Amtrak officials said Wednesday they plan to pick a developer by this time next year to renovate Baltimore’s century-old Penn Station, a project that’s been stalled for years.
The quasi-public railway took a step toward tackling the station’s countless overdue infrastructure improvements by soliciting qualifications from developers, consultants, engineers and other potential bidders. Rina Cutler, Amtrak’s senior director of major stations planning and development, said officials want a vision for the station to come from those who would take on the project.
“Imagine this space as the city’s newest living room,” Cutler said at a news conference in the station lobby. “That is really what we hope to achieve with this process.”
Amtrak expects bidders to bring private equity financing options to the table, though the project could also be paid for with some combination of public and Amtrak money, Cutler said.