'The city cut us off completely': Remaining owners at Old Town Mall plead for help

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A half-mile walk from City Hall is a mall some have lost hope in, and one others didn’t even know existed.

Old Town Mall sits just north of Orleans street in east Baltimore, and is mostly vacant.

Some would even go as far as calling it abandoned.

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Storefronts are boarded up and closed.

Entire blocks of buildings are falling apart, and marked by graffiti.

Windows are smashed and plants and trees are growing out of some of the structures.

“Old Town Mall is no more,” said one man, who lives nearby and uses the mall strip as a shortcut.

Yet a handful of businesses do remain, and their owners are pleading for the City to do more.

“The City cut us off completely,” said Eric K, who has owned a pawn shop in the outdoor mall for nearly two decades. “I would like them to do what they’ve promised for 18 years. Open up the street, add businesses. People need someplace to get groceries. Open up the place.”

Back in 2010, the City mapped out and announced a plan to revitalize Old Town Mall and the surrounding area.

Owners say a nearby residential area has been constructed, but the actual outdoor mall has yet to be improved.

More than 10 years after the plan was announced, the mall still looks abandoned.

Building owners are calling on other building owners to renovate their properties and for the City to step in if they continue to fail to do so.

“They treat us here like third-class citizens,” said Steve, who owns several buildings on the strip. “This doesn’t happen in other parts of the city, but we pay just as much taxes as everybody else.”

FOX45 News reached out to the Mayor’s office and questioned when work will begin on the mall and when its expected to be complete. The office has not yet responded to the inquiry. FOX45 News will continue to press for answers.