical commercial component to the Inner Harbor.

He has also argued that the apartment towers are necessary because the retail-only format of Harborplace is outdated, and also stating that blending retail and residential is standard in contemporary development, and that it is essential for "financial, economic sustainability." He also stated that a modern waterfront requires a mix of uses to be successful.^[68]

Bramble has also rejected alternatives to demolition that involved converting the Harborplace pavilions into an entertainment district or keeping it as a festival marketplace, arguing that a retail-only or market-only alternative, such as keeping the pavilions as a festival marketplace or redeveloping it into an entertainment district, is not sustainable. He also added that renovation is no longer viable for an alternative as the pavilions have numerous maintenance issues as a result of Ashkenazy, such as broken HVAC, mold build-up, and rodent infestations. Because of these maintenance problems, a renovation would've been expensive, and since the pavilions are over 40 years old, it would also lead to hidden elements not being removed such as asbestos. These maintenance issues are a prime example of Harborplace as "demolition by neglect".^[69]

In 2025, the pavilions were filled with temporary local tenants as part of MCB Real Estate's BOOST (Black Owned and Operated Storefront Tenancy) Program, which was to activate the waterfront area and prevent the area from becoming a "ghost town" while redevelopment plans are being finalized.

The former Hooters space was replaced with a Supano's Sports Bar & Grill Steakhouse, which had its grand opening celebration on Friday, October 17, 2025.^[70]

The former H&M space was replaced with a Made in Baltimore holiday store, which had its grand opening in November 2023^[71] and reopened in February 2024.^[72]

MCB Real Estate also plans to do some events at the pavilions before redevelopment, the first being a Holiday Makers Market event in December 2025 and another being a Sail250 celebration in July 2026.^[73]

MCB Real Estate has confirmed that the temporary local tenants are fully aware that the pavilions will be demolished. The BOOST tenants will be relocated during construction and will be offered to reopen in Harborplace once redevelopment is finished. The last remaining national tenant not part of the BOOST program being IT'SUGAR will likely also be relocated, but its future in Harborplace is uncertain as of 2025. The pavilions are expected to be permanently closed and begin demolition in the fall of 2026. Redevelopment is expected to be completed by the 2030s. The adjacent structures will remain open during this period except for the defunct Gallery mall, and the entrance to the skywalk connecting that mall to the Pratt Street Pavilion will be completely blocked off for construction.

On the night of April 5, 2017, the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum in the Light Street Pavilion suffered a fire, causing minimal damage and a temporary closure for cleanup and repairs. The cause of the fire is unknown, but it was also reported that the pavilions’ fire sprinkler system did not activate. This was seen as a major issue from Ashkenazy's lack of maintenance for Harborplace.^[74]

In the night of September 2023, a break-in occurred at Hooters in the Light Street Pavilion. At the time of the event, there were not a lot of security guards as a result of Ashkenazy's neglect, which also led to Hooters’ January 2024 lawsuit.^[75]

Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, after acquiring Harborplace, announced renovation plans. The new design plans were revealed in 2015. and was for to revitalize the struggling complex.

The design for the Pratt Street Pavilion aimed to "turn the building inside out" to allow ground-floor tenants like IT'SUGAR and Banana Republic (which previously was in the Gallery) to have their stores facing both the street and waterfront sides. Another plan for the new design was to replace the awnings and "greenhouse"-like glass with blackened steel, timbered wood, and terra cotta panels. Much of the second floor was planned to be an updated food court called "The Market at Harborplace", and Ashkenazy also planned on an updated, more modern tenant mix for both pavilions, such as Build-A-Bear Workshop and Neighborhoods Urban Goods, which occupied the former Urban Outfitters space.^[76]

The renovation required the demolition and closure of the Pratt Street Pavilion's concourse near the elevators. The escalators for the Light Street Pavilion were replaced with regular stairs.^[77]

During this renovation period, IT'SUGAR temporarily relocated to the Light Street Pavilion. The space was closed permanently in April 2018 when they moved back to the Pratt Street Pavilion.^[78]

The renovation consolidated with the Inner Harbor 2.0 plan, the BMore Bright initiative, and the Lights Out Baltimore project which involved replacing all of the iconic Super Cube light fixtures, colloquially known as "the Sugar Cubes", designed by George Kostritsky, the "K" in RTKL Associates in the 1960s for Charles Center and the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre and installed by The Rouse Company and The Cordish Companies on the Inner Harbor waterfronts in the 1980s and 1990s, including the Harborplace waterfront and the nearby Pratt Street Power Plant, with 143 new wooden LED light poles designed by Structura, which was completed in 2018. The replacement was made because the original sodium light fixtures were burning out, became difficult to maintain and repair leading to dark areas on the waterfronts, and also caused migrating bird problems due to their upward-facing position. The new light fixtures point downward and are shielded, reducing this issue. The Super Cube light fixtures remained on the street side of the Pratt Street Pavilion, but all of the Super Cube light fixtures nearby The Gallery at Harborplace have been replaced. Additionally, the nearby Baltimore Convention Center is replacing the Super Cube light fixtures with LED street lamp fixtures. Some Super Cube street lamps have already been removed entirely before 2018, like the ones surrounding the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre during its demolition in 2014.^[79][80]

The renovation also consolidated with Hooters' plan in July 2015 to relocate from its original space on the second floor of the Light Street Pavilion to the Light Street Pavilion's 6,300-square-foot food court space on the first floor (known as The Galley), which was largely delayed due to landlord construction issues and storefront updates.^[81]

However, the plans were largely stalled. The pavilions began renovations in 2017, two years after the plans were announced, and renovations ending in April 2018 with the updated IT'SUGAR, and in late 2018 where renovations for both pavilions was only partially completed.^[82]

• 
  The Light Street Pavilion on August 3, 2024, as viewed from the Baltimore World Trade Center.
• 
  The Gallery at Harborplace's interior, as viewed from the third floor, on April 3, 2015, shows Starbucks on the second floor. Restricted 5th floor seen on the top, with the windows covered in curtains.
• 
  Harborplace in 2019.
• 
  The exterior of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant in November 2016.
• 
  The interior of the former Phillips Seafood/Bubba Gump space shortly after its closure.
• 
• 
  The exterior and interior of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum at the Light Street Pavilion in July 2017.
• 
  Harborplace in August 2024, as viewed from the National Aquarium.

• Baltimore portal