Port faces prospects of more cargo and two mega projects

Market trends and some proposed developments are raising hopes of more construction activity stemming from port operations.

In January, Tradepoint Atlantic launched into a public comment period for its plan to build at $1 billion container terminal on a 130-acre site on Coke Point. The joint venture, by Tradepoint Atlantic and Terminal Investment Limited, a subsidiary of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), could dramatically change the amount of cargo moving through Baltimore.

“This would be huge for Baltimore,” said Aaron Tomarchio, Tradepoint’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs. “This would bring Baltimore up from number six in container capacity among East Coast ports to number three. Baltimore would be playing with the big boys and girls.”

For the construction industry, that could have several impacts.

If approved, construction of the container terminal could start by the end of this year and continue through to the first quarter of 2028, supporting approximately 1,100 construction jobs.

The new terminal, which is being designed to maximize the efficiency of container-handling operations, would attract more shipping to and from Baltimore by MSC (the largest shipping company in the world) and other companies, Tomarchio said.

That increased traffic would drive up demand for warehouse/distribution space.

Tradepoint Atlantic, which has already built 15 million square feet of Class A logistics facilities on its Sparrows Point property, has capacity to build another 6 million square feet of industrial property.

Increased port traffic would also likely spur “inland port projects,” such as other warehouse/distribution facilities along the I-95 corridor and nearby, Tomarchio said.

Port-related construction, however, already seems poised to experience some growth, independent of any decision about the Tradepoint container terminal.

WBCM Construction Services just landed a $9 million, 12-month contract to build a bulk material handling facility on a finger pier at Tradepoint Atlantic, said Mike Baker, President.

“There’s a lot of terminal work happening locally and in other states, and it seems to be picking up,” Baker said. “I don’t know if that’s part of the push to bring more manufacturing back to the States and the need to bring in more raw materials, but we’re getting a lot of leads from around the country for projects that are upgrading terminals.”

Designed to handle gypsum, salt, sand, gravel and other building materials, many projects are adding more automation to ship offloading “so they can get materials off the piers quicker and turn the ships around a lot quicker,” Baker said.

Meanwhile, commercial real estate and logistics company Prologis recently released a projection that the Port of Baltimore, which saw little growth in cargo traffic in 2024, should experience a 25 percent increase this year.

In its regular report about Maryland’s industrial real estate market released in January, CBRE noted that industrial property construction has finally risen back to its pre-pandemic pace after a distinct slowdown in 2024.

“The industrial development pipeline is still robust with 2.8 million square feet under construction [in Central Maryland] and expected to deliver through the first quarter of 2026,” CBRE concluded.

Finally, the Maryland Board of Public Works awarded a key, early contract in the plan to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The $75 million general engineering consultant services contract went to Bridging Maryland Partnership, a joint venture of WSP, RK&K and JMT.

The partnership will help the Maryland Transportation Authority ensure the project’s accelerated design and construction process remains on track and audit processes with the bridge’s design-builder, Kiewit Infrastructure Co.