View source for Port Covington

{{Update|date=April 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->| name               = Port Covington
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| settlement_type    = [[List of Baltimore neighborhoods|Neighborhood of Baltimore]]
| image_skyline      = Baltimore_Peninsula_Port_Covington_(53821003574).jpg
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| postal_code        = 21230
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| area_code          = [[Area codes 410, 443, and 667|410, 443, and 667]]
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[[File:Port Covington Yards, Western Maryland RR 2013.jpg|thumb|Port Covington, {{Circa|1913}}]]
'''Port Covington''' or '''Baltimore Peninsula''' is a neighborhood in [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]].

==History==
===20th century===
For much of the 20th century, Port Covington was a railroad terminal built by the [[Western Maryland Railway]] in 1904 on the Middle Branch of the [[Patapsco River]]. The terminal facilities included coal, grain and merchandise piers, [[overhead cranes]], 11 [[rail yard]]s, warehouses, a [[Railway roundhouse|roundhouse]], a [[Railway turntable|turntable]] and a machine shop. In the 1920s [[Rotary car dumper|rotary dumpers]] for coal and [[Coke (fuel)|coke]] were installed, and a large [[grain elevator]]. Port operations ended in the 1970s and the site was abandoned in 1988.<ref>{{Cook-Western Maryland}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Salamon|first = Stephen J. |last2 = Hopkins |first2 = William E. |title = The Western Maryland Railway in the Diesel Era |place = Silver Spring, Maryland |publisher = Old Line Graphics |year = 1991 |isbn = 1-879314-07-X}}</ref>

===21st century===
The site has since been redeveloped for commercial use, and it currently includes a former [[Walmart]] store that opened in 2002 and closed in January 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2016/01/15/walmart-in-south-baltimore-closing-its-doors/|title=Walmart in South Baltimore Closing Its Doors|author=McCorkell, Meghan |date=15 January 2016|work=WJZ-TV/CBS Baltimore}}</ref>

[[Interstate 95 in Maryland|Interstate 95]] serves Port Covington through Exits 54 ([[Maryland Route 2|Hanover Street]]) and 55 ([[Maryland Route 2#Maryland Route 2 Truck|Key Highway]]); through this area, McComas Street serves as a frontage road between the two exits and continues east into the [[Locust Point, Baltimore|Locust Point]] neighborhood.

In January 2016, plans were unveiled by Sagamore Development Company, owned by [[Under Armour]] CEO [[Kevin Plank]], regarding the redevelopment of Port Covington in [[South Baltimore, Baltimore|South Baltimore]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/blog/real-estate/2016/01/kevin-plank-port-covington-master-plan.html |title=Kevin Plank's real estate firm offers first look at multibillion-dollar Port Covington project |last=Simmons |first=Melody |date=7 January 2016 |work=Baltimore Business Journal}}</ref> The new plan for Port Covington calls for two proposed new [[Baltimore Light Rail|light rail stations]], along with new residential and commercial development. The first station would be located west of Hanover Street, and the other would be located at the intersection of East McComas Street and East Cromwell Street, just south of [[Federal Hill, Baltimore|Federal Hill]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-sagamore-plan-20160107-story.html |title=Kevin Plank's Sagamore Development reveals Port Covington master plan |last=Sherman |first=Natalie |date=7 January 2016 |work=The Baltimore Sun}}</ref> This proposed extension would create a new spur from the Central Light Rail line by crossing the Middle Branch of the [[Patapsco River]] south of [[Interstate 95 in Maryland|Interstate 95]]. Additional features of the proposed redevelopment include a new entertainment venue, new waterfront park areas, makerspace, as well as new offices for [[Under Armour]] and other industries owned by Kevin Plank.

Sagamore Development has requested $1.1 billion in federal, state and municipal government financing, including $535 million in [[Tax increment financing|tax increment financing (TIF)]] from the City of Baltimore. The proposed TIF is the largest ever proposed in Baltimore, and would be one of the largest TIFs in the country. MuniCap, a financial consulting firm, projected that the Port Covington properties owned by Sagamore would be worth $2,608,900,706 at full build-out.<ref name="baltsun-examined">{{cite news |last1=Marton |first1=Adam 
|last2=Sherman |first2=Natalie |last3=Pate |first3=Caroline |title=Port Covington redevelopment examined |url=http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/port-covington/ |access-date=2022-05-03 |work=The Baltimore Sun}}</ref>

Some local residents are concerned with the adverse environmental impact the project will have on an already unstable region.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2016/07/29/when-the-titan-wants-to-build-the-town-under-armour-founder-kevin-planks-5-5-billion-plan-for-baltimore/ |title=When the titan wants to build the town: Under Armour founder Kevin Plank's $5.5 billion plan for Baltimore |first=Jonathan |last=O'Connell |date=July 29, 2016 |work=The Washington Post}}</ref>

Other Baltimoreans are concerned that the economic impact of the development will only benefit a segment of the population, leaving behind the city's poorer, economically depressed communities. At an August 2016 city council work session to discuss the potential project, tempers brewed. A local clergy member and community organizer said, "The city really should not be in the business of subsidizing affluent enclaves, especially one year after the [[Baltimore riot of 2015|unrest]]." An attorney for Sagamore Development reportedly bristled, and later offered that the project, which would include "world class" kayak facilities, would be available to the black community as well: "I'm fairly sure that African-Americans kayak too." Another pastor and community activist shouted in response, "This is for rich white people! You want it, you pay for it yourself!"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shen |first1=Fern |title=As tempers flare over Port Covington, parties are pushed to negotiate |url=https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2016/08/24/as-tempers-flare-over-port-covington-parties-are-pushed-to-negotiate/ |website=Baltimore Brew |access-date=6 September 2016}}</ref>

Community groups have called for public financing to be linked to guarantees for a public profit-sharing agreement and financing for schools to cover potential loss of $315 million in funding over 40 years for Baltimore schools.<ref>
{{cite news |last1=Broadwater |first1=Luke |title=Young urges Sagamore to cut deals with unions, BUILD on Port Covington TIF |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/blog/bal-young-urges-sagamore-to-cut-deals-with-unions-build-on-port-covington-tif-20160803-story.html |date=2016-08-04 |work=The Baltimore Sun}}</ref> Advocates have also called for more affordable housing as part of the development, and lowering the size of the proposed TIF to cover only required infrastructure development, not additional amenities such as kayak landings.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Broadwater |first1=Luke |title=Advocates pressure Port Covington developers on affordable housing, TIF size |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-port-covington-pressure-20160718-story.html |date=2016-07-18 |work=The Baltimore Sun}}</ref>

Construction officially began on the first phase of the development on May 13, 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohn |first1=Meredith |title=Work begins on the new community of Port Covington in South Baltimore |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-port-covington-groundbreaking-20190513-story.html |date=2019-05-13 |work=The Baltimore Sun}}</ref> The project is now overseen by Weller Development, headed by Marc Weller, a partner in Sagamore Development. In 2017, the New York investment bank [[Goldman Sachs]] invested $233 million and became a partner in the Port Covington project.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohn |first1=Meredith |last2=Mirabella |first2=Lorraine |title=Years in the making, construction of controversial Port Covington project finally underway in South Baltimore |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-port-covington-work-underway-20191108-phd2da3rebar5ibqikkm3rp3ja-story.html |date=2019-11-08 |work=The Baltimore Sun}}</ref>

==References==
{{Commons category|Port Covington}}
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==External links==
*[https://baltimore.org/neighborhoods/baltimore-peninsula/ Baltimore Peninsula] at Visit Baltimore

{{Coord|39|15|33.889|N|76|36|23.644|W|display=title}}
{{geographic location
|Centre =Port Covington
|North =[[South Baltimore|SoBo]]
|South =[[Cherry Hill, Baltimore|Cherry Hill]]
|Northwest =[[Pigtown, Baltimore|Carroll Camden]]
|West =[[Westport, Baltimore|Westport]]
|Southwest =[[Lakeland, Baltimore|Lakeland-Silver Lake]]
|Southeast =[[Patapsco River]]
|East =[[Patapsco River]]
|Northeast =[[Locust Point, Baltimore|Locust Point]]}}
{{Baltimore neighborhoods}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Baltimore]]
[[Category:Ports and harbors of Maryland]]
[[Category:South Baltimore]]
[[Category:Transportation in Baltimore]]
[[Category:Western Maryland Railway]]