See examples of flexible office space in Baltimore here
The plan, from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc., comes in response to Baltimore’s worryingly high office vacancy rate – 19 per cent. Compared to other cities in America, this is high, though not the highest. San Diego, Cincinnati, and Chicago all have higher vacancy rates.
Also involved in the plan is an effort to attract more businesses from outside downtown to the city’s commercial hub. This would involve businesses already located downtown making recommendations to those with headquarters on the outskirts.
Tax incentives in order to encourage businesses to move downtown are also discussed in the report.
Major Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said: “We talk about how can we create a better environment.
“We’re asking those questions, we’re streamlining our processes, we’re cutting through red tape. We’re making sure business has a direct line to City Hall for issues they need to bring to our attention.
“As the country comes out of the recession, it is important to effectively market downtown Baltimore as a great place to locate and grow a business in the new economy.”
However, Baltimore’s property tax rate – which is almost double that of neighbouring areas – is not mentioned in the report.
Executive Director of the partnership, Kirby Fowler, told the Baltimore Sun: “This is a call to action. We’re asking property owners to do a little more. The recession gave us an opportunity to regroup and focus on some of our critical challenges and opportunities, and we are going to focus on those.”
Fowler added that more housing downtown had already made the area more active after dark and on weekends.
Editor’s notes: In Q1 2023, Baltimore’s office space vacancy rate was 18.2 per cent.
In the same period, the lowest vacancy rate in the US was in West Palm Beach at 10.3 per cent, and the highest office space vacancy rate was in San Francisco at 26.8 per cent.
In Q1 2026, the US national average office vacancy rate was 18.6 per cent, and the prime office vacancy rate was 12.7 per cent, reflecting the ongoing flight to quality.
Baltimore’s office vacancy rate in the first quarter of 2026 was 15.7 per cent.