MCB funnels $240,000 to the ballot committee backing Question F
Question F, which would lift a ban on apartment construction at Baltimore’s Harborplace, is one of the most controversial items on the November 5 ballot
Above: Ads promoting Question F at the Pratt Street pavilion of Harborplace. (Fern Shen)
MCB Real Estate came out of the shadows last night to reveal itself as the sole backer of the political committee urging Baltimore voters to approve Question F on next month’s ballot.
The measure would allow the developer to construct high-rise apartments and other buildings on the grounds of the Harborplace pavilions and adjacent Inner Harbor Park.
A state-mandated finance report, filed shortly before the midnight deadline, showed that MCB contributed a total of $240,086 to “Baltimore for a New Harborplace” on October 8, 15 and 17.
In a prior report, the committee said it had raised no money – and listed no financial connections with MCB – while reporting it had spent $100,704 in polling and advertising through its vendors.
The flush of MCB contributions over the past two weeks were used to return $60,000 to the vendors and to underwrite a new round of online advertising and billboards promoting Question F.
Actively pushed by Mayor Brandon Scott, Question F would pave the way for 1.1 million square feet of proposed development by MCB around the once famous, now mostly shuttered, Harborplace pavilions at Light and Pratt streets.
Most significantly, it would lift a ban on multi-family residential development, allowing MCB to build a 900 to 1,000-unit apartment building on the site of the Light Street pavilion. It would effectively end provisions in the city charter that designated the area as a public park.
As previously reported, Baltimore for a New Harborplace was formed last June by Leland Shelton, an MCB executive who served as Scott’s campaign treasurer between 2020 and 2023.
The group is headed by Jon Laria, a prominent real estate attorney and former MCB lobbyist, with Jonathan Sandoval, MCB’s director of development, as treasurer.
Nearly $200,000 in committee funds have gone to the Fells Group, a local advertising agency. Another $10,700 was paid to Fast Signs for outdoor advertising and $8,000 to Adrian Harpool for public relations services.
Pro-Question F ads appearing in the Baltimore Banner.
Bitter Court Fight
Along with Question H, an amendment to shrink the number of City Council districts from 14 to 8, Question F is the most contested item on the November ballot.
Challenged by opponents as obscurely and improperly written, the Harborplace measure was nullified in September by Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Cathleen M. Vitale.
Her ruling was subsequently overturned by the Maryland Supreme Court, which said the amendment was valid and would be counted on election day.
Since then, opponents have formed their own ballot committee, “Keep the Inner Harbor Park Public.”
The group, which is headed by former City Councilman Anthony Ambridge and developer David F. Tufaro, has not yet submitted a disclosure report to the State Elections Board.