Baltimore’s Top of the World observation level will remain open to the public even though its lease with the State of Maryland has expired. June 30 was the final day of a lease extension negotiated last year between the City of Baltimore, the tenant, and the State of Maryland, which owns t he building the attraction occupies. The Top of the World observation level is located on the 27th floor of the World Trade Center Baltimore at 401 E. Pratt St. It’s Baltimore’s equivalent of the observation level at the Empire State Building in New York City and other tall buildings around the country. It shares the space with the indoor component of the 9/11 Memorial of Maryland, which has an outdoor component on the plaza below. Linzy Jackson III, director of the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Culture and Entertainment (MOACE), said in late June that a request to approve a new lease for the Top of the World would be on the July 1 agenda of the Board of Estimates, the city’s spending panel. But no items involving the Top of the World or the World Trade Center were considered by the board during its July 1 meeting. Jackson said in an email message on Wednesday that a new lease agreement is in the works and the Top of the World venue will operate as usual until it is approved. The next regular meeting of the Board of Estimates is scheduled for July 15. “The Top of the World agreement is currently moving through the approval process,” Jackson said in his message. “There will be no interruption to operations at Top of the World, and the City and State are working together to ensure a smooth transition.” Jackson declined to disclose the terms of the new lease. “At this point, I can’t discuss or confirm any of the lease terms until the process is fully complete,” he said. “Once everything has been finalized, we’ll be happy to share those details.” Panoramic views The City of Baltimore has occupied the 27th floor of the World Trade Center since the five-sided, 30-story building was completed in 1977. According to former city officials, the State of Maryland provided the space at the request of then-Mayor William Donald Schaefer, who asked state leaders to let the city use one floor of the building in return for the city’s agreement to sell the valuable waterfront property on which the World Trade Center was built. They say Schaefer, who died at the age of 89 in 2011, wanted Baltimore to have an observation deck comparable to visitor attractions in New York, Chicago and other cities, and believed the state-owned office tower, with its panoramic views of the city and its harbor, was the perfect place for it. Although specific documentation is not recorded in public land records, officials say state leaders at the time agreed to allow the city to use the 27th floor in perpetuity, and that’s how the Top of the World came to be. Some current public officials, including City Comptroller Bill Henry, have speculated that the plan may have started as a handshake agreement between city and state officials in the 1970s and that it has been honored by subsequent administrations. The city has occupied the 27th floor under a series of long-term leases with the state and then worked with an affiliate to operate the Top of the World as a public attraction featuring 360-degree views of Baltimore. It also has been used for a variety of events, including art exhibitions, receptions, arts and author talks and mayoral press conferences. Create Baltimore and its predecessor, the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA), have been the operators for more than a decade. Create Baltimore’s one-year contract to serve as Baltimore’s “arts agency” also expired on June 30, the end of fiscal 2026 for the city. The Top of the World’s last long-term lease was negotiated in 2015, when Bill Gilmore headed BOPA, and was set to expire after 10 years, on May 31, 2025. Top of the World Observation Deck. Photo credit: Ed Gunts. ‘The state wants the space back’ On Jan. 16, 2025, with fewer than five months to go to on the lease, BOPA/Create Baltimore CEO Robyn Murphy told her board that state officials notified the city that they did not intend to renew the city’s lease for the 27th floor and that the Top of the World attraction would have to close. “Unfortunately, at the end of the lease, the state wants the space back and we are in the process of terminating the lease,” she told the board. Murphy’s disclosure drew widespread opposition from civic leaders, public and private, who argued that the Top of the World is a valuable city asset and that shutting it down would be a setback for local tourism efforts. They also asked how closing the Top of the World would affect the 9/11 Memorial of Maryland on the same floor and whether it would have to close or be relocated. Some brought up the undocumented agreement with Schaefer that paved the way for the observation deck to open, and the promises made when he was mayor. State leaders reconsider Facing strong opposition to their plan not to renew the city’s lease, state leaders reconsidered and agreed to allow the Top of the World to stay in place. In June of 2025, the city reached agreement with the state to keep the Top of the World open until Nov. 30, 2025, under an amended lease agreement. Officials said the amended lease would give city and state officials time to explore keeping the attraction open even longer. On Oct. 27, 2025, Murphy announced that the city and state had reached an agreement to allow the Top of the World to stay on the 27th floor beyond Nov 30. She made the announcement at the World Trade Center during a press conference attended by Mayor Brandon Scott; Baltimore City Councilman Zachary Blanchard and representatives from the Maryland Port Administration, which manages the building for the State of Maryland. ‘For years to come’ The event had been scheduled to announce BOPA’s name change to Create Baltimore, and Murphy used it to also provide an update about the lease talks affecting the Top of the World. Although she didn’t provide specifics, Murphy said the new contract would not be a short-term lease extension like the six-month agreement approved that June. She said the lease would be presented to the Board of Estimates for its approval, as past leases have been, and that Create Baltimore would operate the space in collaboration with the Living Classrooms Foundation, producer of the SAIL250 Maryland and Air Show Baltimore extravaganza. “We have reached an agreement in principle with the state of Maryland to continue to operate this space,” Murphy said at the Oct. 27 press conference. “The Top of the World belongs to everyone, and we are thrilled to ensure that it will remain open to the public for years to come.” Scott thanked Gov. Wes Moore and others for their efforts to keep the observation level open. “This space is a valuable resource to the City of Baltimore as a source of nostalgia for many, including me, who traveled here on field trips to spend a day at the harbor,” Scott said. “This is exactly the kind of space that Create Baltimore was meant to support, a place where folks can learn, gather and reflect on everything that Charm City has to offer.” “Living Classrooms Foundation and our Historic Ships team are honored to join forces with Robyn and the Create Baltimore team to bring new energy to the Top of the World, advancing education, workforce development and heritage tourism for the greater good of our community, city and state,” said foundation President and CEO James Piper Bond. Another extension On Nov. 19, 2025, the Board of Estimates approved a memorandum that kept the Top of the World open until June 30, 2026. Officials said that extension would give city and state representatives time to draft a second agreement that would enable the attraction to remain in the state-owned office tower even longer, consistent with Murphy’s announcement on Oct. 27. Murphy said after a November 2025 board meeting that the second agreement would be presented to the Board of Estimates well before June 30, 2026. She told her board during its November meeting that previous leases for the Top of the World space have been up to 20 years long. Since then, Jackson and Create Baltimore have provided assurances that the new long-term lease agreement would be presented to the Board of Estimates for approval before the end of June. Jackson’s message on July 1 was confirmation that city and state officials are working to keep the Top of the World venue open, even though the city’s lease with the state has expired. On Wednesday, the attraction was open to the public as usual. According to a staffer, the Top of the World drew more than 1,000 visitors during the recent SAIL250 Maryland and Air Show Baltimore events in and around the Inner Harbor. Admission costs $8 for adults; $6 for seniors (60 and over) and visitors with a military ID, and $5 for children aged 3 to 12. It’s free for children under 3. Hours are: Wednesday and Thursday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ticket sales and entry end 30 minutes before closing. ...read more read less