Road, Sewer Upgrades on Track in Town Center

Three major infrastructure projects designed to allow for millions of square feet of new development in the Odenton Town Center are on track to be completed within the next two years, county officials and developers said. 

The projects include major sewer and water lines and the completion of Town Center Boulevard, which will connect Seven Oaks to the MARC Station and allow for a major new office park in northwest Odenton.

Officials said planning and construction of all three have thus far moved forward without any major hurdles.

“They’ve been the center of our attention for quite some time, and they are all linked together,” said Bob Hannon, president and CEO of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp., which has worked with the county Department of Public Works and developers to move the projects forward. “It’s all positive.”

Hannon said the 36-inch water line extending from the MARC station to Maryland Route 32 is under construction and will be completed by July.

A seven-leg sewer system is almost fully designed with permits either approved or in the pipeline, and the county will select a contractor build it by this fall. Completion of the sewer line is expected in January of 2014, Hannon said.

Once the county awards the contract for the sewer line, work on Town Center Boulevard can begin, with the Halle Companies, a Silver Spring developer, taking the lead on construction.

The county and the Halle Cos. signed an agreement in July of 2010 calling for the company to build the road, while the county would construct the sewer and water lines. Together, the projects are designed to allow for the construction of millions of square feet of new development across the 1,600-acre Odenton Town Center.

“There’s finally something happening,” said Halle Cos. vice president Jon Halle.

The Halle Cos. would be one of the largest developers, with plans that include a 128-acre office complex known as Independence Park, with 3.5 million square feet of development near Route 32 and Maryland Route 175. In the short term, Halle has plans for two, 150,000 square-foot buildings on the site.

Halle said he has the green light to start work on Town Center Boulevard once the county finalizes a contract to begin construction of the sewer line. By agreement, Halle has two years to complete the road once work on the sewer line begins, but Halle said he's designing the road and bridge now.

Planning for the sewer line has moved quickly because the county has avoided any major problems in acquiring rights-of-way to install it, Hannon said. He said there are verbal agreements in place with 12 landowners along the sewer line’s path, and that the county is working to formalize those deals now. Only one landowner proved resistant, Hannon said, and the county was able to simply design the sewer around his property.

“To the credit of the engineers that are working this, we’ve been able to anticipate and avoid any legal or permitting issues that would sidetrack the timeline,” he said. “We’re on that track and on pretty solid footing right now.”