The Maryland Transit Administration will start a bus route in February between Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and Tradepoint Atlantic, satisfying a longstanding request of the industrial redevelopment site.
LocalLink 63 line will run between the Tradepoint campus in Sparrows Point and the hospital in East Baltimore via Peninsula Expressway, Dunmanway and Dundalk Avenue, said the MTA’s Tom Hewitt, who spoke at a Tradepoint community meeting Wednesday night.
The buses will run every eight to 10 minutes during peak hours, Hewitt said.
The MTA is still working on the rest of LocalLink 63, which will go between Bayview and downtown Baltimore, perhaps every 20 minutes. There are two options for that portion of the route: either via Eastern Avenue or via Boston Street.
The MTA will hold a public hearing on the proposed routes from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 15 at the North Point Library at 1716 Merritt Blvd. in Dundalk.
Hewitt said the MTA will finalize the route in December, with service starting Feb. 4.
He said adding the bus route to Tradepoint is part of the state’s goal of expanding public transportation to job centers.
Tradepoint Atlantic officials have long been lobbying for bus service to the campus. Aaron Tomarchio, a Tradepoint Atlantic vice president, said one of the main questions prospective tenants have is how their employees will get to work.
“This is an important piece of the puzzle,” he said.
Tradepoint Atlantic officials also offered updates on their projects to a crowd of more than 100 people.
The company has applied for state and federal permits to dredge areas around its port to 42 feet and 47 feet deep. A public hearing is likely to be scheduled in December.
Tradepoint Atlantic is also “in the final days of executing a deal” with “a blue-chip name” to locate next to Under Armour’s new warehouse, said Eric Gilbert, Tradepoint’s chief development officer.
Gilbert would not reveal the name of the company, but the state of Maryland and Baltimore County have offered a financial incentive package worth $2.2 million to Amazon to open a warehouse and distribution center at Tradepoint Atlantic.
Gilbert also said a “well-known” fuel and convenience store company has signed a deal to locate in a proposed retail area along the Baltimore Beltway. He said the company should lead to momentum to leasing other retailers and restaurants for the commercial area.
Tradepoint Atlantic is redeveloping a 3,100-acre property in Sparrows Point that was home to a steel mill for more than a century, mostly under the ownership of Bethlehem Steel. After a series of ownership changes, the mill closed for good in 2012.
Tradepoint is a joint venture of local investment firm Redwood Capital Investments and Hilco, a Chicago-based liquidation and redevelopment firm.