Three former Baltimore mayors have joined the current city administration in urging voters to support a ballot question to allow a controversial Harborplace redevelopment plan to move forward.

Former mayors Kurt L. Schmoke, Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake and Bernard C. “Jack” Young said Thursday they back the Question F initiative needed for Harborplace owner MCB Real Estate to replace aging shopping pavilions with four taller buildings for apartments, offices, retail and dining.

The mayors, all Democrats, issued statements on the final day of early voting in Maryland, less than a week before Election Day and two weeks after opponents of apartment towers on the Inner Harbor site launched a counter “Vote F-No” campaign.

Harborplace, developed amid opposition more than four decades ago, “no longer elicits civic pride the way it once did,” Schmoke said. “It’s time for a new generation of Baltimoreans to reimagine it as a vibrant destination for all of us.”

The estimated $900 million project is expected to need $400 million in public funds to redevelop promenades and public spaces, and reconfigure Pratt, Light and Conway streets. Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott and other city and state officials, including Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, support the project as a chance to revitalize the waterfront and replace deteriorating pavilions.

Opponents say the plan will allow MCB to strip nearly five acres of public parkland from the Inner Harbor and privatize the site with 900 apartments. The Protect Our Parks group is led by attorney Thiru Vignarajah, a four-time candidate for city office who led a failed court challenge of the referendum.

The ballot question, which would amend the City Charter to expand the area of the city’s ground lease with the developer to 4.5 acres from the current 3.2 acres, is the last piece in a series of already-passed zoning changes and amendments to the urban renewal plan.

Young, who served as mayor in 2019 and 2020 after serving as acting mayor, said out of state owners who controlled Harborplace before Baltimore-based MCB “disrespected and underserved” the city and its residents.

“We have the chance to bet big on Baltimore and bet big on our future – not hold on to some old ideas from before most of the city was born,” Young said in a statement.

Another supporter, Matt Gallagher, president and CEO of the Goldseker Foundation, said he backed the MCB team and offered support on behalf of the administration of former Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, whom he served as chief of staff. O’Malley, also a former mayor and the current commissioner of the Social Security Administration, did not join in with a statement as his federal post prevents him publicly taking a side.

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