Businesses, retailers recognizing downtown’s current, future health

The truth is in the numbers.

Kirby Fowler attended last week’s International Conference for Shopping Centers in Las Vegas armed with data needed to attract national retailers and developers to downtown Baltimore.

“This is really significant for retailers and developers — they need to know this,” said Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, as he pointed to population and employment statistics in the organization’s 2007-2008 State of Downtown Report.

The report, to be released today at the Downtown Partnership’s annual State of Downtown event at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center, includes population and employment data, as well as office, residential and retail activity in the one-mile radius from Pratt and Light streets — the center of downtown Baltimore as defined by Downtown Partnership.

Baltimore’s downtown population was 38,250, up from 36,980 in 2005, making it the seventh-most-populated U.S. metro area. The downtown’s employment base was 114,500, up from 102,800 in 2005, ranking 15th among U.S. metro areas, according to 2007 data.

Those numbers, along with statistics that show the median income for downtown Baltimore residents is $31,181 (15th among U.S. metro areas) and the downtown area has 3,565 households with annual income of more than $75,000 (ninth among U.S. metro areas), helped Fowler pitch downtown Baltimore as a destination for national retailers and developers. About 42,000 people from across the country attended ICSC in Las Vegas.

“From the response I got, I’d say we can expect good things from downtown in the future,” Fowler said.

DOWNTOWN’S EXPANSION

The Downtown Partnership had several “good things” to celebrate in 2007, Fowler said.

On the retail side, 60 new stores and restaurants opened downtown in 2007, including Filene’s Basement, Landmark Cinemas and SuperFresh. As of May 1, $1.9 million worth of new retail space was under construction, and $180,000 worth of new space was planned. In the downtown office market, vacancy rates held strong at about 11 percent in 2007, Fowler said, when about 10 percent is considered very healthy. With financial services giants Legg Mason and Morgan Stanley announcing deals for new buildings in Harbor East, the downtown office market is poised to expand east, Fowler added.

There is some concern about downtown residential supply meeting demand, said Robert Aydukovic, vice president of economic development for Downtown Partnership.

With several employment sectors expected to add a significant number of jobs in the next five years, Downtown Partnership predicted the need for 7,400 new residential units by 2012. When looking at units that have recently opened, are being built or are planned, about 4,200 will be ready for delivery downtown in the next few years.

“As of now, there’s a light amount of delivery,” Aydukovic said.

One reason for increased residential demand is expected expansion in downtown’s life sciences sector. Massive investments at facilities at the University of Maryland BioPark, the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins and others are expected to add as many as 9,000 new jobs in and around downtown.

“The life sciences sector is the game-changer for what downtown is,” Aydukovic said.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

As part of the State of Downtown report, the Downtown Partnership interviewed 68 of Baltimore’s business and civic leaders to gauge their feelings on downtown’s future direction.

There were several main concerns among the interviewees, with traffic congestion, the perception of safety, the quality of Baltimore’s primary schools and the slowing national economy topping the list.

“The biggest challenges going forward are to enhance our transportation and transit capabilities both on a commuter and intercity level with Washington, D.C.,” said David Gillece, president of commercial real estate firm Colliers Pinkard and an interview participant.

The report, Gillece said, should help spur development and continue downtown’s growth.

“It’s a great service to the business community to have this data available,” Gillece added. “We find, with the real estate investors, they thirst for this kind of stuff.”

Mayor Sheila Dixon will be on hand today to present the report with the Downtown Partnership.

“After years of television news and newspapers telling a certain story about Baltimore, the data in this report will come as a surprise to people,” said Sterling Clifford, spokesman for the mayor’s office. “It tells the real story.”

acannarsa@baltimoreexaminer.com

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