CNN’s Poppy Harlow recently interviewed Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour and partner of Sagamore Development, at South Baltimore’s City Garage about his plans for Port Covington and the future of Under Amour.
Sagamore’s plan for Port Covington includes Under Armour’s 50-acre, 3.9 million sq. ft. global headquarters; 1,500,000 sq. ft. of destination, attraction, entertainment and specialty retail; 500,000 sq. ft. of “maker” and industrial/light manufacturing space; 200-plus hotel rooms; 1,500,000 sq. ft. of office space (in addition to the Under Armour Global Headquarters); and civic and cultural uses including 40-plus acres of public parks, a public waterfront, and other public facilities. It also includes more than 7,500 residential units, which could total up to 14,000 units comprised of rental and for-sale properties at various price-points. Sagamore has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the city to provide affordable housing in 10% of the units. The plan also includes potential sites for a post office, school, library, fire station, police paddock, and cultural center.
The Master Plan recently received approval from the Baltimore City Planning Commission. The application for $535 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) bonds from Baltimore City for new and improved infrastructure, new parks, and ecology improvements was recently recommended for approval by the Planning Commission and is now being considered by the Baltimore City Council. The plan has received public support from groups including the South Baltimore 6, which reached a community benefits agreement with Sagamore, the Maryland Washington Minority Contractors Association, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, and the Baltimore Development Corporation. There are groups, such as BUILD, and local labor unions that have called to slow down and further analyze the approval process.
In the interview, Plank told Harlow he’d like to shatter the belief of millennials that the American dream is dead. “The greatest gift I can give right now to our country would be demonstrating that that’s absolutely false,” he said. He later discussed his hopes to put Baltimore on the list of the cities millennials want to move to through the creation of many new jobs. Plank also stated that the strife in places like Ferguson and Baltimore “all comes down to jobs at some level.”
When asked about his vision for Port Covington, Plank told Harlow, “Route 95, 225,000 cars a day driving through Baltimore. I want them to drive through and see there’s something great happening here in this city.”
The CNN segment showed a tour of Under Amour Lighthouse at City Garage, the new 35,000 sq. ft., high-tech manufacturing space. Plank said his engineers, designers, and innovators are tasked with finding “better ways” to operate so they can bring some of Under Armour’s manufacturing back from overseas. He’s hoping that will result in “tens of thousands” of new jobs.
Regarding the $535 million TIF, Plank stated, “first of all, Under Amour is not asking for a cent, I just want to be clear. This is to help build public infrastructure for a much bigger and better idea that a city like Baltimore should be able to dream for.”
“If it’s not right for the city than the city shouldn’t do it. I recognize it’s a lot of money, but that money doesn’t get funded unless a lot of companies move here and start creating that tax base,” he continued.
Cal Ripken also appeared on the segment and commented on Plank’s plans for Port Covington saying, “I think it’s the best thing in the world to happen to Baltimore.”
Ripken’s Ripken Baseball has been tapped to design a sports complex at West Shore Park in Port Covington.
Watch the CNN segment
