FROM THE BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL
Three developers have submitted plans to convert the nearly 60-year-old Royal Farms Arena into an upscale, downtown sports and entertainment hub, though specific details on those plans are scarce.
Renderings presented on Thursday to the board of the Baltimore Development Corp. showed upgrades to the worn-out, 14,000-seat facility that has hosted the likes of The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, the Baltimore Clippers and monster truck jams for years. Lately, though, the arena has been closed during the pandemic.
In response to a request for proposals by the BDC in November, three national sports and entertainment developers submitted plans: Los Angeles-based Oak View Group; a partnership between Metropolitan Development and ASM; and Philadelphia-based Spectra.
The quasi-public BDC’s board briefly discussed them during a meeting Thursday morning — and then promptly closed the virtual session to the public to further probe the bids and cost estimates. The Baltimore Business Journal has filed a protest with the board over its vote to close the meeting.
BDC spokesman Susan Yum declined to share the outcome of the discussions of the three bids after the hour-and-a-half closed session.
“Any information that was not revealed during the open meeting is proprietary and confidential,” Yum said in an email to the Baltimore Business Journal. “As you are aware of the process, once we are ready to enter into a land disposition agreement with the development team, it will be made public.”
A recommendation was made to the board based on reviews and debate about the three bids over the last three months, said Chris Dunlavey, a consultant hired by the BDC, before the meeting closed.
BDC President Colin Tarbert did not respond to a request for comment after the meeting, and has not responded to repeated requests for information and details of the bids since the RFP’s Feb. 25 deadline.
The push to redo the Royal Farms Arena has been ongoing for about two decades. Some ideas have included a sweeping plan to merge a new arena into an expanded Baltimore Convention Center, but that and others failed because of costs and a debate over whether to relocate the facility and open up an entire block of downtown for new development.
The BDC issued the latest RFP with a quest to attract a private developer to redesign the existing city-owned building and also manage it.
The goals of the RFP were to reimagine and spruce up the arena’s facade, or raze it and rebuild. Two renderings shown to the BDC board before it closed the meeting pictured a new facade with bright and colorful lighting. The third rendering by Spectra focused on the interior of the arena.
The Royal Farms Arena is the largest meeting and exhibition facility in Greater Baltimore, according to BBJ research.
The arena was among 92 recipients of state emergency economic relief grants this year during the pandemic. The arena’s grant totaled $484,256, and landed just after cancellation of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s 2021 basketball tournament that was expected to bring more than 100,000 sports fans and about $50 million to the city in February.
The arena is located at 201 W. Baltimore St. just off Lombard Street. It sits in a federal opportunity zone and state enterprise zone, making it eligible for lucrative tax breaks for redevelopment.
The arena site also holds a slice of U.S. history. It is located at the site of a former inn and tavern where a 1776 meeting of the Second Continental Congress took place.
The arena itself has held several names since it first opened as the Baltimore Civic Center in 1962 during a budding downtown renaissance. The facility has also been called the Baltimore Arena and 1st Mariner Arena before corporate sponsor Royal Farms signed on for the latest naming rights.
Part of the deal for a new era for the arena is to attract more corporate sponsorships.
In a press release last fall, BDC officials said the planned redevelopment could help to further rejuvenate the area, located in the Bromo Arts and Entertainment District.
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