Logistics Hub Rises on Site of Historic Naval Training Center

The conversion of the 440-acre site of the former Bainbridge Naval Training Center—the US Navy’s primary training facility during WWII and the Korean War—into a sprawling logistics center has begun in Port Deposit, MD.

A joint venture between MRP Industrial and Hillwood Development Co. will build the project, which will include 3.7M SF of logistics and distribution space in a facility that will be called the Bainbridge Logistics Center.

The development’s first phase, which will cost an estimated $300M, will include two industrial buildings totaling 1.6M SF that are scheduled to be completed next year. The project also will include two shovel-ready parcels of 1.7M SF and 380K SF for build-to-suit projects.

Property in Port Deposit is a part of the I-95 corridor running through Cecil and Harford counties in Maryland that is a hub for distribution centers housing an estimated 35M SF in industrial space.

“There is a major distribution and logistics market in this region, and the development of Bainbridge will be a tremendous asset and help us continue to meet the need for more and more companies seeking to do business in our state,” Gov. Larry Hogan said, in a statement.

While not as tight as industrial markets to the north in Philadelphia and New York, where space essentially is fully booked, vacancy rates in the Cecil County area are hovering around 5%.

The joint venture, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, has dedicated 96 acres on the site for a permanent forest conservation easement.

The US Navy’s Training Center, on the bluffs of the northeast bank of the Susquehanna River, was active from 1942 until 1976. President Franklin Roosevelt chose the site and named the center after Commodore William Bainbridge, who commanded the frigate Constitution during the War of 1812.

In 1986, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Navy to sell the property, which reverted to a brownfield site that was designated for development in 2006, when the Navy transferred ownership to the Bainbridge Development Corp., a quasi-government owned entity.

Baltimore-based MRP Industrial began evaluating the site for industrial development in 2019 and reached an agreement with the state on a master plan for the project a year later.

Last year, MRP formed a venture with Dallas-based Hillwood to jointly develop the logistics center.