A planned waterfront development in Westport is among the five locations eligible for millions in state funds intended to encourage military families relocating to Maryland to settle in high-density communities with easy access to mass transit, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown announced yesterday.
The other so-called BRAC zones are around the Odenton and Laurel MARC train stations near Fort Meade, in East Frederick near Fort Detrick, and at a commercial stretch of Prince George's County near Andrews Air Force Base.
The $5 million-a-year tax incentive program is designed to encourage private development by contributing toward infrastructure improvements in the designated areas, beginning in the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2010. Combined with local government and private investment, the program is eventually "expected to generate $150 million in capital funding," Brown said at an Annapolis event.
The federal base realignment, known as BRAC, is expected to bring as many as 60,000 new jobs to Maryland in the coming years, a development that officials have greeted as a potential boon for the economy but also a strain on already overcrowded roads and mass transit systems.
Local leaders lined up behind Brown - who oversees the state's BRAC planning - to announce how they expect to lure skilled professionals and their high incomes.
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon said the "neglected jewel" of post-industrial Westport has "tremendous potential to attract BRAC households and businesses" for of its Middle Branch waterfront views and easy access to Fort Meade by commuter rail or car.
The city intends to use state funds to subsidize improvements to nearby freeway ramps, repair aging bridges and conduct a feasibility study for a MARC station near Westport that would be part of the existing Camden line between Baltimore and Washington, Dixon said.
Patrick Turner, developer of the 43-acre project, said in an interview that he will finish demolition by the end of this year and begin major infrastructure work on the site around May 2009. Turner said getting a BRAC zone designation, which would be in effect for 10 years, will allow for major improvements in the vicinity of his development, while a tax-increment-financing scheme recently approved by the City Council will enable on-site improvements to begin next year.
The council approved a $160 million bond this month to build and improve infrastructure supporting the planned Westport development and the surrounding community.
