Thursday, December 17, 2009

Take A Look Around



Reading through a November issue of the Howard Arundel Report I was struck by the number of development projects moving forward all around us.

At the intersection of Route 100 and the Baltimore Washington Parkway, Seneca Properties and New Boston are seeking to rezone 230,000 square feet of office land to residential to accommodate more townhomes. The development, Dorchester View, already has 85 townhome units in development on “the other half of the property.” This is just of further expansion of Arundel Preserve which has sprung up next the Arundel Mills Mall. Arundel Preserve is 268 acres with 250,000 square of retail space, three hotels, 738 apartments, 390 townhomes, and 47 single family homes. Arundel Mills is not just a mall anymore, it’s a submarket.

Further south down the Parkway, at Route 198 Greenberg Gibbons and Ribera Development have assembled 270 acres just outside Fort Meade for a project they’re calling Arundel Gateway. They are expected to receive approval from the Anne Arundel County Council to rezone the property to mixed use. This will pave the way for up to 1,800 residential units and 350,000 square feet of office and retail space.

Over by the airport, at the intersection of Route 100 and Telegraph Road, Ryan Homes has begun sales of the first phase of what eventually will be 106 townhomes in the Buckingham development. Merritt Properties, the project developer, will also build a retail center, a Merritt Athletic Club and 180,000 square feet of office space.

All of these projects will be competing with Columbia and Howard County, particularly for office tenants. In my opinion this answers the question that the opponents of GGP’s Town Center development plan keep asking.

“What’s the rush?”

The answer is someone else is eating our lunch.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said W.B.!

Tim said...

Look at the name of the plan:

Arundel Preserve Illustrative Master Plan

aka: A PIMP

What does that make us in HoCo?

Anonymous said...

I have zero desire to have residence over that way. Imagine having to battle Arundel Mills traffic just to get to your house. Especially this time of year. Yuk. The only desirable aspect of that area is that it is semi-within walking and biking distance of MARC at BWI and Dorsey.

Also, there is already a lot of vacant commercial space in that area: e.g, the office building behind the Denny's at Ridge and New Ridge has been empty since it was built in 2006. Doh!

Looking at the Dorchseter View site plan, it pops out at me that they should have extended AA Mills Boulevard on the west side of the BW Parkway so that it intersects Race Road.