Business

Repeated promises made by state officials and Orioles executives that a renegotiated Camden Yards lease will pay off for Baltimore City and state taxpayers denies decades of economic research, and few details about how those benefits will be delivered have been formalized with less than two months before the Birds’ lease expires.

The long-awaited plan for re-imagining downtown Baltimore’s iconic, yet faded, Harborplace features four new buildings, two of them apartment towers, surrounded by a reworked Inner Harbor promenade, a large new park and realigned roadways. The developer behind the proposal said Monday he plans to raise $500 million in private funds for the project, but public money would be needed to pay for open spaces and infrastructure.

Flywheel Digital, a Baltimore digital commerce company, is set to be sold to a New York media and marketing company for $835 million. Flywheel Digital, which has more than 200 employees at its Locust Point headquarters, will be sold to Omnicom Group Inc., a Fortune 500 company, pending shareholder approval. Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) said in a release that the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024.

Even three years on, the Covid-19 pandemic’s influence continues to be felt on Greater Baltimore businesses. For this year’s List of the fastest-growing private companies in the region, we looked at revenue growth from 2020 to 2022 and as a result, many of the top businesses were those who experienced a strong comeback from the pandemic.

There’s scrubbing the steps. Then there’s digging up the front yard. For Baltimore, remaking Harborplace amounts to the latter. Developer MCB Real Estate’s plan reimagines some of the city’s most prized parcels, adding housing, expanding park space and redesigning a busy intersection. Below take an interactive tour of what’s been proposed and how it would compare to what the Inner Harbor looks like today.

Temperatures may be dropping, but The Village of Cross Keys has ice cream on their minds. Caves Valley Partners announced on Wednesday that Always Ice Cream Company will open a store in the Village Shops, promising to bring its crafted blend of premium, homemade ice cream to Cross Keys. “The store’s sleek, contemporary design will create a cutting-edge allure in the new jewel box building being constructed near the main entrance to the Village Shops,” read the press release announcing the arrival of the latest cool tenant.

Constellation Energy Inc. has finalized its purchase of a stake in one of the nation’s largest nuclear plants for $1.75 billion after months of uncertainty. Baltimore-based Constellation (Nasdaq: CEG) completed its purchase of a 44% ownership stake in the South Texas Project Electric Generating Station after receiving approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Oct. 30, which was the final regulatory hurdle before the deal could close.

Baltimore got a look this week at new renderings of the proposed $500 million redesign of Harborplace — and reactions aren’t as glowing as developers might hope. The reimagined Haborplace would include four new buildings and nearly 1,000 new residential units, along with shops, restaurants, a park and an amphitheater. P. David Bramble and his firm, MCB Real Estate, which is spearheading the redevelopment, laid out their vision for the Inner Harbor area on Monday alongside government and business leaders.