Harborplace's Light Street Pavilion at night. May 27, 2008.
Harborplace is a shopping and dining complex on the Inner Harbor in 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 the 111 S. Calvert Street office tower and the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, both adjacent to the defunct Gallery mall.
The Gallery at Harborplace was a four-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.[2] Unlike the pavilions, The Gallery at Harborplace was a four-story mall and is adjacent the 111 S. Calvert Street 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 anchor tenants many malls had at the time such as Sears, Macy's, and JCPenney. The mall is connected to the Pratt Street Pavilion via a skywalk that has been closed since the 2010s, 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.
Decline and closure
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 it 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 faced strong competition with many other 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.[3] In March 2016, Brooks Brothers closed its Gallery at Harborplace location because the tenant announced that it was relocating to a new location in Harbor East.[4] In 2020, Johnston & Murphy closed its Gallery at Harborplace location, along with a sports bar on the first floor.[5]
The Gallery at Harborplace on its final days of operation. January 18, 2022.
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.[6]
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, Bath & Body Works.
By January 2022, the mall had no tenants, and was later permanently closed. While the adjacent structures being the 111 S. Calvert Street office tower and Renaissance Hotel remain open, their entrances to The Gallery are blocked off.
Future
The "Our Baltimore" mural on the defunct Gallery mall.
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.[7] 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 111 S. Calvert Street office tower and the Renaissance hotel.
The Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel is adjacent to The Gallery at Harborplace and the 111 S. Calvert Street office tower. Unlike The Gallery and the 111. S Calvert Street office tower, which are both 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.[9]Another includes a multi-million dollar renovation on the hotel’s guest rooms, which occurred in 2019.[10]
111 S. Calvert Street
111 S. Calvert Street Office Tower
The 111 S. Calvert Street office tower in August 2024, also contains the Renaissance Hotel and the defunct Gallery mall.
Interactive map of 111 S. Calvert Street Office Tower
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 is on the building,[11] Brookfield Renewables, Wells Fargo Bank, and Ballard Spahr LLP.
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.[12]
Description
The property consists of two pavilions, each two stories in height; one along Pratt Street, the other on Light Street. There is also a mall adjacent to the Pratt Street Pavilion called The Gallery at Harborplace. The pavilions house 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.
History
Harborplace was designed by Benjamin C. Thompson and was built by The Rouse Company near the former Light Street site of the Baltimore Steam Packet Company's steamship terminal and docks. 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 then Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer.[13] 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."[14]
Harborplace opened on July 2, 1980, as a centerpiece of the revival of downtown Baltimore.[15] The Baltimore "festival marketplaces" 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: Waterside District in Norfolk, Portside in Toledo, and even non-waterfront projects like Owings Mills Mall and Philadelphia's The Gallery at Market East, Washington's Pavilion at the Old Post Office, and Richmond's Sixth Street Marketplace.[16]
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 Baltimore Harborplace Hotel was also built adjacent to The Gallery and an office tower and opened in 1988.
General Growth Properties (GGP) acquired Harborplace from the Rouse Company in 2004 as part its $12.6 billion acquisition of the company.[20]
In November 2012, the pavilions were sold to Ashkenazy Acquisitions for $100 million.[21] Renovations were announced in 2015[22] and ended in 2018, three years later than expected.[23]
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[24] 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, the receivership order also authorizes IVL Group to seek a new buyer.[25]
Decline and redevelopment
The Pratt Street Pavilion in 2015.
The shift from local tenants to national tenants
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. The company announced that it was relocating to the former ESPN Zone space in the Pratt Street Power Plant. The former Phillips Seafood space was replaced with a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant in 2012.[26] 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. 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.[27]
Tenant exoduses and management problems
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. The former Urban Outfitters space was replaced by a 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, malfunctioning or non-functional HVAC systems, lack of maintenance for the pavilions’ fire sprinkler system, 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 of Harborplace, and the property was put on receivership.[28]
COVID-19 pandemic
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.
More tenant exoduses
The inside of the former Phillips Seafood/Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant space in April 2023.
In February 2022, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. closed their location in the Light Street Pavilion. 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. Additionally, the restaurant’s signage was removed. 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.
In June 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, the pavilion became fully vacant.[29]
By 2023, the pavilions have became "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.
Redevelopment
In April 2022, the Baltimore development firm MCB Real Estate entered into an agreement to purchase Harborplace.[30] The deal was finalized by the Baltimore City Circuit Court in December 2022.[31]
On October 30, 2023, MCB Real Estate announced a proposal to demolish both pavilions and replace them with a 32-story and a 25-story apartment building, two commercial and retail buildings, and another retail building with an amphitheater. 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."[14] 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,[32] which was approved by Baltimore voters in 2024.[33]
Temporary revitalization
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 by a Supano's Sports Bar & Grill Steakhouse, which had its grand opening celebration on Friday, October 17, 2025.[34] The former H&M space was replaced by a Made in Baltimore holiday store, which had its grand opening in November 2023[35] and reopened in February 2024.[36] 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.[37] 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.
Final tenant exoduses before demolition and redevelopment
On December 4, 2025, The Cheesecake Factory, which has been a tenant in Harborplace since 1995, 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.[38] All other remaining tenants, including the BOOST ones, are expected to permanently closed by or before the fall of 2026 to allow for construction.
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