The state will issue the first request for proposals by March under a push by Gov. Larry Hogan to lease 1 million square feet of downtown office space to relocate workers from the aged State Center in Midtown.
The move will infuse a new workforce of about 3,300 into the central business district — and it has real estate brokers gearing up to begin lobbying the heads of 12 agencies and the Department of General Services to lease space in several landmark towers. Gov. Larry Hogan announced the move from the aged State Center to Midtown two months ago as a way to help reverse the fate of downtown's office market, which has struggled with vacancies for years as many offices moved toward the waterfront along Pratt Street and into newer space in Harbor East. DGS officials said Monday the first RFP for the Department of Labor to move from State Center will be issued this quarter. It will focus on new digs totaling up to 150,000 square feet for about 774 employees.
