Baltimore's old steel country is getting a billion-dollar reboot. Tradepoint Atlantic has broken ground on a $1 billion container terminal at Sparrows Point, a project company officials say will reshape the Port of Baltimore and how cargo moves through the region. The build is focused on a slice of the former Bethlehem Steel complex and includes a new wharf, container yard, and on-dock rail built for modern megaships, to take vessels by the end of 2028.
Who’s behind the build
According to The Baltimore Banner, Tradepoint Atlantic, owned by Jim Davis through Redwood Holdings, has officially kicked off construction on the Sparrows Point terminal. The outlet reports the project is structured as a joint venture with Terminal Investment Ltd., the terminal operator tied to major global carrier activity, and company leaders have been calling the development transformational for the region.
Permits, dredging and engineering
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the project's key federal permits in December 2025, authorizing deepening and widening of the Sparrows Point channel to -52 feet mean lower low water and the mechanical removal of roughly 4.2 million cubic yards of material, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The permit package also clears an approximately 3,000-foot marginal wharf with ship-to-shore cranes and spells out where dredged material may be placed or disposed of.
What the terminal will handle
Project documents and the official Sparrows Point Container Terminal website estimate the complex will boost the Port of Baltimore's container-handling capacity by roughly 70% and include an on-dock rail facility aimed at moving boxes toward the Midwest, per Sparrows Point Container Terminal. Plans call for the terminal to handle large, modern containerships and to host MSC as an anchor customer, while still leaving room for other carriers to call.
Construction timeline and equipment
The buildout combines heavy marine work with more familiar landside construction: driving piles, building a new wharf, and laying out paved container yards. The Baltimore Banner reports that a test pile was hammered about 115 feet into the ground, that Whiting-Turner will oversee the landside work while R.E. Pierson focuses on the wharf, and that Cashman Dredging is handling the channel work. Company officials say MSC will move a bulk of its Baltimore business from the state-run Seagirt terminal to Sparrows Point once operations begin, and planners expect ship-to-shore cranes and other equipment to be in place by 2028.
Local reaction and environmental notes
Local leaders have framed the investment as a major economic win, while environmental advocates and neighborhood groups have pushed for strict handling of dredged material and strong mitigation measures. Coverage in WMAR2 News highlighted the project's $1 billion price tag and planners' projection of construction jobs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit record lays out a disposal plan that includes placement on Tradepoint land and routing some material to an ocean site near Norfolk, and officials say monitoring and mitigation plans tied to state and federal approvals will guide the work.
Federal permitting for the project cleared FAST-41 review, a milestone the Permitting Council flagged as a key step. With permits in hand, contractors mobilized and early piles in the ground, the next phases are full marine-works activity and landside buildout aimed at hitting the late-2028 in-service goal.
