Dive Brief:
- The Baltimore City Council voted Monday to move forward with a $660 million bond financing package for Under Armour founder Kevin Plank's $5.5 billion mixed-use Port Covington project, according to The Baltimore Sun.
- The bonds will pay for the project's infrastructure improvements, and Sagamore Development, Plank's development company, will pay the bonds back through future taxes. According to The Sun, the Port Covington bond package is the biggest tax-increment financing deal in Baltimore history.
- The city council's vote was not unanimous, and critics called the bond measure "corporate welfare," as they said it takes money from critical services like the fire department and schools. Proponents maintain that the $100 million package of city benefits included in the agreement is too good to pass on.
Dive Insight:
The council was expected to approve the Port Covington financing plan at a meeting earlier this month, but Carl Stokes, chairman of the economic development committee, adjourned the meeting right before the vote. He told The Sun that he wanted more time to review the deal and that he believed other council members were trying to push the three necessary bills through too quickly. A spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told the Sun that Rawlings-Blake will sign the bill next week.
In addition to a profit-sharing agreement with the city, Sagamore will pay $25 million for workforce development, $10 million for minority- and women-owned business loans and $6.5 million toward prevailing wages for construction workers on the project. In addition, the project is expected to generate 26,500 permanent jobs and deliver a $4.3 billion economic boon for the city when complete.
Sagamore President Marc Weller said that approval of the bond deal means that construction on its first phase, a $19.6 million waterfront public-access park, can begin before the end of the year. On infrastructure portions of the development, project officials will maintain a 30%-local workforce and pay at least $17.48 per hour. Community opponents of the project said the wages are too low and will not provide enough assistance to low-income Baltimore residents.
Plank said in January that Under Armour's headquarters would eventually move to the 50-acre waterfront project and that the project would end up with 4 million square feet of total development. Planned projects include the park, a fieldhouse with indoor practice facilities, a basketball court, a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and 3 million square feet of office space. In August, the federal government turned down Baltimore's request for infrastructure funding around the Port Covington site.