1964–1980: Planning and construction In September 1964, in response to post-
World War II suburbanization, then-Baltimore mayor
Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin initiated the first Inner Harbor Master Plan to clear out derelict piers and industrial warehouses, as downtown Baltimore has struggled, being largely neglected. Those warehouses have since been razed and replaced with
mixed-use buildings, including the
Baltimore Convention Center, which opened in 1979. The
Maryland Science Center was completed and opened to the public in June 1976. In 1977, then-Baltimore mayor
William Donald Schaefer hired the
Columbia, Maryland-based
urban planner James W. Rouse, who also developed West Baltimore's
Mondawmin Mall and known for
Faneuil Hall Marketplace in
Boston, Massachusetts, to create a similar vibrant commercial hub. The concept chosen for the project was a
festival marketplace, the same one used for Faneuil Hall Marketplace, which was a lively, European-style public space with locally owned
restaurants, diverse small vendors and entertainment, including
nightlife. In 1978, because the land was owned by the city and was in an area designated as a park in the city charter, a citywide
referendum was required to proceed with the project, championed by William D. Schaefer. The amendment "limited the size of any project there to the top of the U.S.S. Constellation docked in front of the Pratt Street Pavilion." Voters approved the use of 3.2 acres of public parkland for the development, provided the surrounding 26 acres remained public open space. The Inner Harbor promenade where Harborplace now sits was completed in April 1974. To proceed with the project, The Rouse Company founded the
Maryland-based subsidiary Harborplace, Inc.
Massachusetts-based architectural firm
Benjamin C. Thompson was hired to design the Harborplace pavilions, and the marketplace officially began construction in January 1979 on the former site of the
Baltimore Steam Packet Company docks.
1980–1990: Grand opening and early years Following James Rouse's retirement from The Rouse Company in 1979,
Mathias J. DeVito was at Harborplace's grand opening as ribbon-cutter, though James Rouse was at opening day. Harborplace had its grand opening celebration on July 2, 1980, as a centerpiece of the revival of downtown Baltimore. The event was a week-long celebration that lasted until July 6, 1980, but most of the events and festivals happened on July 2, 1980. The event attracted over 200,000 attendees and involved a
ribbon-cutting ceremony, speeches by James Rouse, Mathias DeVito and William Schaefer, a
releasing of balloons into the sky, and was filled with music from various groups, including multiple bagpipe bands that paraded through the area. The
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performed a live concert at the water's edge. The event concluded at sunset with
Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, accompanied by firing cannons and a major fireworks display. James Rouse then declared Harborplace as the "official playground of the Inner Harbor for all ages." Harborplace was so successful that it attracted nearly 18 million visitors–more visitors than
Walt Disney World–in its first few years, and also led to a
Time magazine published on August 24, 1981, titled "Living: He Digs Downtown" with James Rouse on the cover with the phrase "Cities Are Fun!" The twin pavilions were filled with multiple local specialty shops and restaurants. The Pratt Street Pavilion was a retail and dining-based mall, while the Light Street Pavilion included a second-floor
food court known as
The Galley and a ground-floor
marketplace known as
The Sam Smith Market. The Light Street Pavilion was the larger sister mall of the Pratt Street Pavilion, with significantly more room for stores and restaurants. Notable original tenants included City Lights,
Phillips Seafood (operating as
Phillips Harborplace), Lee's Ice Cream, Hats in the Belfry, and Athenian Plaka. Phillips Seafood also included the Phillips Harborplace Express, a carry-out restaurant and the Phillips Seafood Buffet, an "all you can eat" restaurant. Baltimore's Harborplace Festival Marketplace became an "architectural prototype, despite opening several years after
Quincy Market," attracting both local residents and out-of-town visitors, and spawning a series of other similar
urban renewal projects by The Rouse Co.:
Waterside Festival Marketplace in
Norfolk, Virginia,
Portside Festival Marketplace in
Toledo, Ohio, and even non-waterfront projects like
Owings Mills Mall in
Owings Mills, Maryland,
The Gallery at Market East's Gallery II expansion in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and
6th Street Marketplace in
Richmond, Virginia. In its heyday, it also outperformed the then-failing
Broadway Market. Harborplace's success was amplified by the August 1981 opening of the
National Aquarium and the 1982 opening of
McKeldin Fountain, drawing more traffic. Harborplace was successful enough that James Rouse founded the
Enterprise Foundation in 1982, which in turn created the subsidiary
Enterprise Development Company (EDC), specifically to bring the festival marketplace concept to smaller cities. The Fudgery, a fudge shop where the employees would sing while making fudge, opened in 1985 in the Light Street Pavilion.
Pizzeria Uno (later Uno Chicago Grill and now Uno Pizzeria & Grill) opened in the Pratt Street Pavilion sometime in June 1991. In May 1992, The Nature Co. announced an expansion of its Harborplace store. The Tandoor restaurant closed its Harborplace location in October of that year due to declining business, and that The Rouse Co. didn't extend its lease. The opening of
Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 6, 1992, led to visitors moving from Harborplace to the new stadium.
The Cheesecake Factory announced in 1995 that it was going to open in the Pratt Street Pavilion. The tenant had its grand opening in September 1996, replacing Nickel City Grill. In January 1998, The Rouse Company allowed
Will Smith and
Jada Pinkett Smith to break ground for a Planet Hollywood restaurant in the Pratt Street Pavilion. It closed permanently in September 2001. It was replaced with M&S Grill, a restaurant operated by
McCormick & Schmick's, in October 2003.
2004–2012: General Growth Properties On May 7, 2004, the
Baltimore Visitor Center opened, situated adjacent to the Light Street Pavilion and the Maryland Science Center. On the weekend of July 1, 2005, Harborplace celebrated its 25th anniversary with a ceremony featuring Maryland Governor
Robert L. Ehrlich, then Baltimore mayor
Martin J. O'Malley, and
Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association (BACVA) president Leslie R. Doggett.
Starbucks closed its doors in the Light Street Pavilion on December 31, 2008, because of financial problems and store "cannibalization" (too many stores in one area), which forced the company to undergo a nationwide restructuring beginning in July 2008 during the
Great Recession. The restructuring involved closing 600 underperforming cafes nationwide that were not making a profit, and part of those 600 locations included 12 Maryland cafes, which included the Harborplace location. Starbucks relocated to The Gallery at Harborplace. On April 16, 2009, GGP filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It was one of the largest U.S. real estate failures at the time. A 7-foot-2-inch bronze statue of former Mayor and Governor William D. Schaefer was unveiled in October 2009, located just south of the Light Street Pavilion to honor his role in the harbor's creation. but the deal failed when
Brookfield Asset Management already obtained GGP a $6.8 billion equity recapitalization. Harborplace celebrated its 30th anniversary in July 2010. Around 2010, GGP announced plans to bring new retail and eateries to Harborplace to better appeal to nearby residents and office workers, as well as tourists and convention attendees. A
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant, based on the movie
Forrest Gump, opened in the former Phillips Seafood space in the Light Street Pavilion in 2012, while its Gump on the Run carry-out restaurant moved into the former Phillips Harborplace Express space. The Phillips Seafood Buffet space remained vacant. A
Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium museum opened in the Light Street Pavilion on June 26, 2012, and took over two floors of what had been small, localized mom-and-pop stores. The museum featured a large, green
sea monster wrapped around the Light Street Pavilion's exterior pillars, known as
Chessie, which critics considered "tacky" for the Inner Harbor and did not align with James Rouse's original vision. Harborplace in general became a
tourist trap. McCormick World of Flavors opened on the first floor of the Light Street Pavilion in August 2012.
2012–2023: Renovations, decline and maintenance issues After emerging from bankruptcy, GGP sold malls it deemed "too risky" to continue owning and managing, including the Harborplace pavilions. In November 2012, the pavilions were sold to
Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation for $100 million. Since Ashkenazy only owned the pavilions but GGP kept ownership of The Gallery, the area was no longer referred to by either developer as "Harborplace & The Gallery". Ashkenazy later announced renovation plans. The new design plans were revealed in 2015, and was for to revitalize the struggling complex. In July 2015, Hooters planned to relocate from its original space on the second floor of the Light Street Pavilion to the facility's 6,300-square-foot
The Galley food court space on the first floor, which was largely delayed due to landlord construction issues and storefront updates. The design for the Pratt Street Pavilion aimed to "turn the building inside out" to allow ground-floor tenants like
IT'SUGAR to have their stores facing both the street and waterfront sides, and to become only accessible from the exterior entrances of the pavilion. Another plan for the new design was to replace the awnings and iconic "greenhouse"-like glass with blackened steel, timbered wood, and terra cotta panels. Much of the second floor was planned to be an updated food court called
The Market at Harborplace, and Ashkenazy also planned on an updated, more modern tenant mix for both pavilions, such as
Build-A-Bear Workshop. The renovation required the demolition and closure of the Pratt Street Pavilion's concourse near the elevators. The escalators for the Light Street Pavilion were replaced with regular stairs. During this renovation period, IT'SUGAR temporarily relocated to the Light Street Pavilion. During the time of the proposal, Harborplace began struggling again. McCormick World of Flavors shuttered on August 14, 2016. In May 2016, The Cheesecake Factory was also shut down temporarily due to rodent infestation, alongside 30+ other establishments in Baltimore City. It was also noted that water seepage would frequently occur in the pavilions' basement levels. Tenants also complained that Ashkenazy did not provide adequate security for the pavilions, resulting in frequent crime that deterred shoppers and even led some stores, such as Hooters, to pay for their own security. Ashkenazy's renovations consolidated with the Inner Harbor 2.0 plan, the BMore Bright initiative, and the Lights Out Baltimore project which involved replacing all of the iconic Super Cube light fixtures, colloquially known as "the Sugar Cubes", designed by George Kostritsky, the "K" in
RTKL Associates with 143 new wooden LED light poles designed by Structura, which was completed in 2018. The replacement was made because the original sodium light fixtures were burning out, became difficult to maintain and repair leading to dark areas on the waterfronts, and also caused migrating bird problems due to their upward-facing position. The new light fixtures point downward and are shielded, reducing this issue. The Super Cube light fixtures remained on the street side of the Pratt and Light Street Pavilions, but all of the Super Cube light fixtures nearby The Gallery at Harborplace have been replaced. Construction on the renovation, however, was largely stalled. It started in 2017, two years after the plans were announced, and renovations ending in April 2018 with the updated IT'SUGAR, and in late 2018 where renovations for both pavilions was only partially completed. The majority of the renovations were only completed for the Pratt Street Pavilion, and only a few tenants from the renovation plans such as Mason's Lobster Rolls (opened 2019) had spots in the updated space.
Urban Outfitters closed on January 7, 2018. In June 2018, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. won a $1.13 million to $1.2 million judgment against Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. for allowing the property to
deteriorate. However, a portion of it was returned in October 2019 following an appeal.
Five Guys and
Noodles & Co. left the Light Street Pavilion in the summer of 2018. The Fudgery closed on September 9, 2018, due to profitability problems. M&S Grill closed permanently in October 2018. In August 2019,
Banana Republic closed its store in the Pratt Street Pavilion, just one year after relocating from The Gallery. By that year, the pavilions faced strong competition from other festival marketplaces and nearby similar markets, particularly the
Broadway Market in
Fells Point, which underwent a major renovation that year. The Inner Harbor itself was already declining in the 2020s, drawing shoppers to better–performing areas like
Harbor East and
Canton. In March 2019,
Deutsche Bank informed that Ashkenazy defaulted on a $76 million loan after failing to satisfy Bubba Gump's 2018 judgment. For failing to maintain the property and leaving vendors unpaid, Ashkenazy was
evicted from ownership and management of Harborplace, and the property was put on court-ordered
receivership on May 30, 2019. The
Baltimore City Circuit Court had appointed IVL Group, LLC of
Montclair, New Jersey to manage, maintain, lease, provide security for Harborplace, and the receivership order also authorized IVL Group to seek a new buyer. Even after Ashkenazy was forced to hand over the property, the pavilions were still in poor condition. In August 2019, the
Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) CEO Colin Tarbert inspected both malls. He founded burned-out lighting, damaged signage, and faulty doors. His following response was: By the 2020s, Harborplace's decline was exacerbated by the
COVID-19 pandemic, strict
social distancing restrictions, and increased e-commerce competition. Ripley's Believe It or Not! closed permanently in May 2020. Since the museum occupied two floors of the Light Street Pavilion, it formed a large empty space. Shortly after Ripley's closed and no tenants remained, the Light Street Pavilion's second floor was completely closed to the public. Both
Build-A-Bear Workshop and
Johnny Rockets closed in September 2021. Around 2022, Tir Na Nog left the Pratt Street Pavilion. On February 10, 2022, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. closed their location in the Light Street Pavilion following a forced shutdown by the
Baltimore City Health Department for major maintenance issues, and its failure to renew their food permit for the restaurant, which had both indoor and outdoor seating on the Harborplace promenade. Luke Kosters, an attorney and executive at Kelly Companies, which operated the Harborplace Bubba Gump, confirmed that the restaurant was permanently closed. He also cited that the major maintenance issues that caused their restaurant to shut down in the pavilion was a direct consequence of previous owner Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. A representative for
Landry's, Inc., the company that owns Bubba Gump, said the previous owners had done "essentially nothing" to maintain the property. H&M closed their location in the Light Street Pavilion on March 9, 2022, leaving a largely vacant space. As a result, the Light Street Pavilion had only two remaining tenants in March 2022 and was nearly fully vacant. In April 2022, Harborplace in general was reported to be approximately 70% vacant. That same month, the local development firm MCB Real Estate entered into an agreement to purchase the Harborplace pavilions out of receivership. In September 2022,
Uno Pizzeria & Grill "temporarily" closed its location in the Pratt Street Pavilion, citing repairs, but never reopened. MCB Real Estate confirmed that the closure was permanent shortly thereafter. The restaurant relocated its Baltimore operations to
The Shops at Canton Crossing, but that location also closed in August 2024 and was replaced by Wonder Food Hall. Additionally, the restaurant's signage was removed. After Uno Pizzeria & Grill closed, the Pratt Street Pavilion's last major sit-down restaurant tenant was The Cheesecake Factory. The Pratt Street Pavilion had just three tenants in September 2022 and was also almost completely vacant. The Baltimore City Circuit Court finalized the acquisition deal with MCB in December 2022. In April 2023, the
Baltimore Brew reported that Harborplace was over 90% vacant, and founder Fern Shen noted the pavilions as having "empty shops, locked doors, and a fabulous view". She found a cracked window at one of the Pratt Street Pavilion's entrances (which she also reported made someone walk away from the pavilion), along with abandoned bedding and a pair of jeans on the second-floor balcony of the Light Street Pavilion, suggesting someone slept there. The pavilions had become "
dead malls", with only a handful of tenants still open. The Light Street Pavilion's interior was completely closed and locked up on April 19, 2023, and even the restrooms in the pavilion were blocked off. Hand-drawn signs by management were placed on the doors and windows, redirecting people to enter Hooters through the anchor tenant's main exterior entrance. However, its twin, the Pratt Street Pavilion, was still open to the public, and the only major sit-down restaurant open was The Cheesecake Factory. Other tenants included
IT'SUGAR, and some small souvenir and jewelry stores. Everything else—ranging from small restaurants to national retailers—was closed. == Redevelopment ==