Construction of Mixed-Use Project Underway Near MARC Station

This story has been amended from its original version. Please see the editor's note at the bottom.

Construction of a major piece of transit-oriented development near the Odenton MARC station is underway.

Bulldozers, cranes and dump trucks are now active in raising the Village at Odenton Station, a mixed-use complex that will feature 235 apartments and 60,000 square feet of retail.

The start of construction comes more than two years after The Dolben Company, developer of the project, officially broke ground, but work stalled after a loss of financing due to the collapse of the credit markets. With financing from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development now in hand, the developer expects the first phase of the project to be complete as soon as the spring of 2012.

The project occupies a major stretch of land near the intersection of Town Center Boulevard (formerly Morgan Road) and Duckens Street. Bovis Lend Lease has been hired as the main contractor.

The Village at Odenton Station will feature ground floor retail with some underground parking and an above-ground parking deck for residents of the apartments.

Right now, construction crews are digging deep into the ground to create the underground parking needed for the project. Meanwhile, brokers are working to lure retail and restaurant tenants.

Patricia Palumbo of Metropolitan Management, which is working on behalf of Dolben Company, said she has commitments from at least one major Italian restaurant to fill 6,000 square feet. She said she hopes to have at least three more restaurants come on board and she has spoken to more than 100 other potential tenants, including several interested restaurateurs from Annapolis.

“I’m very excited to finally see it happen,” Palumbo said. 

Palumbo said many retailers were reluctant to sign leases until construction was underway, but that she’s hopeful companies will sign on the dotted line now that earth is being moved. She expects to attend the conference of the International Council of Shopping Centers in Las Vegas in May, where many national retail and restaurant chains will be present.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story provided incorrect information regarding parking at the Village at Odenton Station. Parking garages at the development will be used only by residents of the apartments.