BALTIMORE, MD (WBFF) — Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, once a bustling centerpiece of the city’s tourism and retail scene, is now marked by empty storefronts, shuttered attractions and growing concerns about safety as redevelopment plans move forward.
Where families once packed into the massive, multi-level ESPN Zone and the iconic Barnes and Noble, the area has grown quiet. The Light and Pratt Street pavilions, once filled with local restaurants and shops, now lined with vacant spaces, their dark windows reflecting what’s left of the crowds that used to be.
Surrounding the Harbor, the Sheraton and Renaissance hotels have been hit hard too. Once housing hundreds of tourists, now, the Sheraton has completely shuttered and the Renaissance is fresh off of a foreclosure sale, facing an uncertain future. Even some of the boats that once brought people into the harbor are pulling away. The Spirit of Baltimore, a decades-long dining and sightseeing attraction, is set to close its Baltimore port this spring.
The changes have been years in the making, tied to shifting shopping trends, the pandemic and delayed redevelopment plans. Furthermore, this weekend showed signs of yet another setback — a shooting along the waterfront, adding a new layer of concern to an area already struggling.
Local economist and longtime Baltimore resident Anirban Basu said the Inner Harbor has lost its reputation as a destination. “The Inner Harbor was a perceived safe haven, and it no longer is that,” Basu said, “It was really special. It was unique. It was Baltimore. I think most people would agree it needs to be redeveloped. The question becomes, how should it be redeveloped?”
Current redevelopment plans are anchored by two large apartment buildings, separated by an open greenspace — and would rely on hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private funding. But not everyone is sold. Basu is among those criticizing the approach, “I think the current set of plans is dismal,” he said.
He questioned whether adding new places to live will be enough to bring visitors back, arguing the harbor should function as a destination for the broader public. “It should be a gathering space,” he said, “And when I talk to a lot of young people, they say, ‘no, I supported the plan.’ You know why they supported the plan? Because something is better than nothing. And right now, when they look at the Inner Harbor, they see nothing,” Basu said.
But for those who remember what the Inner Harbor used to be, Basu says it’s not just about filling empty space — it’s about restoring the lively energy that once drew people in. “If you look at the pictures of what the way the Inner Harbor used to be, the magnitude of the crowds,” he said, “It needs to be glorious.”
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