After months of delays, passionate and combative community meetings and negotiations, the Baltimore City Council will vote tonight on Sagamore Development's 266-acre, city-changing Port Covington project.
The key to the landmark deal is a $100M community benefits package the city reached with Kevin Plank, the owner of Sagamore Development and founder/CEO of Under Armour. Kevin also agreed to raise the affordable housing segment of the development from 10% of all residential units to 20%, the Baltimore Sun reports. That comes to about 2,200 units of the planned 7,500 residences on the complex.
The deal still has its detractors, with affordable housing advocates claiming the housing agreement still doesn't go far enough to ensure it's enforced and implemented correctly. But the benefits package on the $5.5B development now, in city officials' minds, makes the $660M in bond financing for roads and infrastructure worth it.
The approval is sure to make the discussion of Port Covington with Sagamore CEO Marc Weller at Bisnow's Major Projects event on Sept. 29 in DC. [Sun]
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