David Rubenstein says he is making moves to redevelop the area around Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Three years ago, Orioles ownership and Maryland officials discussed the possibility of developing land around Camden Yards. That topic was tabled as the Orioles were sold and new owner David Rubenstein focused on building the club.

But now it’s back.

Rubenstein has engaged Seregh, a real estate firm with a focus on sports entertainment districts, and begun “the multiyear effort to try to redevelop the immediate area around Camden Yards,” he writes in his forthcoming book.

The land in question includes the B&O Warehouse and a parking lot, both now controlled by the state. Under the terms of a Camden Yards lease signed by the Orioles and the state, the ballclub has the exclusive rights to negotiate for access to that land until the end of next year.

In “Inside the Owner’s Box: Conversations on Power and Leadership in Sports,” due out next week, Rubenstein interviews various sports team owners and explores his own experience in purchasing and owning the Orioles.

He says part of his motivation in becoming the Orioles’ owner was to “help my hometown and to be part of the effort led by Governor Wes Moore and Mayor Brandon Scott to revitalize, strengthen, and return pride and purpose to Baltimore.”

Soon after purchasing the Orioles in 2024, Rubenstein said he’d be interested in some sort of real estate development around the ballpark. But he initially wanted to focus on the roster and ongoing ballpark upgrades, he writes in the book.

Rubenstein more recently engaged Seregh, which stands for Sports and Entertainment Real Estate Global Holdings and is pronounced “surge.” The firm was spun off from Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment, the owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and other teams, in 2024 and bills itself as “more than a developer.”

“Makers sell services. Landlords lease space. We do all of it,” states the company’s website.

Its site indicates that it’s in the midst of developing several districts, but that the company only reveals particulars under nondisclosure agreements.

Seregh referred a request for comment to the Orioles. Team spokesperson Jennifer Grondahl said the ownership group engaged Seregh in 2025 “to have preliminary conversations and identify opportunities as part of an ongoing effort to help drive economic development in Baltimore City.”

Rubenstein notes in his book that Camden Yards, which opened in 1992, was built with the idea of reviving downtown Baltimore, but that hope “did not really come to fruition.”

Stadium districts, which can create new and consistent revenue streams for pro teams, have become increasingly popular across the country. Rubenstein cited other ballparks — including Boston’s Fenway Park and Chicago’s Wrigley Field — as examples of “must-visit” ballpark-adjacent neighborhoods.

“As I have said, part of my desire to buy the Orioles was to help Baltimore, and Baltimore really needed help revitalizing its downtown area — most especially the area around Camden Yards,” he writes.

Redevelopment was a focus, too, for John Angelos, whose family owned the team from the 1990s until 2024. Inspired by live-work-play districts outside Atlanta and elsewhere, he envisioned bars, hotels, apartments — even a school — outside Oriole Park, and that potential was integral to the Camden Yards lease deal that Angelos signed at the end of 2023.

If the Orioles and the state reach a deal regarding development, that ballpark lease would last decades, keeping the Orioles in Baltimore until at least 2053. But if the parties do not reach an agreement, the club could opt to end the ballpark lease in 2038.

In his book, Rubenstein writes that he’s met with Scott and Moore to discuss redevelopment.

Scott’s office said the mayor looks forward to “opportunities for development around the stadium district that could bolster the renaissance our city is experiencing.” Moore’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Any potential development would likely be years away due to the complexity of construction projects, but it could align with plans to rebuild the Inner Harbor.

Meanwhile, the Maryland Stadium Authority has upgraded M&T Bank Stadium, which is hosting more events than ever this year, and is in the midst of improvements to Camden Yards. It added a new videoboard and sound system this past offseason and is expected to continue improvements this winter, too.