Goldman Sachs Joins $5.5B Baltimore Revitalization Project

By Barbra Murray

Baltimore Skyline

Port Covington, a 235-acre master-planned development on the water’s edge in Baltimore, just got a big boost. Sagamore Development Co., the force behind the $5.5 billion undertaking, just announced that Goldman Sachs has come aboard as an equity investor, injecting $233 million into the project through its Urban Investment Group.

“The fact that such a major partner is joining us in redeveloping Port Covington speaks volumes,” Marc Weller, co-founder of Sagamore Development Co., said in a prepared statement. “We promised we’d bring in outside private institutional investors to Baltimore City and to Port Covington, and we have.”

Due to take shape over a 25-year period along 2.5 miles of restored waterfront, Port Covington holds the distinction of being one of the largest revitalization projects in the country. When all is said and done, the site will feature 18 million square feet of development consisting of residential units, office buildings, retail space, entertainment offerings and hotels. Port Covington will also provide 40 acres of parks and green space.

Goldman Sachs’s decision to take a joint venture position in the development is a big deal for Port Covington, and a big deal for Goldman Sachs, too. The monetary contribution marks UIG’s largest single private equity investment ever.

Good company

Sagamore and Goldman Sachs aren’t the only ones with big plans for land at the reemerging Port Covington waterfront location. Under Armour is developing its headquarters campus on 50 acres across from the mixed-use project. Although Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank co-founded Sagamore with Weller, the footwear and sports apparel manufacturer owns the land that will become the site of its new global home base, so the mixed-use project and the headquarters are separate developments.

Goldman Sachs is onboard, Under Armour is building nearby—the Port Covington project is attracting all the right names, including the Baltimore City Council. In September 2016, the City Council approved a $660 million financing package for the gargantuan mixed-use development in Baltimore.