Dive Brief:
- In an unexpected move, the Baltimore City Council failed to approve $660 million in public financing bonds for the $5.5 billion Port Covington project, despite the fact that city officials and developers reached an agreement just hours before the meeting, according to The Baltimore Sun.
- The Council passed two of the three bills required to seal the deal before Carl Stokes, chairman of the economic development committee, adjourned the meeting with no explanation. Later on, Stokes told The Sun that he believed other council members were trying to push the bills through without time for review, but he said that he would likely call a vote for the third bill next week.
- The Port Covington project, driven by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, would reportedly provide $100 million in economic benefits for the community, as well as thousands of jobs.
Dive Insight:
The deal between the city and developers took weeks of negotiations and resulted in developers agreeing to kick in $25 million for workforce development, $10 million for minority- and women-owned companies and $6.5 million toward prevailing wages for construction workers, according to The Sun. Developers also agreed to turn $35 million of land around the development into public parks and open space, as well as build affordable housing around Port Covington and in other locations in Baltimore. The $660 million in bonds would pay for necessary infrastructure improvements. In August, the federal government turned down Baltimore's request for infrastructure funding around the Port Covington site.
Plank first unveiled his plans for the 50-acre South Baltimore waterfront project in January. At the time of his announcement, Plank said the development would eventually be home to Under Armour's new headquarters and would feature 4 million square feet of total development, which would include public access to the waterfront, a fieldhouse with indoor practice facilities, a basketball court, a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and 3 million square feet of office space. Under Armour's existing headquarters serves about 1,900 workers, but the company plans to expand that number to 10,000 once its Port Covington offices are complete. Under Armour officials have called the development "a major game-changer for the city."