The Four Seasons Private Residences in Harbor East, situated in crime-ridden Baltimore City and serving as a flagship luxury development project tied to the Inner Harbor's waterfront revitalization, was originally envisioned as an ultra-luxury tower designed to attract the rich and powerful. The premise for building the tower, which opened in 2017, was very simple: build it, and they will come.
The Paterakis family, one of the most prominent business and real estate families in the Baltimore metro area, best known for their baking empire and for transforming part of the city's waterfront over the decades, backed the Four Seasons Private Residences project, with one-bedroom condos hitting the market in 2017 for $1 million.
Yet the saying "build it, and they will come" didn't play out here, as the latest report from local outlet Baltimore Banner says a third of the 62 condos "have never sold," and the current listing price now "starts in the $500,000s."
Three investors told the local outlet that "the true price is even lower" for these one-bedroom units. That would suggest a 50% collapse in value over just nine years since the 2017 debut.
The outlet continued:
The trio scooped up 11 units at the Four Seasons last year. Now they’re suing Harbor East Parcel D-Residential LLC in Baltimore Circuit Court, accusing the seller of artificially inflating the sale price listed in public records. Harbor East Parcel-D Residential is the limited liability company used by the Paterakis family and other investors to own and sell the condos. George Philippou, a son-in-law of Paterakis Sr., signs deeds and other property records on behalf of the company.
David J. Shuster, an attorney for the limited liability company, said in a statement that the claims in the lawsuit are without merit and declined to comment further, citing the ongoing litigation. The Four Seasons, a Toronto-based company that operates resorts, hotels and condos around the world, did not respond to a request for comment.
Paterakis' bad bet on the ultra-luxury tower in Harbor East appears to be following a similar pattern to other high-profile redevelopment projects around the Inner Harbor, including Under Armor CEO Kevin Plank's Baltimore Peninsula project, which has struggled.
Let's not forget that the actual Inner Harbor is virtually a ghost town:
At a broader level, the common denominator behind these redevelopment failures is impossible to ignore: Baltimore's population has collapsed to a 100-year low in a relatively short period, eroding demand for urban revival projects. Much of that decline can be linked to a city and state controlled by unhinged Democratic Party kings and queens, pushing far-left policies that have only backfired into a California-style exodus of residents.
Baltimore's failure is a direct result of the one-party rule of Democratic queens and kings who appear to have done nothing but economically sabotage the state.
But the story here takes a twist because there is a movement inside the business community, especially among Sinclair Executive Chairman David Smith, to combat the far-left crazies who run the city and state through information warfare. Democrats have freaked out that Smith bought the largest paper in the state, The Baltimore Sun, as the left-wing regime has failed to counter the narratives, while left-wing Gov. Wes Moore's polling data implodes.
Alex Soros & Gov. Moore.
Here's a novel idea for the business community that has watched its state and city implode under a far-left regime: it's time to go on the offensive and ensure common-sense politicians are elected in future elections, rather than left-wing activists who have no problem abusing taxpayers and looting state coffers for progressive projects, such as this:
Meanwhile, just an hour south: "D.C. Economy "Under Strain," Faces Biggest Spending Cuts Since Great Recession."