The 99-year lease calls for the developers to pay the state $500,000 a year for the 46-acre property, which sits at the intersection of Interstate 795 and Painters Mill Road near the Metro's Owings Mills station in Baltimore County. Payments are to commence in five years and will increase by 2% annually. Construction on the town center could begin as early as next year. Upon completion the project will include office space, about 450 units of residential dwellings for rent and for sale, a 150-room hotel, restaurants and ample retail space. Local officials tout the civic elements of the plan, which centers on an open-air "town square" design that will also encompass an educational building, a technology center and a public library.

"It's one of the most significant smart growth development projects in Baltimore County," Baltimore Regional Partnership director Dan Pontious tells GlobeSt.com. "It's converting 46 acres of a surface parking lot into a town center. It goes a long way in controlling sprawl in our region; allowing people to live, work and shop next to a high-speed transit line." Pontious notes that a great deal of discussion about the particulars of the development is still in order, and that those involved are anticipating that the new local development team will conduct an open dialog and be more responsive to citizens' and local officials' thoughts than LCOR was. The next step is getting the County Council to sign off on the project.