In an appearance on WYPR, Orioles owner David Rubenstein said he had dinner in Annapolis with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore last week to discuss the ground lease terms around Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Rubenstein said the ground lease, which would extend the Orioles’ lease at Camden Yards to 30 years and unlock the remainder of the $600 million in state bonds made available for ballpark upgrades, could be completed in the “not-too-distant future.”
In Rubenstein’s appearance on the Baltimore public radio station, he also touched on the timeline for stadium upgrades, what some of those upgrades could be and the possibility of sealing an All-Star Game in Baltimore.
The ground lease, however, is a major piece still remaining ahead of Moore and the Orioles. Before the Rubenstein-led ownership group took over the Major League Baseball franchise, former control person John Angelos sealed a long-term lease extension at Camden Yards with Moore and the Maryland Stadium Authority. The deal was initially for 15 years, but it left open the possibility for a 30-year lease and the overhaul of the area around the stadium complex.
It was a central piece in Angelos’ vision of the future for the Orioles and Baltimore, but it was also a contentious piece of a protracted negotiation. The Orioles and Maryland hit a late roadblock on a lease agreement in December 2023 when Senate President Bill Ferguson opposed a 99-year ground lease that gave broad development rights to the Orioles.
An amended lease deal was struck later in December that gave more oversight to the development plans. The Orioles have until Dec. 31, 2027, to obtain approval for both a ground lease on the land and a proposal for how to use it.
The area that is expected to be included in those plans is the B&O Warehouse, the vacant Camden Station building and an adjacent parking area between the warehouse and train tracks.
Rubenstein said the Orioles will initially have $400 million to work with when undergoing ballpark renovations. Should they complete the ground lease, the stadium lease extends to 30 years and the final $200 million in state bonds would be available.
“I had dinner with the governor in Annapolis at his home about a week ago, and he’s very interested in getting a ground lease done,” Rubenstein said. “He’s a gigantic supporter of the Baltimore Orioles.”
A spokesperson for Moore did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rubenstein said stadium upgrades would likely begin following the 2025 season and conclude in 2028. The architecture firm Populous, formerly known as HOK (the same architecture firm that worked on Camden Yards when it was initially built) is working on plans, Rubenstein said.
“Hopefully, it will be done by the end of ‘28,” Rubenstein said. “We hope to make the stadium better than it is today. It’s dated. It’s 30 years old now. So, while it was an epic stadium when it was built, it’s now somewhat dated in terms of many different things that other stadiums have now done.”
Last week, newly hired president of business operations Catie Griggs said the video board and sound system are areas the Orioles are looking to improve. Rubenstein echoed those areas of focus, but added that they want to make stadium access easier for the players.
“We’d like the clubhouses to be more up to date than they are,” Rubenstein said. “And then outside the stadium, there’s an opportunity, if we sign a ground lease, to develop things with residential, commercial or other kinds of facilities around the stadium that’s been done in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, and that’s what we hope to do to make the area more attractive to people to be there not just for a game, but for the rest of the day.”
Griggs said mirroring what the Braves did with The Battery — a massive, mixed-use development in Cobb County, Georgia — isn’t realistic, since the Braves made use of a low-density area. Camden Yards is downtown, but she said “that doesn’t mean that there aren’t components of it that we couldn’t look into in terms of, ‘How do we continue to reinvest and make sure that we’re creating an amazing experience?’”
When asked about the future of an All-Star Game in Baltimore, both Griggs and Rubenstein expressed their enthusiasm to bring the Midsummer Classic to Camden Yards for the first time since 1993. While with the Seattle Mariners, Griggs managed an All-Star Game. Now in Baltimore, she could do the same.
Rubenstein said he has talked with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred about bringing the exhibition to Baltimore in the next several years.
“I’m very confident that at some point we will have an All-Star Game, probably by the time the stadium is rehabilitated,” Rubenstein said. “It doesn’t have to be rehabilitated for the All-Star Game to come here, but I think a couple of commitments have kind of been informally made for a few years into the future, but I’m fairly confident we will get an All-Star Game in the not-too-distant future.”
David Rubenstein will be a featured speaker at The Baltimore Banner’s second annual iMPACT Maryland conference on October 1. Tickets are available for purchase here.
