The proposed 400,000-square-foot Village at Odenton Station near Routes 32 and 175 will contain 60,000 square feet of retail space and four stories of 180 condominiums costing between $200,000 and $250,000.
The village won't have major retailers or "big box" stores. Instead, the center will have a supermarket, gym, restaurants and small stores such as a newsstand, movie-rental store or a dry cleaners and laundromat. Klein Enterprises is to begin construction next year.
Glen Burnie
They may make them in Detroit, but they sell them in Glen Burnie, a true "motor city." At least that is its reputation. Need a new or used car? Head to Glen Burnie and find every make and model imaginable. (Well, maybe not a Yugo.)
Want to renew your driver's license or get that vanity plate for your new SUV? The headquarters of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration is in Glen Burnie. Tire blow out? Brakes go bad? Out of alignment? Take your pick from any of a number of auto shops from the major chains to neighborhood garages that line Ritchie Highway.
Glen Burnie grew substantially from the 1940s to the 1970s, and the growth went relatively unchecked.
By 1951, more than 1,000 new homes had been built within a two-mile radius near the town's center. In 1954, more than 100 building permits a day were being issued in Glen Burnie.
Between 1970 and 1980, the population in Glen Burnie increased by nearly 25 percent. By then, Glen Burnie grew well beyond its original grid plan and the 3,000 acres originally set aside by the Glenn family.
While Glen Burnie likes to refer to itself as the "county seat of retail trade," there is such a thing as having "too much" when it comes to retail and commercial space. The Northern Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce's Small Area Plan for Glen Burnie, released in September 2004, noted that the area has more retail supply than there is demand in the area, particularly with the numerous big box stores that anchor strip malls and the construction of nearby Arundel Mills.
Glen Burnie has Marley Station Mall and Harundale Mall, which, when it was built in 1958, was the first enclosed mall east of the Mississippi.
In addition, the chamber found that office and retail vacancy rates were also higher in Glen Burnie than in other areas, especially in some of the older office buildings that need to be updated.
Since 1980, the area has grown much more slowly in terms of population and new development. More than 74,000 people live in the area. Recent demographic studies show that the area is still home to its two core groups of residents: married couples in their 40s who are still living in the pre-1970s, single-family homes in which they raised their children; and middle-income couples or families in their 30s who are active in their community and have younger children.
However, with recent revitalization efforts in the area, including the redevelopment of Glen Burnie Town Center in 1999, Glen Burnie is starting to see more families with younger children who want to live in new homes, along with singles in their 20s who are more likely to be renters and enjoy the nightlife.
