WASHINGTON -- Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin announced today that Baltimore has received a $975,000 Brownfields Economic Development Initiative Grant (BEDI) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop the Chesapeake Business Center in the Canton Industrial Area located in Southeast Baltimore. The congressman also announced that the project will receive a $5 million federal loan guarantee from HUD to develop the Canton business site.

The Chesapeake Business Center in Canton will be a 1.3 million square-foot state-of the-art business park that is projected to create 1,500 new jobs for the Southeast Baltimore area. The center will be located on the site of the former Exxon Corp. distribution center and will provide jobs and training for Empowerment Zone residents and former welfare recipients. The BEDI grant will enable the Baltimore Development Corp. (BDC) and the Maryland Economic Development Corp. to purchase and redevelop a 73-acre brownfield site that formerly was a petroleum storage and distribution center. HUD funds are leveraging $23.5 million in state, city and private funds for a total project cost of more than $29.5 million.

"The Chesapeake Business Center is a very important development project for the city of Baltimore. The Center is within minutes of the Port of Baltimore, I-95 and rail lines and will help Baltimore compete for large distribution hubs. In addition to job creation, the Center will enhance the mix of commercial and residential development in the Southeast area," said Rep. Cardin.

M.J. Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corp., said, "The Chesapeake Business Center is part of the City's overall economic development strategy to combine city, state, federal and private resources to improve and expand the supply of development-ready land in the City for new business opportunities."