Representatives from Weller Development presented plans today for an eight-story, 233,000 sq. ft. office building along E. Cromwell St. in Port Covington to Baltimore City Planning Department’s Urban Design & Architecture Advisory Panel (UDAAP). This office building is one of eight new buildings that have been presented to UDAAP for the first phase of Chapter 1 in the 235-acre, $5.5 billion, multi-decade Port Covington Development by The Port Covington Development Team.

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.

This proposed office building, which is currently being called E5A because of its plot in the development, is designed by architecture firm MGMA.

E5A is bordered by E. Cromwell St. on the south, a soon-to-be new street called Atlas St. on the north, a soon-to-be new road called Banner St. on the west, and a private street that will separate it from an apartment and retail building on the east.

This land, which sits just north of E. Cromwell St., is currently the site of parking lot for The Baltimore Sun’s Sun Park, as well as a grass lot that was formerly owned by The Baltimore Sun. New parking lots have been constructed for Sun Park to the north and west of the campus.

E5A will be a brick building with large warehouse-style windows. Designers from MGMA were inspired by brick warehouse buildings in Baltimore like Camden Yards, Henderson Wharf, and the Admiral Fell Inn.

The first six stories will be brick, the seventh story will be set back and have a gray color, and the eighth floor will be a small amenity floor for the 12,000 sq. ft. rooftop deck that overlooks the water. E5A has a one-story section on the eastern edge of the building facing the private street. The southern end of this floor will be for a retail tenant and will feature skylights. The northern part of the one-story section will be an open-air courtyard. It will have a screen structure, featuring live plants, to match the windows on the building.

The building will have a total of 10,000 sq. ft. of retail along the first floor.

There will be a small one-story parking garage inside the building.

Project Manager Shawn Batterton said this building will have larger floor plans for larger tenants.

Just northeast of E5A will be a seven-story, rectangular-shaped, 121,600 sq. ft. building featuring 148 apartment units, 8,200 sq. ft. of ground floor retail, and 5,900 sq. ft. of amenity space at plot E5B. E5A will share the private road with this building.

At this point, seven additional buildings have been presented for the first phase of Chapter 1. This includes a six-story, 290,000 sq. ft. building with 242 apartments and 7,685 sq. ft. of retail lining the first floor at plot E6. Rye Street Market, which is a four-building project on one block, will be at plot E7. Rye Street Market will be 243,500 sq. ft. and 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. Plot E1 will have a large parking garage attached to a retail and apartment building. This building is planning for a grocery store, additional retail, flex spaces, and approximately 150 apartments.

New infrastructure work in Port Covington will begin this spring and construction on the new buildings will begin in late-2019 and early-2020.

The Port Covington Development Team says the office portion of 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 will be ready to move in when the first buildings open. Janke expects Port Covington to have just under 1,000 cyber security employees by the time the first phase of the development opens.

Renderings courtesy of Weller Development and MGMA

Site plan courtesy of Weller Development

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, beach volleyball enthusiast, dog lover, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, beach volleyball enthusiast, dog lover, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin