Under Armour Presents Phase One of Its Port Covington Campus
Today at Baltimore City Planning Department’s Urban Design & Architecture Review Panel (UDARP) meeting, Under Armour presented plans for Phase One of its 50-acre, 4 million sq. ft. campus and future headquarters at the former Port Covington Shopping Center. Under Armour was joined by architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and engineering firm Kimley Horn. Under Armour completed what it calls “Phase Zero” in January which was the conversion of the former Sam’s Club into Building 37, a 170,000 sq. ft. office, café, and amenity space.
Phase One, which will break ground at some point in 2017 according to Neil Jurgens, vice president of corporate real estate at Under Armour, will include buildings, totaling more than 500,000 sq. ft. of space, and a 1,500-space parking garage, which will be expanded to 5,000 spaces in the future. This includes two nine-story office buildings totaling more than 300,000 sq. ft. of space, plus two one-story “plinths” adjacent to the buildings and the parking garage which will have 30 ft. ceiling spaces for studios and innovation. Under Armour will also construct a new visitor center.
The roofs of the plinths will be multi-tiered green parks and plazas that surround the office buildings and garage. The green spaces will be used to capture rainwater for bioretention and include large spaces where employees can relax and gather in large groups.
The cluster of new buildings in Phase One will sit just west of Building 37 and east of W. Peninsula Dr., which provides access to the new buildings. W. Peninsula Dr. will be redeveloped into a five-lane road with new landscaping, medians, and public parallel parking spaces and will remain an access point to the adjacent NGK-Locke facility. Car access will stop at the end of the new parking garage, but pedestrian access will continue all the way to the water at Ferry Bar Park.
Phase One will allow Under Armour to bring 1,500 employees to Port Covington, joining the 500-plus who already work at Building 37. Under Armour is also planning a man-made lake on the northeastern point of the campus for Phase One, but it is still working through the details and working with government agencies and said they couldn’t go into further detail.
Under Armour expects to open Phase One in late 2020 or 2021.
The UDARP panelists expressed their concerns with the large parking garage, which could eventually be 120 ft. tall and 800 ft. wide and its relationship with W. Peninsula Dr. Jurgens noted that the garage size has been reduced from previous plans.
The rest of the new campus will be constructed in three additional phases with 12 different initiatives according to Jurgens. Under Armour is currently headquartered at Tide Point in Locust Point and also has offices at McHenry Row.
Under Armour’s Master Plan includes the future demolition of the former Walmart building to make room for office buildings and a sports stadium. The field will have a football, soccer, and lacrosse alignment with a surrounding running track. Under Armour originally planned for the stadium to have a capacity of 5,000, but noted that it keeps growing and could go up to 12,000 (for comparison, Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium has a capacity of 11,198). The stadium will be open to the public during certain events.
Along with the new stadium, Under Armour has plans for a public waterfront promenade, which includes additional fishing piers, a lake, and a future renovation of Ferry Bar Park. Under Armour is also planning a field house, similar to an athletic complex at many universities. It will feature an indoor practice facility as well as basketball courts and training equipment. Local community athletic groups will be invited to use this space for workouts and events.
Under Armour’s new campus is part of Sagamore Development’s 260-acre master plan for Port Covington.
Renderings courtesy of Under Armour
About the Author: Kevin Lynch
Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.
