Third Tower Crane Going Up at Port Covington, Total of Five Cranes Planned

With five buildings currently under construction in Chapter 1B of the Port Covington Development, the tower cranes are starting to appear in the sky of the South Baltimore neighborhood. There are now two tower cranes installed at the site and installation is being finalized on a third, with two more planned soon, according to the Port Covington Development Team.

As the Port Covington Development is one of the largest urban development projects in the country, it’s not surprising there will be a sea of cranes visible from I-95 and different spots in the city including from Riverside Park, West Covington Park, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge. The last time a project in South Baltimore attracted three tower cranes was for the construction of Horseshoe Casino Baltimore.

The five new Port Covington buildings are scheduled to begin delivering in late 2022. This development phase will have 440,000 sq. ft. of office; 586,000 sq. ft. of residential from 537 total housing units which break down as 367 market-rate residential dwelling units, 89 affordable dwelling units (ADU), and 81 extended-stay units; 116,000 sq. ft. of retail; more than 1,000 parking spaces; and 10 acres of parks and public space. Upon delivery of Chapter 1B, 20 percent of the residential units in Port Covington will be ADU.

The buildings include:

• Building E1: 223,000 sq. ft. building (162 residential units and 40,000 sq. ft. retail)
• Building E5A: 221,500 sq. ft. building (212,000 sq. ft. office and 9,500 sq. ft. retail)
• Building E5B: 133,000 sq. ft. building (40 residential units, 81 extended-stay units, and 6,000 sq. ft. retail)
• Building E6: 293,000 sq. ft. building (254 residential units and 16,000 sq. ft. retail)
• Building E7, Rye Street Market: 273,000 sq. ft. building (228,000 sq. ft. office and 45,000 sq. ft. market)

At full completion, Port Covington is planned to include up to 18 million sq. ft. of new, mixed-use development with 2.5 miles of restored waterfront and more than 40 acres of parks and green space.

The Port Covington Development team is made up of Under Armour Founder and Chairman Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Ventures, Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, and Weller Development.

A separate project in Port Covington is Under Armour’s future World Headquarters, even though Plank has partial ownership in both. Under Armour owns the former Port Covington Shopping Center that occupies 50 acres on the southern tip of peninsula. The company announced last month that it will relocate its company to Port Covington from Locust Point by 2025. Under Armour converted the former Sam’s Club to a 170,000 sq. ft. building and will soon build a 284,000 sq. ft. office building as well as track and field facility on its campus.

Already completed at Port Covington in Phase 1A is City Garage, which redeveloped an existing building in 2015 into a 133,000 sq. ft. office building that is “a hub for manufacturing, innovation and entrepreneurship;” Impact Village at 240 W. Dickman St. which underwent some renovations and is now the home to workforce development non-profits; Sagamore Spirit whiskey distillery; Rye Street Tavern; and renovations to the Baltimore Yacht Basin marina and Nick’s Fish House. 

The Port Covington Development Team also made public space improvements which include landscaped medians, taking over maintenance of West Covington Park where it added outdoor bar South Point, the first phases of East Waterfront Park, a new mural, and adding new off- and on-street bike and pedestrian paths.

Renderings courtesy of the Port Covington Development Team (click to enlarge)

E7 – Rye Street Market

Whiskey Plaza in front of Sagamore Spirit

E6

E5B

E5A

E1

Triangle Park next to E1

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.