State officials have picked a team of top designers to study the possibility of expanding the Baltimore Convention Center and replacing Royal Farms Arena downtown, and have broadened the scope of a separate study regarding the future of State Center.

The Maryland Stadium Authority voted yesterday to hire a group headed by Ayers Saint Gross of Baltimore to recommend the best way to expand and renovate the aging Baltimore Convention Center to help it remain competitive with facilities in other cities. The study will also look at whether a new arena and a high-rise hotel should be constructed as an addition to the convention center and, if so, where they should go.

Yesterday’s selection means the study’s $460,000 first phase, which is fully funded, will begin right away and is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Depending on what the recommendations are and the availability of additional funds, it will be followed by a $930,000 second phase that could lead to the next major development for downtown Baltimore.

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