JLL Selected to Lease 1.38 Million Sq. Ft. of Office Space at Port Covington

The Port Covington Development Team announced today that it selected JLL to lease the approximately 1.38 million sq. ft. of office space in Chapter 1 of the 235-acre, $5.5-billion, multi-decade development in Port Covington. Construction is expected to begin in the coming months on new infrastructure followed by vertical development at the end of the year.

The Port Covington Development Team is comprised of owners Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Development Company and Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group with Weller Development Company leading the development and construction.

JLL is a professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with an annual revenue of $16.3 billion, operations in more than 80 countries, and a global workforce of more than 90,000.

Chapter 1 will tackle the eastern section of Port Covington in the grass lots just east of The Baltimore Sun’s Sun Park along E. Cromwell St. and across the street from Sagamore Rye Distillery. Chapter 1 will eventually have 3.025 million sq. ft. of new buildings across more than 12 city blocks. It is planned to include approximately 1.38 million sq. ft. of office, 337,450 sq. ft. of retail, 976,667 sq. ft. of residential, and 285,000 sq. ft. of hotel space.

“Port Covington provides an urban mixed-use neighborhood on the waterfront specifically designed to help companies attract and retain the talented workforce they desperately need in order to prosper,” said Tony Gross, Senior Vice President of Agency Leasing at JLL, in a press release. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to tell a truly unique story. Port Covington is a ‘shovel ready’ project in a Federal Opportunity Zone that combines an easily accessible location, significant scale and flexibility to offer forward-thinking businesses a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“We are thrilled to partner with JLL as we start aggressively leasing the next phase of Port Covington,” said Marc Weller, Founding Partner of Weller Development Company, in a press release. “Port Covington and all that it offers, from its prime waterfront location to the unsurpassed connectivity and accessibility built into the development, will be attractive to companies of all shapes and sizes. As we tell our story to potential tenants across the globe, we are excited to have a trusted global leader like JLL as a member of the Port Covington Development Team.”

The Port Covington Development Team says the project will “feature several key ecosystems focused on technology, life sciences and education.”

Port Covington has been dubbed Cyber Town USA by Mike Janke of DataTribe. Janke is relocating his cyber startup studio from Fulton, MD to Port Covington during the first phase of Chapter 1, which is expected to open in late-2020 or early-2021. DataTribe is joined by AllegisCyber and Evergreen Advisors as the first three announced companies for Chapter 1.

Janke said in October that the trio of businesses already have 28 companies committed to moving to Port Covington and expect up to 50 to 60 companies ready to move in when the first buildings open two years from now. Janke expects Port Covington to have just under 1,000 cyber security employees by the time the first phase of the development opens.

Rye Street Market, a four-building, block-long project totaling 243,500 sq. ft., is also expected to begin construction by the end of the year.  It will include a 13,000 sq. ft. open-air market and food hall, 50,000 sq. ft. of pedestrian-oriented retail, 180,000 sq. ft. of office space, and a rooftop event space. Rye Street Market is expected to be delivered in late 2021.

Two apartment buildings will be constructed on two blocks just southwest of Rye Street Market. The six- and seven-story buildings will total 390 apartments and 25,885 sq. ft. of retail. Construction on the apartments will begin in late 2019 or early 2020 and are expected to be competed in late 2021.

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.