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Accountabilityby Mark Reutter4:25 pmJun 17, 20200

Municap and other reports on Port Covington TIF Series 2020 Bonds

Above: Artist’s sketch of an office building proposed for Port Covington. (Weller Development)

The following are the still-not-publicly-released reports by MuniCap, Cushman & Wakefield and the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) of the financial projections and market appraisal of Port Covington.

In many cases, the projections and appraisals come from Weller Development itself and were not subject to independent review.

Nevertheless, there are some nuggets amid the minutia and wishful thinking.

For example:

• The $25.3 million to be reimbursed from TIF bond proceeds to the developer for his prior “soft costs,” including engineering, architecture, city permitting, inspections, and legal and lobbying costs (p. 8).

• The 11 years of projected deficits in the debt service (p. 15).

• The projected rate of return for the developer with TIF funding (11.40%) versus without TIF funding (1.33%) [pp. 10 and 12].

• The difference between hype (“The developer reports they have tremendous momentum with office leasing interest”) and reality (“The developer has executed three office leases totaling 39,595 square feet”).

The latter figure represents 3.5% of the hoped-for 1.1 million square feet of office, retail and apartment leasing for Phase One (pp. 26 and 56).

For more, put on your green eyeshades. . .

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