`Big bang' proposal for Inner Harbor East

Second downtown: $250 million project would hasten creation of a new retail hub for underserved city.

THE DIE may be cast.

Bakery magnate John Paterakis' planned $250 million addition for Inner Harbor East -- where projects worth $500 million are already under construction -- is just the next step in the bold vision to create a second downtown.

Essentially, the idea is to use property that now houses his vast bakery operation to redevelop much of the underused land on or near the waterfront to the west of Fells Point.

What Mr. Paterakis has presented is an exciting proposal to quickly create top-of-the-line office and retail space near downtown, where historical preservation issues have stalled other renewal efforts.

Indeed, the proposed Inner Harbor East expansion could be the "big bang" that city planners have dreamed of.

Inner Harbor East became a political priority under Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, when the master plan was changed to allow high-density development. Mr. Paterakis now proposes to add four structures in addition to buildings under construction, including another tower next to the 31-story Marriott Baltimore Waterfront hotel.

This daring scheme is every bit as big as was Charles Center, the effort four decades ago to breathe new life into a dying downtown by condemning and redeveloping 350 aging properties.

But there's one big difference.

Charles Center was the business community's brainchild. Championed by the Greater Baltimore Committee, it involved a painstakingly open planning process. Construction itself was bankrolled by public money.

The Paterakis grand design, by contrast, has evolved to this point largely in secret. Because the politically powerful businessman and his partners control much of the land, the approval process can be truncated. And while they are likely to seek all the taxpayer subsidies they can, their project is not dependent on public funding.

The city should not rubber-stamp Mr. Paterakis' proposal.

Three years ago, this editorial page was among the strongest critics when Mr. Paterakis had height restrictions lifted from his hotel project so he could build a skyscraper. It was a case of an orderly planning process turned into travesty. Predictably, he now wants more exceptions.

And while his latest plan calls for the construction of only one additional skyscraper, more could be in the pipeline. If this happens, a forbidding high-rise canyon -- not unlike Crystal City in northern Virginia near the Pentagon -- could rise along the shoreline. Is this what Baltimore wants?

And do we really want to ignore the concerns expressed by James Piper Bond, who heads the nearby Living Classrooms Foundation? Its $6 million campus and marina could be threatened by Mr. Paterakis' dream. The foundation, a real asset to this community, was there first and is doing a fine job.

These are not the only problems with Mr. Paterakis' proposal.

Consider the traffic nightmare. No major expansion should be approved in the Inner Harbor East area until definite plans are in place to improve the traffic flow to the Convention Center, nearly a mile away. Congestion is already a problem, and no public transit alternatives have been proposed.

Despite these serious misgivings, the result could be what is needed to attract major corporations to open offices in Baltimore, as well as a retail district for tourists and Baltimoreans, who have been largely underserved since the departure of the department stores from Howard Street.

But while the Paterakis proposal is being considered, Mayor Martin O'Malley must make sure that other vital economic regeneration efforts don't suffer. Chief among these is the plan to revitalize the west side of downtown between Charles Center and the University of Maryland, Baltimore medical and professional institutions.

These two plans are based on two distinctly different concepts and do not present the city with an either-or alternative.

Both should be part of Baltimore's future.