Gov. Martin O'Malley today announced plans to move the Department of Housing and Community Development, a state agency with about 330 employees, from Crownsville to Prince George's County.
The announcement came as O'Malley designated 14 rail stations as the state's initial sites for mixed-use development connected with transit projects, making them eligible for state spending and tax incentives. He outlined the list of transit-oriented development projects, including seven in metropolitan Baltimore, receiving that legal authorization at a news conference today in Prince George's County.
The new location for the housing agency was not announced, but an O'Malley spokesman said transit connections would be an important factor in the choice of a Prince George's site. Four of the designated transit-oriented development sites are in that county.
Most of the projects on O'Malley's statewide list have been publicly discussed as potential sites for mixed-use development, but the governor's action will allow the state Department of Transportation to devote money and staff time to moving them forward, said Chris Patusky, the agency's real estate director.
With the certification, local governments will also be able to arrange funding for the projects by creating special tax districts or issuing bonds underwritten by future property taxes on the projects, Patusky said. He also noted that under a law passed by the General Assembly this year, designated transit-oriented development sites are eligible for the state's historic tax credit program even if none of the existing structures is historically important.
The idea behind transit-oriented development is to concentrate office, retail and residential activities around transportation hubs, reducing the need for commuters to use privately owned vehicles. Patusky said that to qualify, developments must be within a half-mile of a transit hub and be accessible to bicycles and pedestrians.
"We're trying to create these … green transit communities," he said.
Projects receiving the designation that are furthest along are those planned around the Owings Mills Metro Station, where a developer has been selected and a garage already built, and Baltimore's State Center, where groundbreaking on the first phase is expected early next year. The city project draws on a Metro station, light rail station and bus routes.
Other Baltimore-area stations receiving the designation are the Aberdeen Amtrak and MARC station, the Odenton MARC, Savage MARC, Reisterstown Road Plaza Metro and the Westport light rail.
In suburban Washington most of the projects are located around Metro stations: Branch Avenue, Naylor Road and New Carrollton (also a MARC/Amtrak station), Wheaton, Shady Grove and Twinbrook. Also on the list is the MARC station in Laurel.
Some stations that have discussed as potential development sites — notably West Baltimore MARC and Dorsey MARC — did not make the cut. Patusky said that to be eligible for the first round of designations, a project had to have a conceptual framework in place.
He said that all of the selected sites have the land necessary for the project under the control of the state government, localities or the project developer.