Clark Construction 'Puts Roots Down' In Baltimore

By: Ryan Sharrow, Managing Editor, Baltimore Business Journal

Clark Construction Group has opened its first Baltimore office, looking to grab a bigger slice of the market's robust health care and education industries.

The privately held Bethesda-based firm, which posted revenue of $5.6 billion in 2017, opened the office late last year at 145 W. Ostend St. in the Stadium Square development near M&T Bank Stadium. The 3,400-square-foot space has room for about 20 employees, and Clark plans to ramp up operations there throughout 2019, executives say.

Clark Construction is no stranger to Baltimore. The firm has built projects across the city since the 1970s, including Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a clinical building at Johns Hopkins Hospital, as well as a new complex for Social Security Administration in northwest Baltimore.

A joint venture between Clark Construction and Ulliman Schutte is currently working on a $430 million city project to improve the flow of sewage at the Backriver Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Civil work, health care, education and private development will be the focus of the Baltimore office. Having a local presence will also allow the firm to build on existing relationships with other big companies in the area, such as Columbia-based MedStar Health, said Ryan McKenzie, a vice president. Clark, for example, is constructing a new 835,000-square-foot medical and surgical facility for the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

“Quite frankly, we see the city as kind of on the move with a lot of promising opportunities," said Mike Hartman, a division president who is leading the Baltimore office. "We just felt like the time was right to put roots down."

Asked about Baltimore's competitive market for construction firms, specifically local behemoth Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Hartman said "they're all good builders."

"We just think we're bringing our level of capability and specialties," he said. "We’ve been building there 40 years. We’ve been in town. We’re just now permanent."

Clark was approached by developer Caves Valley Partners to join Stadium Square, McKenzie said. The company was attracted to the space due to the newness of the building and its location in South Baltimore. Other tenants in the 72,000-square-foot building include coworking company Spaces.