David C. Douglas moved to Odenton from his native Baltimore nearly four years ago. Before then, the 44-year-old attorney for the Treasury Department would drive to his job in the nation's capital.
"Around 1989, I couldn't take the commute anymore," Mr. Douglas said. He took the MARC train to work. In June of 1991, he and his wife Toni, 40, were driving through Odenton looking for a home closer to his job. In October of the same year, they moved into a two-story, single-family house in Seven Oaks.
Scores of families have followed the Douglases since, beneficiaries of the real estate boom concentrated in the western part of Anne Arundel County.
"Sixty-five percent of all growth in the county will be in the Odenton area," predicts David A. Moss, the president of Century 21 Moss Realty, in the 1500 block of Annapolis Road. Newcomers are Howard Countians disgruntled with the high cost of homes there, Baltimoreans looking for an easy commute to and from the city, and residents of Prince George's County who may be attracted by the easy access to the area provided by Interstate 97 and Routes 32 and 100.
One visible sign of Odenton's growth is the full parking lot at the MARC train station. Five years ago, 700 people a day boarded at the Odenton stop. Today, 1,100 people a day get on there.
Last March, Gov. Parris N. Glendening announced a $4.7 million project that will increase the capacity of the parking lot at the Odenton MARC station from 800 to 1,400 cars.
Most of the residential development has been in two areas: the Piney Orchard complex just south of the old town center of the village of Odenton, and the Seven Oaks complex along Annapolis Road.
More than 1,100 single-family houses, duplexes, townhouses and apartments have been built and occupied in Seven Oaks since Halle Enterprises erected the first structure in 1989, a spokeswoman for the development company said. Although the company projects building a total of 2,900 structures in Seven Oaks, only 25 to 30 single-family homes are still available. The remaining dwellings built will be townhouses, duplexes, apartments or condominiums.
Mr. Moss said townhouses in Seven Oaks range from $125,000 to $150,000; duplexes range from $130,000 to $140,000; and single-family homes start at $180,000.
Steve Koren, Constellation Real Estate Group's development manager for Piney Orchard, said his firm has plans for construction of 4,000 units there and is "closing in" on 1,000 built and occupied so far.
