The Port Covington Development Team, along with the Governor of Maryland and Mayor of Baltimore, announced today that Port Covington is set to become one of the leading cybersecurity and technology hubs in the nation, driven by the relocation and expansion of three influential cybersecurity firms to its shores. This move and momentum further establish Baltimore as a global destination for innovative companies, and will create a nexus of tech and cyber opportunity at Port Covington.
“With Maryland’s highly talented workforce, cutting-edge research institutions, and more and more innovative companies locating here each year, no state is better equipped or better positioned to be the cyber and innovation capital of our nation,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “This new development at Port Covington will further spur development of cyber companies, bringing much-needed jobs, capital investment, and business opportunities to Baltimore City and our state.”
Outside Rye Street Tavern, flanked by community and national business leaders and elected officials, the Port Covington Development Team announced that the initial phase of the 235-acre waterfront development will become an epicenter for cyber and tech companies on the East Coast.
“Today’s announcement unites two of my greatest passions: the City of Baltimore and cybersecurity,” said Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger. “The expansion and relocation of these firms to Port Covington only helps solidify Baltimore and Maryland’s reputation as the cybersecurity capital of the world. I am thankful for this investment and excited to see the talent and economic domino-effect this could bring to the entire region. The Maryland congressional delegation stands ready to support the effort any way we can.”
Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Firm Expands and Jobs Move to Maryland
This future synergistic, tech and cyber ecosystem will be anchored by industry companies that will be relocating and/or expanding to Port Covington: DataTribe, a globally-known cybersecurity startup studio with offices in Maryland and Silicon Valley; AllegisCyber, a leading and one of the oldest Silicon Valley-based early-stage cybersecurity venture capital firms; and Evergreen Advisors, a Columbia, Md.-based investment banking and corporate advisory firm focused on assisting emerging growth and middle-market companies.
“To the cyber and tech companies already here, and yet to come, we wish to reaffirm that Baltimore is your home and resource for talent and capability,” said Catherine E. Pugh, mayor of Baltimore. “Ours is a city committed to innovation and entrepreneurship, and we’re determined to foster a work-life environment that appeals as much to the growing millennial population as it does Baltimoreans whose families have been here for generations. Port Covington provides an ideal location with abundant available space and build-to-suit opportunities – ideal for creating a 21st Century cyber and tech ecosystem. We are delighted to welcome DataTribe, AllegisCyber and Evergreen Advisors and we look forward to the many more to come.”
“This first wave of companies coming to Port Covington represents an ever-growing sector of the economy that is leading us all into the future,” said Marc Weller, partner of Weller Development Company and lead developer of Port Covington. “All aspects of the technology life cycle will plant a flag at Port Covington. Port Covington will be a magnet for growing, innovative companies – an inclusive community for tech-forward companies to work together to bring ideas to reality, from development to full market maturity. These businesses are leaving Silicon Valley, an area thought to be the nation’s tech capital, in order to become part of something new and exciting here. Why? Because Port Covington has it all: prime waterfront location, connectivity, an abundance of existing dynamic tech talent and an entrepreneurial ethos focused on future growth,” Weller added.
Port Covington is one of the largest urban renewal efforts in America and it will have a fundamental and far-reaching positive impact on Baltimore, its economy and its future. A redeveloped Port Covington will mean thousands of new jobs, new businesses, fresh opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship, new ways to reach the waterfront and more for Baltimore City and the State of Maryland.
Adjacent to I-95, the East Coast’s most traveled highway, Port Covington provides convenient and efficient commuting and travel times for the area’s workforce, residents, tourists and other visitors. Port Covington will be an engine for economic growth, with vibrant retail and entertainment options, iconic office buildings, hotels, residential, and waterfront parks. Leveraging the core strengths of Baltimore, the project will feature several key ecosystems focused on Technology, Life Sciences and Education.
Port Covington is Emerging as a Future Central Hub for Commercial Cybersecurity
“Today, we are announcing the creation of Cyber Town, USA – anchoring the technology ecosystem here at Port Covington. We are located in the midst of the country’s deepest and largest reservoir of cybersecurity engineering talent, including some of the fastest growing commercial cyber firms in the world,” said Mike Janke, co-founder of DataTribe. “Maryland is home to the world’s most advanced cybersecurity and data science coming out of the U.S. Intelligence agencies, R&D labs and commercial innovation centers. Maryland has the largest cyber workforce in the world, with more than 109,000 cyber-related engineering and data science professionals. Port Covington will become home to Cyber Town, USA as a leading technology hub not only for entrepreneurs and engineering talent, but also for the resources necessary for them to be successful. DataTribe will continue to build on this rich ecosystem for commercial cybersecurity and data science companies at Port Covington,” Janke added.
The core of the cybersecurity hub will be located within the first buildings to be built in Port Covington known as Rye Street Market – a mixed-use property which will include three boutique loft-style creative office buildings totaling 180,000 square feet, a vibrant market, restaurants, shops and shared amenities. Additional office, retail, hospitality and residential spaces are currently in the planning stages and will be driven by lead tenant interest. Including the already opened Sagamore Spirit Distillery and Rye Street Tavern, Chapter 1 will include over 3 million square feet, including 1.5 million square feet of office, 275,000 square feet of retail, 1.15 million square feet of residential, and 125,000 square feet of hotel space.
“This announcement is further evidence that Baltimore is an increasingly compelling place for growing companies and families seeking quality jobs to call home,” says Margaret Anadu, managing director and head of the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group. “We are excited to play a role in Port Covington’s development and in supporting the city’s economic growth.”
Expected to be delivered as soon as late 2020, Rye Street Market is planned to also include a 13,000-square-foot open-air market and food hall inspired by Baltimore’s rich heritage of neighborhood markets, 50,000 square feet of pedestrian-oriented retail, a state-of-the-art meeting facility, and a magnificent rooftop event space overlooking the water. Future phases are slated to include more than 10 million square feet of additional office, residential, retail and hotel development with little restriction to build more offering robust expansion and relocation opportunities for Cybersecurity Sector and other companies in Port Covington.
“As an organization committed to the health and vitality of the Baltimore region as well as a major employer of cybersecurity professionals, Port Covington’s announcement is something to celebrate,” said Ed Nevin, Baltimore managing partner at Deloitte LLP. “Every day we see the increasing demand for cyber talent – within our own organization and our clients – so making Baltimore City a concentrated hub for cyber companies and top cyber professionals is what the business community and regional economy needs.”
Port Covington’s appeal to cybersecurity firms will include the creation of a secure, redundant, private fiber optic loop to provide reliable, state-of-the-art, gigabit-speed internet connectivity and site-wide public Wi-Fi service. Port Covington is unique in that it will be built from the ground up with a cybersecurity-hardened infrastructure. Port Covington will also support robust security efforts throughout the project and facilitate technology development as the project matures.
“Maryland already leads the U.S. in cyber employment for classified Nation State jobs, and the U.S. government is investing billions of dollars annually in the development of groundbreaking technologies to prevent Nation State attacks,” said Bob Ackerman, founder and managing director of AllegisCyber. “There is a groundswell of innovation in certain deep technology disciplines taking place within government labs, producing cutting edge technology with enormous commercialization potential. DataTribe and AllegisCyber will continue to take those advanced world-class data science capabilities and cyber expertise and productize it for the global commercial market and defense industry.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan lauded the announcement as a big win for the State of Maryland, celebrating AllegisCyber’s commitment to becoming the first high-profile venture capitalist firm to ever expand from Silicon Valley to Maryland. The companies moving into Port Covington will help further establish Maryland as global destination for technology and cybersecurity companies. Already, the state of Maryland:
- Ranks #1 among states in concentration of STEM occupations;
- Ranks #2 among states in concentration of information security analysts;
- Boasts nearly double the national density of people in cyber-related occupations;
- Ranks #1 in the nation in the percentage of degrees awarded in computer science, mathematics, and statistics; and
- Features 16 National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (behind only Texas with 17).
For more information on Port Covington, visit http://www.portcovington.city.
About Port Covington & the Port Covington Development Team
Port Covington is a 235-acre master-planned, mixed-use redevelopment project, with a prime location on the waterfront in Baltimore City. As one of the largest urban renewal efforts in America, the redevelopment of Port Covington will have a fundamental and far-reaching positive impact on Baltimore, its economy and its future. At completion, this 25-year project is planned to include: up to 18 million square feet of new, mixed-use development; 2.5 miles of restored waterfront; and 40 acres of parks and green space for Baltimore City. The Port Covington redevelopment is expected to generate thousands of new jobs, new businesses, better transit, more public parks, improved access to the waterfront, new space for manufacturing, fresh opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship and more for Baltimore City residents and its local workforce. The Port Covington Development Team is comprised of the various investors and stakeholders working together on the Port Covington project, including Sagamore Development, Plank Industries, Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, Weller Development, nationally known general contractors, world-class architects and designers, locally owned construction and development businesses, and Minority Business Enterprises and Women Business Enterprises.
About Weller Development Company
Weller Development is a privately-owned real estate development firm led by Marc Weller, a senior real estate executive with over 20 years of experience developing and building residential, commercial, and mixed-use real estate projects. Offering a unique and powerful range of expertise for all phases of development, Weller Development is the lead developer of Port Covington, a 235-acre mixed-use redevelopment project in Baltimore City that is one of the largest urban renewal efforts in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.wellerdevelopment.com.
About DataTribe
DataTribe is a cybersecurity and data science startup studio that invests and co-builds next generational commercial software. The firm draws upon experienced technology and entrepreneurial teams from the world's most prestigious, high-stakes environments, including the international intelligence community and National Labs from U.S, Canada, UK and Australia. DataTribe is headquartered in Fulton, MD with offices in San Francisco, CA. For more information, please visit:https://datatribe.com/.
About AllegisCyber
AllegisCyber was the first dedicated cybersecurity and data science venture capital investment firm, building on a 15+ year track record of cyber innovation and investment success. The firm has worked extensively with seasoned cyber entrepreneurs and research engineers with national security cyber experience to tackle the rapidly emerging and ever evolving cyber security threat landscape. Combining deep domain expertise, a team of seasoned start-up entrepreneurs and a global network of research, innovation, customer, and ecosystem relationships, AllegisCyber partners with entrepreneurs to build sustainable market leaders from proprietary insights and early stage innovation. AllegisCyber has partnered with cyber security start-up studio - DataTribe - to catalyze the Maryland cyber security and data science innovation ecosystem. For more information, please visit: http://allegiscyber.com/.
