Warfield, a group of 13 former hospital buildings on 96 acres along Route 32 in Sykesville, is the best site for economic development in Carroll County, according to a $50,000 town-commissioned feasibility study released yesterday.

"It has character, good highway access, and a fast-growing base of skilled commuters who have the potential to be a strong in-county work force," the study says.

The 37-page document was written by Marsha R.B. Schachtel, senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies; Richard P. Clinch, director of economic research at the Jacob France Institute of the University of Baltimore; and Matthew Kachura, research manager at the Jacob France Institute.

"The opening sentence says it all," said Jay T. French, a development consultant for the town. "The report found Warfield the premier site available in all the county."

The research showed South Carroll is the most rapidly growing area in the county, "growing faster than the Baltimore region as a whole." Median family income in South Carroll exceeds $75,000, and in Sykesville it has nearly doubled since 1990, the report said.

The town has the opportunity and the will "to proceed with the job-producing development in a careful and high quality manner," the report says.

Although the town commissioned the report to test the possibility of using Warfield for start-up "incubator" technology businesses, the study found that the demand for such enterprises is not strong within the county. Instead, the study recommended that a satellite college campus, a higher-learning technology center and a health care research facility would be better uses for the site.

"This was a good way to bring in professionals to look at Warfield," French said. "They found lots of possibilities for its space."

At its completion, Warfield has the potential to bring to Carroll more than 1,000 jobs, many in the technology field, town officials have said. The town's development plans call for a business and academic center in the restored century-old buildings and a new hotel and conference center on land near the highway.

Sykesville Mayor Jonathan S. Herman has guided the Warfield project from its inception six years ago, when the state made the former Springfield Hospital Center property available for public use. He said yesterday that he is extremely pleased with the results of the study.

"The study validates the efforts of the town to acquire and develop this surplus government property and [says] that Warfield will be a significant commercial center in the future for its citizens," Herman said.

Carroll County and state governments have contributed about $500,000 toward the project.

"Warfield is a model for the governor's Smart Growth plan," said Herman, referring to Gov. Parris N. Glendening's initiative to direct growth to existing communities such as Sykesville.

Technology Development Corp., a quasi-state agency that helps draw technology to Maryland's cities and counties, gave the town $25,000 toward the study. The Maryland Department of Planning matched that amount.

The report's writers added: "Given the strong demand for housing, it is important that the town and the county preserve the site for employment-generating uses and take the first steps toward creating a high-end business park there."