A prominent Baltimore developer says the city's planned $100 million makeover of a 16-block section of Pratt Street is not feasible and would exacerbate existing traffic problems and oversaturate an already ailing downtown with retail space.
David Cordish, developer of the Power Plant Live complex, called the plan to add up to 650,000 square feet of retail and commercial space "absurd."
"One, that's almost three Harborplaces," he said. "They are having enough problems. Two, physically there is no room on the north side of Pratt Street for that much retail. It's impossible, physically."
But others, including some merchants in Harborplace, say they would welcome more business downtown, despite the fact that business in Harborplace is slower than usual. Several businesses, including the California Pizza Kitchen, have pulled out recently.
"Any enhancement of Pratt Street is only going to help Harborplace," said Mike Durham, president of the Harborplace Merchants Association and owner of Stadium Sports and The Sport Shop. "If you have more traffic on Pratt Street, it's going to help."
City officials unveiled a conceptual plan for transforming Pratt Street last week at an annual meeting of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, a civic organization that has led the drive for the overhaul. The plan would make changes to downtown traffic patterns, create a new public square with an extra acre of parkland near the water's edge and remove a half-dozen pedestrian bridges in an effort to create a more walkable, pedestrian-friendly downtown. The plan also includes reworking the intersections of Pratt and Light streets, and Pratt and Calvert streets.
National retail experts say downtown revitalization projects in other cities have had mixed results.
Sidney Donnell, an executive professor of real estate finance at Texas A&M University, said projects in New Orleans; San Antonio, Texas; and New York's South Street Seaport failed to realize their promise.
Location is critical, Donnell said, noting that the projects in San Antonio and New Orleans weren't in the tourist centers.
"I think the question of whether downtown retail is going to be successful has to do with what kind of viability does downtown have on its own," Donnell said. "Do you have people who live and work downtown, and do you have a vibrant tourism industry? You look at Baltimore and you have both."
