Officials plan to mark the start of the first new office building in downtown Columbia in more than a decade, with a formal groundbreaking Tuesday on a nine-story, roughly $75 million complex of apartments, offices and shops near Lake Kittamaqundi.
LPP Investors, LLC Partner David Costello, whose Columbia-based Costello Construction firm will build the new Little Patuxent Square complex, said he wants the project to strengthen the urban fabric of the lakefront, which is also set to add a Whole Foods store this year.
"While Columbia is advancing with the residential and retail component, what's been missing in my opinion is the commerce component," he said. "Bringing the jobs and bringing the commerce to the lakefront is just an amazing thing for us."
A previous proposal for a 22-story condominium tower on the site stalled after community opposition.
The current plans call for 160 apartments, about 160,000 square feet of offices and shopping, and an underground parking garage with 740 new spots, as well as space for Zipcars and charging stations for electric vehicles. An unnamed healthcare technology firm has already leased about 120,000 square feet in the Little Patuxent Square complex, according to Costello Construction.
The project, located off of Little Patuxent Parkway near Wincopin Circle, is to start construction shortly and open in the summer of 2016.