List of tallest buildings in Baltimore facts for kids

Skyline of Baltimore (2022)

This list of tallest buildings in Baltimore ranks skyscrapers and high-rises in the United States city of Baltimore by height. The tallest building in Baltimore is the 40-story Transamerica Tower, which rises 529 feet (161 m) and was completed in 1973. It also stands as the tallest building in the State of Maryland.

History

The history of skyscrapers in Baltimore began with the completion in 1889 of the Equitable Building at the southwest corner of North Calvert and East Fayette Streets across from the Beaux Arts/Classical Revival architecture of the Baltimore City Courthouse of 1894–1900 and the landmark Battle Monument in Battle Monument Square, commemorating the fallen in the defense of the City against the British attack in the 1814 Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. "The Equitable" as it became known replaced the earlier landmark from 1825, Barnum's City Hotel and was the first steel cage framed building with outside surface panels of stone hung on the frame, a new technique pioneered by Chicago architects like Louis Sullivan and Daniel Burnham.

Shortly after, the 1893 construction of the Fidelity Building, of which both are regarded as the first high-rises in the city. The building originally rose eight floors, but an additional seven stories with a terra cotta panels façade designed to match the original earlier grey granite rough-cut stone base, were constructed between 1912 and 1915, bringing the structure's total height to 220 feet (67 m), making it the first building in Baltimore over 200 feet (61 m).

Baltimore went through an early high-rise construction boom from the late 1890s to the Great Baltimore Fire of February 1904, when a half-dozen of new skyscrapers' so-called "fire-proof" but their interiors were burned out. Most were later judged by inspecting engineers/architects as structurally sound with their steel I-beam cage framing and masonry facades and were reconstructed and rehabilitated in the next five years in a flurry of downtown rebuilding. The next period from the 1910s to the late 1920s, during which time the Baltimore Trust Company Tower (now the Bank of America Building) were constructed.

The city's central business district then experienced a long fallow period due to the Great Depression of the 1930s and the defense industrial efforts of World War II where very few skyscrapers were constructed and the downtown remained relatively stable. But with the proposals by the major business, commercial and industrial interests of the area with the release of the Charles Center project proposal by the recently organized Greater Baltimore Committee and the local Chamber of Commerce with the leadership of several mayoral administrations in 1958 continuing into the early 1970s, followed by a parallel soon-to-be nationally famous "Inner Harbor" redevelopment around the old waterfront piers, wharves, warehouses, offices and businesses of the former "Basin" along the Baltimore Harbor at the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River continued another major building boom from the early 1960s to the early 1990s, during which the City saw the completion of 18 of its 24 tallest buildings, including the 1973 United States Fidelity and Guarantee Company's new headquarters (later the Legg Mason Building, now the Transamerica Tower) at the corner of the harbor at Pratt and Light Streets and the five-sides/pentagonal high-rise centerpiece of the harbor, the Baltimore World Trade Center for the Maryland Port Administration in 1977.

The city is the site of four completed buildings that are at least 492 feet (150 m) high, with two more proposed for construction. As of July 2023, there are 193 completed high-rises in the city and 4 skyscrapers reaching at least 492 feet (150 m). The most recently completed skyscraper in Baltimore is 414 Light Street, which rises 500 feet (152 m) and 44 floors. The 44 story apartment tower debuted in August 2018, making it the tallest residential building in Maryland.

Tallest buildings

This list ranks Baltimore skyscrapers that stand at least 220 feet (67 m) tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. An equal sign (=) following a rank indicates the same height between two or more buildings. The "Year" column indicates the year in which a building was completed.

Rank	Name	Image	Height ft (m)	Floors	Year	Notes
1	Transamerica Tower		529 (161)	40	1973	Has been the tallest building in Baltimore and Maryland since 1973. Tallest building in the city constructed in the 1970s. In 2011, the building was renamed the Transamerica Tower.
2	Bank of America Building (10 Light Street)		509 (155)	37	1924	Tallest building in Baltimore constructed in the 1920s.
3	414 Light Street		500 (152.4)	44	2018	Opened for occupancy in 2018, the building's roof was topped out in November 2017. Built on the original site of the McCormick & Company Factory that was razed in the 1980s, the structure is primarily residential. Tallest building in the city constructed in the 2010s.
4	William Donald Schaefer Building		493 (150)	37	1992	Tallest building in the city constructed in the 1990s.
5	Commerce Place		454 (138)	31	1992
6	Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel		430 (131)	32	2001
7	100 East Pratt Street		418 (128)	28	1992
8	Baltimore World Trade Center		405 (123)	32	1977	Tallest regular pentagonal building in the world.
9	Tremont Plaza Hotel		395 (120)	37	1967	Tallest building in Baltimore constructed in the 1960s. Now branded as Embassy Suites by Hilton.
10	Charles Towers South Apartments		385 (117)	30	1969
11	1 Light Street		364 (111)	28	2018
12=	Blaustein Building		360 (110)	30	1962
12=	250 West Pratt Street		360 (110)	24	1986	Tallest building in the city constructed in the 1980s.
14	Towers at Harbor Court		356 (109)	28	1987
15	Four Seasons Hotel and Residences		352 (107)	28	2016
16=	St. Paul Plaza		350 (107)	25	1989
16=	Exelon Tower		350 (107)	20	2016
16=	201 North Charles Street Building		350 (107)	28	1967
16=	Charles Towers North Apartments		350 (107)	27	1967	Also known as Eight Charles Center.
16=	Legg Mason Tower		350 (107)	24	2009	Tallest building constructed in Baltimore in the 2000s.
21	The Gallery at Harborplace		346 (106)	28	1988
22	414 Water Street		344 (105)	33	2008
23	HarborView Condominium		343 (104)	29	1993	Also known as Harborview Tower.
24=	Charles Center South		330 (101)	25	1975
24=	Wells Fargo Tower		330 (101)	24	1985	Formerly known as First Union Signet Tower and Wachovia Tower.
26	Redwood Tower		323 (98)	23	1987
27=	Mercantile Deposit and Trust		315 (96)	21	1969
27=	M&T Bank Building		315 (96)	22	1972	Also known as the First Maryland Building.
29	Silo Point		310 (94)	24	1923
30	Vue Harbor East		306 (93)	30	2007
31	Mary Catherine Bunting Building, Mercy Medical Center		302 (92)	18	2010
32	Constellation Energy Building		293 (89)	21	1916
33	Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower		289 (88)	15	1911
34=	Radisson Hotel Baltimore Downtown-Inner Harbor		280 (85)	27	1967
34=	Liberty Harbor East		280 (85)	20	2017
36	Mercy Medical Center Inpatient Tower	Upload image	276 (84)	20	1963
37	750 East Pratt Street	Upload image	272 (83)	18	2002
38	Avalon 555 President	Upload image	271 (83)	24	2020
39	Park Charles	Upload image	270 (82)	25	1985
40	One Charles Center		269 (82)	25	1963
41	First National Bank Building	Upload image	254 (77)	20	1924
42	One Calvert Plaza		249 (76)	16	1901
43	Standard Oil Building		233 (71)	15	1922
44	John and Frances Angelos Law Center	Upload image	231 (70)	12	2013
45	Hilton Baltimore		224 (68)	20	2008
46	Fidelity Building		220 (67)	15	1893

Tallest under construction or proposed

This lists buildings that are under construction or proposed for construction in Baltimore and are planned to rise at least 300 feet (91 m), but are not yet completed structures. A floor count of 40 stories is used as the cutoff for buildings whose heights have not yet been released by their developers.

Timeline of tallest buildings

The Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower was the tallest building in Baltimore from 1911 until 1923.

This lists buildings that once held the title of tallest building in Baltimore.

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Edificios más altos de Baltimore para niños