[Baltimore Sun] Minority- and women-owned businesses make up nearly half of Baltimore Peninsula contracts
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Developers of the 235-acre Baltimore Peninsula mixed-use community in South Baltimore said Thursday that they have awarded nearly half of the construction work in the project’s first phase to city-based women- and minority-owned businesses.
More than $134 million in contracts have been awarded to firms with those designations, developers said in a new report measuring the project’s economic, environmental and social impact.
The report said 35% of contracts, worth almost $98 million, went to minority-owned businesses, while 13%, of $36.7 million, went to women-owned companies. Contractors have hired 476 city residents to work construction jobs.
The project south of Interstate 95 previously known as Port Covington now includes two apartment buildings, a Roost hotel, two office buildings and Rye Street Market, where a multi-vendor retail and food market is slated to open later this year. It’s being developed by MAG Partners, MacFarlane Partners, Under Armour founder Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Ventures and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
The project was awarded $660 million in public financing in 2016 in a then-controversial move by the City Council. Under the approved tax increment financing, the city is selling bonds to pay for public infrastructure and be repaid by Baltimore Peninsula’s property taxes.
Developers pledged in the report to “continue our community-focused investments to ensure that the neighborhoods around us reap the benefits of equitable economic growth.”
The report said the project is on track in designating one-fifth of its apartments as affordable housing.
In addition, the South Baltimore 7 Coalition, made up of neighborhood representatives overseeing a community benefits agreement between the developers and local neighborhoods, has awarded $2.5 million in grants. Grants have gone to organizations such as Black Yield Institute in Cherry Hill, an urban farm and network tackling food inequalities, and Baltimore Compost Collective, which collects food scraps from homes for composting to grow fresh produce.
Developers said the Baltimore Tree Trust has planted more than 1,400 trees in and around the new community, part of the more than 40 acres that will be developed as green space and parks along with waterfront.
In the first phase, more than 1.1 million square feet of residential, retail and commercial space have been built, with Baltimore-based CFG Bank moving its headquarters in as a major anchor. Under Armour is building its new headquarters adjacent to the project.
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