BALTIMORE, MD—Governor Larry Hogan on Monday announced the initial steps of a sweeping plan to move 3,300 state employees from 12 different agencies to downtown Baltimore, and help revitalize the city’s Central Business District.

To jumpstart this plan, the state is publishing a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking commercial office space to relocate the headquarters of the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) and its 720 employees to the downtown area. The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) will be the second state agency to move to a new location, bringing an additional 1,199 state employees downtown.

Governor Hogan made the announcement from McKeldin Plaza near the Inner Harbor. He was joined by Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford, Senate President Bill Ferguson, Department of General Services Secretary Ellington Churchill, and Shelonda Stokes, president of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.

“A strong Maryland depends on a strong Baltimore, which is why the entire state government has been working to improve the city,” said Governor Hogan. “These two agencies will bring the first nearly 2,000 workers of what will be 3,300 workers total to the downtown area, which will be a big boost for the revitalization and transformation of downtown Baltimore.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to rethink and reimagine state government operations and workforce needs in ways that fit the demands and conditions of our current reality and our future,” said Lt. Governor Rutherford. “It is my hope that as we move forward, we can provide modern and vibrant workspaces for our hardworking state employees, and that this investment will spur additional economic and civic revitalization and transformation of downtown Baltimore.”

Through the RFP, the state is seeking approximately 105,000 net square feet of office space for a new DHS headquarters. DHS is the state’s primary social services provider, serving over 1 million Marylanders annually. Its mission is to pursue opportunities to assist people in economic need, provide preventive services, and protect vulnerable children and adults.

Earlier this year, the Hogan administration worked with legislative leaders to commit $50 million in a supplemental budget to support the relocation of state agencies to downtown Baltimore.

More in the video below.