T. Rowe Price Contemplates Relocating Baltimore Headquarters

The safety of its employees is top of mind with T.Rowe Price executives. So much so, that the company’s CEO James A.C. Kennedy is weighing whether to remain at its current Pratt Street headquarters in Baltimore.

“We told the mayor safety is a big issue,” Kennedy said in a statement. “We want to make sure our people feel safe walking the streets of Baltimore.”

It has been reported that the money manager’s employees have been harassed by groups of youths and even that one of the company’s vendors was mugged outside his downtown hotel.

Price’s concerns were addressed swiftly by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as soon as she was made aware of them.

“I’m not trying to downplay any of the concerns,” the mayor said in a statement. “However, crime in downtown has declined dramatically over the years.”

The majority of the complaints received by the Baltimore Police Department this year in the Inner Harbor area involved car break-ins, although police investigated about 50 common assaults and more than 20 robberies.

T. Rowe Price has been a fixture in downtown Baltimore since its founding 76 years ago. Options are currently being explored, however, to possibly relocate the company when its lease expires in 2017.

But the firm could also decide to stay put and renew its lease for the downtown offices where 1,271 employees work. The building added guards and other security features about four years ago.

"Our preference is to stay downtown. This is our city," Kennedy said. "This is our home."

 

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