Athletics clothier may move

Under Armour looks at Middle Branch

Clothier might move

Corporate headquarters are viewed as key anchors in large, mixed-use developments that strive to revitalize areas with new housing, employment, shopping and entertainment.

Downtown, money manager Legg Mason Inc. plans to relocate its headquarters to a tower under construction in the Harbor East mixed-use community. Morgan Stanley said last year that it would be a tenant and bring 900 jobs to Harbor Point, an $830 million office and residential campus that broke ground near Fells Point last week.

For the city to begin acquiring private properties in West Covington, the City Council must adopt a proposed urban renewal plan for the area. That plan is being reviewed by the city Planning Commission. Council approval would enable the city to start assembling properties and put out a request for bids from developers.

Brodie said Under Armour executives are aware that the West Covington redevelopment must go through that public process "and they might not be the only people interested in it."

Businesses with operations in West Covington that objected to the city's urban renewal plans at a Planning Commission hearing earlier this month included Schuster Concrete, a ready-mixed concrete supplier that employs 900 people in the region, and Allied Waste, which has a recycling facility at West Covington.

A representative of Baltimore-based homebuilder Ruppert Homes said the builder signed a sales contract three years ago to purchase property owned by Atlantic Forest Products and still hopes to build homes there.

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