Representatives of a Minneapolis-based development company unveiled plans last night for a Ellicott City shopping center that would include a grocery store, pharmacy and clothing stores.
"This is going to be a cornerstone project for us," said James Lee, eastern regional vice president for Opus, a 42-year-old company that builds retail, industrial and residential and commercial projects in the United States.
"This is how we're going to build our reputation," he said of Opus' first proposed project in Howard County.
Opus held an informational meeting last night at the county office building for residents from Wheatfield, Columbia Hills and other neighborhoods near the proposed 475,000-square-foot Long Gate Shopping Center.
The company -- locally called Opus East and situated in Bethesda -- wants to build the center on 43 acres of a 53-acre site bounded by U.S. 29, Route 100, Long Gate Parkway and Route 103. The site, owned by Ellicott City developer Robert R. Moxley, is zoned for businesses, retail and office buildings.
The project would include eight one-story buildings, ranging in size from 24,000 square feet to 116,796 square feet. Plans also call for 2,074 parking spaces.
The buildings would house a grocery store, bookstore, neighborhood pharmacy, one or two clothing stores such as T J Maxx, Hit or Miss, or Marshall's and a sporting goods store.
A separate 8.2-acre parcel along Long Gate Parkway could hold a bank and family-style restaurants, Mr. Lee said.
That parcel, zoned for office and research facilities, serves as a buffer between the Wheatfield neighborhood and any proposed shopping center, according to a July 1993 compromise between residents and Mr. Moxley.
Under the Opus plan, the buffer would feature a 5-foot berm topped by trees.
If approved this fall by the county Planning and Zoning Department, the project could be finished by late 1996 or early 1997, Mr. Lee said. Opus would build and finance the shopping center, and merchants would be issued 25-year leases.
The company has signed no letters of intent with retailers, but Mr. Lee said Target Stores Inc., a Minneapolis-based retail chain, has expressed interest in opening a store at the site.
"They're going to a be a major product," said Mr. Lee, noting that Opus has included Target stores in past retail projects.
Target, likened last night to an "upscale Caldor and low-scale Hecht's," plans to open its first Maryland store by the fall of 1996 in the Owings Mills area in Baltimore County.
During the 2 1/2 -hour meeting, residents expressed concern that the proposed shopping center would lead to increased crime and traffic, especially at U.S. 29 and Route 103 and along Montgomery Road where schools, churches and a YMCA are situated.
"It's very critical," said the Rev. Bruce A. Romoser, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church on Montgomery Road, near the proposed site. "We've already had accidents."
Mr. Lee said the company would take steps to help control crime. "We manage our problems well," he said. "It will be handled."