With the recession continuing to freeze even one of the most reliable housing sectors, Erickson Retirement Communities has dropped plans to buy and develop up to 188 acres of historic Doughoregan Manor in Howard County as a senior living complex.
Erickson's decision to abandon a nearly two-year-old plan to build 2,000 senior housing units on the parcel creates uncertainty for the manor, the only home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence that remains in family hands.
The family of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signer of the declaration, had hoped to use money from the sale of the parcel to restore and preserve the nearly 300-year-old family mansion and other historic structures once occupied by their famed ancestor.
Lying between Route 108 and Frederick Road, north and west of Columbia, it is the largest undeveloped tract in Howard County.
The deal's demise indicates that problems continue in the senior housing market in the county. Sales have slowed for other developments geared toward older people, a growing segment of the population that until recently had the substantial savings and home equity that made them an attractive market for developers.
But now, many retirees, facing both diminished investment incomes and existing home values, have postponed plans to move to senior housing. In Howard, sales of upscale townhouses for seniors have stopped at Scott's Glen in Columbia, and builders recently tried unsuccessfully to get the County Council to allow sales to customers of any age."People are being forced to wait" to make a retirement move, said Anirban Basu, an economist and owner of Sage Policy Group.
Dick Story, Howard's economic development CEO, called Erickson's withdrawal a temporary economic setback.
"It's an excellent piece of property," he said. "Somebody will come along in the future" and propose another project.
"It is a loss," he said of Erickson's "excellent" plan, "and we rue the fact that it's not going forward."
Wayne Rush, regional vice president of development for Erickson, issued a one-paragraph confirmation that the Doughoregan purchase was off, but his statement added that "the project may, or may not be revisited."
But at least one county official said Thursday that she does not expect Erickson to reconsider.
"As far as I can tell, it's a casualty of the economy. It's not postponed; it's off," said County Councilwoman Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat whose district includes Doughoregan.
