Baltimore has paid $16M — and counting — to keep city-owned hotel afloat during pandemic

The City of Baltimore transferred an additional $3.1 million last month to the city-owned Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor hotel, according to a recent financial disclosure, bringing the total amount of payments to about $16 million since the coronavirus pandemic decimated the hotel and tourism industry. The city built the 757-room convention center hotel in the mid-2000s, creating a unique city-owned corporation and borrowing $300 million in bonds to fund its construction. The Baltimore Hilton, on West Pratt Street overlooking Oriole Park at Camden Yards, was intended to lure more business to the convention center next door and has struggled to turn a profit under the crippling weight of its debt. After refinancing the bonds in 2017, the Baltimore Hilton continued to perform below projections, but it was eking out a profit.