The old home of Bethlehem Steel in Eastern Baltimore County has its first tenant. Fed Ex announced Wednesday that it will build a distribution center on the Sparrows Point property.
Negotiations have been going on for months between Fed Ex and TradePoint Atlantic, the company that owns the 3,100 acre site.
"FedEx. You are the first one," 2nd District Representative C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger said at the official announcement. "The fact that you have a commitment and that you see and have the vision on how important this is, with the rail, with shipping, with all the things we need to do, you made the right choice."
Fed Ex plans to open the facility in August of 2017. It expects to hire around 150 full and part time workers.
Meanwhile, TradePoint Atlantic is cleaning up decades of contamination left over from the days of steel making at Sparrows Point. Kevin Koken, vice-president of eastern operations for FedEx Ground, said the company is satisfied that the 50 acre site it is building on is safe.
oken said his firm takes “every precaution in doing all of the appropriate reviews of all of the appropriate analysis” whenever they purchase property. He said they "feel confident and comfortable that all of that has been completed and we’re in accordance with all of the rules and regulations."
The cleanup of the entire Sparrows Point site is expected to take years and cost tens of millions of dollars.
Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz predicted that the continued development of the site will lead to 10,000 jobs over the next 10 years.