Baltimore Mixed-Use Megaproject Gets $189M Loan

Port Covington. Image courtesy of Weller Development Co.

After construction went vertical earlier this year, the first phase of Baltimore’s $5.5 billion Port Covington waterfront development in Baltimore—dubbed Chapter 1B—has received a $189 million, four-year construction loan from Bank OZK. JLL arranged the debt. The city of Baltimore also issued the first, $138 million portion of a more complex $660 million bundle of Tax Increment Financing to fund infrastructure improvements for the project.

Project sponsors include Sagamore Ventures and Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, while Weller Development Co. serves as development partner. Expected to begin delivering in late 2022, the phase will include more than 1 million square feet across five buildings:

• Building E1: 162 residential units and 40,000 square feet of retail;
• Building E5A: 212,000 square feet of office and 9,500 square feet of retail;
• Building E5B: 40 residential units, 81 extended-stay units and 6,000 square feet of retail;
• Building E6: 254 residential units and 16,000 square feet of retail; and
• Building E7, Rye Street Market: 228,000 square feet of office and a 45,000-square-foot market.

Port Covington is taking shape across 235 acres along the Southeast Baltimore waterfront and will have three access points to and from Interstate 95. The development is the biggest urban revitalization project in the country and, at full build-out, will include up to a combined 18 million square feet of office, retail, mixed-income residential, hotel, marina and public space, with 40 acres dedicated to parks and green space.