Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Friday that the state Department of Housing and Community Development will move its headquarters from Anne Arundel County to Prince George's, the first state agency to relocate to the county.
The department, which works on rental housing, neighborhood revitalization and foreclosure-prevention programs, will move more than 330 employees from its Crownsville site to a location that has yet to be determined.
"Prince George's County is the second-biggest county in our state; yet in the 375-year history of our state, it has not been home to the headquarters of a state agency, until now," O'Malley said.
O'Malley said moving the agency from "a wooded area" in Anne Arundel to a location near a Metro station in Prince George's "is an excellent opportunity for smarter, cleaner growth."
The decision fulfills a commitment O'Malley made to Prince George's residents four years ago and comes as he campaigns for re-election against former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican. Prince George's, a heavily Democratic county, is considered a key battleground in the contest.
O'Malley's move echoes a similar vow by Ehrlich, who attempted to shift the 110-person Department of Planning from the state office complex in Baltimore to a site in Prince George's. That effort was thwarted in 2006 by the other two members of the state Board of Public Works after objections were raised by department employees and the General Assembly to moving the agency out of Baltimore. Environmental advocates also protested any move of the Planning Department from State Center, which is also a transit hub.
Unlike the Ehrlich move, O'Malley's proposed shift is explicitly linked to transit considerations. The housing department's current location in Crownsville has few transit choices, whereas Prince George's has many.
Also on Friday, the governor identified 14 transit stations throughout the state, including four in Prince George's, as designated sites for transit-oriented development. A spokesman said such sites will be given priority in the selection process.
Officials said the process of moving the agency will begin next month with a request for expressions of interest, which will allow developers and commercial landowners to participate. That will be followed by request for proposals. The state expects to finish the bidding process by the end of the year.
Raymond A. Skinner, Maryland's secretary of Housing and Community Development, said the relocation will be an adjustment for many of his employees because one-third live in Crownsville or Annapolis, 10 percent live in the District or Prince George's or Montgomery counties, and the rest live in Baltimore or on the Eastern Shore.
Depending on the choice of station, the commute could either become harder or easier for Baltimore residents who work for the department. Stations at Naylor Road and Branch Avenue would be more difficult to reach than Crownsville, but the New Carrollton and Laurel stations are both on MARC train lines, giving Baltimore commuters a choice they don't have in Crownsville.
Shaun Adamec, a spokesman for O'Malley, said the move of the housing department to Prince George's is appropriate because the agency conducts much of its business there and in other urban areas of the state. He said a task force created by O'Malley to consider which agency to move recommended the department.
"It makes a world of sense not only to locate an agency in Prince George's County, but that agency in Prince George's County," he said.
For years, Prince George's officials have been trying to attract development around its 15 stations, but a number of hurdles have impeded those efforts. County officials say there has been a lack of coordination among Metro, the state and the county. Some County Council members have said Metro has costly requirements for parking that have left developers unwilling to build near the stations.
Baltimore Sun reporter Michael Dresser contributed to this article.