T. Rowe Price Breaks Ground On Harbor Point Headquarters, Raising New Questions For Future Of Inner Harbor
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A major Baltimore business is leaving the heart of the downtown, and while the move isn't too far away, it's one that's becoming all too familiar for the Inner Harbor.
T. Rowe Price is departing downtown and opening a brand new global headquarters in Harbor Point. The construction of the 550,000 square-foot campus, featuring two, seven-story buildings, is expected to be completed in 2024.
"This has been our home since the firm was founded in 1937," said T. Rowe Price president and CEO Rob Sharps.
Plans call for a water harvesting system that will use rain water in all the flush fixtures in the building, saving 1.55 million gallons of potable water every year. The company hopes to achieve LEED Platinum status through the U.S. Green Building Council.
The investment firm said it employs 5,200 staffers in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
The celebration of a business who chose to stay and branch out in Baltimore comes with questions on what the future holds for downtown, where T. Rowe Price operates out of a tower on Light and E. Pratt streets.
Just across the street from the firm's offices in downtown sits Harborplace, the shopping and dining destination has sat in legal limbo since 2019.
"When you think what's going to happen with Harborplace as we go through this receivership process and get it in the hands of someone who actually understands Baltimore, then we're going to start to see the investments into downtown," said Mayor Brandon Scott.
A judge placed the waterfront property in a receivership, which means eventually, there could be a new owner.
While Harborplace has been plagued with closures, across the street, the Gallery Mall shut its doors for good in December.
Scott said the central business district "is going to be reimagined."
WJZ reached out to both the owner of Harborplace, New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. and the named trustee of the property, IVL Group LLC of Montclair, New Jersey. So far, neither company immediately responded for our request for comment.