The bank that controls the undeveloped land at Baltimore Peninsula might sell it off

The Arkansas bank that controls the undeveloped land at Baltimore Peninsula is considered splitting it up and selling it to multiple developers.

After Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank stepped away from future development plans at the South Baltimore site late last year, the project’s main lender, Bank OZK, was left in control of a large swath of land.

Bank OZK has not taken title to the land or even foreclosed on the property. The borrower — a joint venture between Plank’s development company and the investment bank Goldman Sachs — had a land loan that came due in December.

Ever since, Bank OZK has been working with the Baltimore Peninsula development team to find someone else to buy that land. Almost no information has been released about this process, except in quarterly earnings reports filed by Bank OZK.

In January, the bank said it was in “active discussions with a potential buyer,” and CEO George Gleason told investors , “We’re working on a potential sale of that property right now.”

As of July, they’re still working.

In a filing last week, the bank said it is considering splitting up the land, calling it a “complex asset with multiple parcels.”

“We have been in active and very detailed discussions and due diligence with multiple potential buyers who are interested in purchasing all or portions of the property,” Bank OZK said in its second quarter management comments.

Bank OZK, a mid-sized bank known for its aggressive commercial real estate lending, did not respond to a request for comment.

Mark Sapperstein and his firm 28 Walker Development spearheaded a nearby residential development called Locke Landing, where townhomes have been selling for $700,000 and $800,000.

Sapperstein previously said he was interested in the undeveloped land at Baltimore Peninsula. He declined to comment Thursday.

A decade after Plank unveiled plans for a mini-city with high-rise towers and massive Under Armour headquarters, just one phase of the project — five buildings with a mix of residential, retail and office space — has been completed.

Under Armour’s new headquarters opened in late 2024, though it’s a fraction of what the sports apparel company originally planned to build there. Baltimore Peninsula has announced numerous leases for a variety of businesses that will soon move in, but today much of the space is unoccupied.

A spokesperson for Plank’s firm Sagamore Ventures said in December that more than 100 acres of undeveloped land are up for grabs in the neighborhood formerly known as Port Covington.

“Baltimore Peninsula remains one of the premier development opportunities in Baltimore,” Havana Gazlay, a spokesperson for Baltimore Peninsula, said in a statement. “The vision has always been to create a platform for additional investment that supports the future growth and continued success of the neighborhood.”