Michael Beyard, a senior resident fellow for retail at the Urban Land Institute, said concerns about the oversaturation of retail are unfounded. "I don't think Baltimore is in any danger of that," he said. "The problem with retailing in downtown Baltimore is that it's not integrated well. There are different districts within downtown that have retailing but the main spine, Pratt Street, is completely retail-unfriendly."
Beyard said the plan would transform Pratt Street from a barrier into a connector.
But Cordish said the market in Baltimore does not have the demand for such an immense increase in retail space. "How many vacancies are there in Harborplace today?" he said. "There's a reason why. There's a lot of restaurants and retail space and you know, it's not easy to fill them up. So you're adding 650,000 square feet on top of it? I think that's silly. It isn't going to work."
Mark Millman, a retail consultant and CEO of Millman Search Group in Owings Mills, agreed, saying he doesn't think Baltimore can absorb such a large increase in retail space with the current economy and market. "I don't see it happening until the convention center hotel is up and running," Millman said. "I don't think the city is ready for it at this particular time. We're a little over-retailed. To add more retail now in a tough economic climate when we're over-retailed may be wishful thinking."
Sandy Fleming, manager of Destination Baltimore in Harborplace, said she's worried about the competition from more businesses.
"Harborplace in general has definitely gone down in business," said Fleming, whose store sells Baltimore-themed gifts and merchandise. "Shops have left and they haven't been replaced. We've closed two of our stores."
But Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership, said vacancies in malls across the country are always going to exist and aren't an indication that there's no appetite for more retail. He said the Pratt Street project would likely create somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 square feet of new retail and commercial space, with possibly an additional 150,000 square feet coming from private development.
Harborplace has about 152,000 square feet of retail space and The Gallery, across the street from Harborplace, has about 132,000 square feet, according to company officials.
"We've been meeting with national retailers for years, and most have said we would bring more retail downtown if there were more spaces," Fowler said.
