County Planning Board Recommends Retail at Solo Cup Site

The Baltimore County Planning Board Thursday afternoon voted in favor of rezoning the industrial Solo Cup property on Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills to make way for a Wegmans grocery store and other retail development.

The board’s recommendation will be taken into consideration by the Baltimore County Council when it makes the final decision in the fall.

Developers Greenberg Gibbons and Vanguard Commercial Property Development plan to invest $140 million in the 52-acre property to make way for a Wegmans-anchored retail center called .

“Obviously, we’ve very pleased and excited about it,” said Greenberg Gibbons chairman and CEO Brian Gibbons. “We’re looking forward to getting the final resolution done with the council later this year.”

Officials from other developers with nearby projects, such as hopeful Owings Mills mall redeveloper Kimco, were not as pleased.

“The Planning Staff identified significant traffic issues in its review of the property, and outside experts have raised similar concerns about traffic congestion, market over-saturation and the site plan review and approval,” said Geoff Glazer, Kimco's vice president of acquisitions and development for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, via email.

“We are disappointed that the planning board ignored these concerns."

He said that if the rezoning is approved by the county council residents will have lost any further chance to weigh in on how the project affects "the already difficult Reisterstown Road corridor traffic congestion and retail vacancies.”

Officials from both Kimco and David S. Brown, the company building the transit-oriented development , have argued that Foundry Row would and create additional problems, such as traffic congestion and excess retail and office space. Glazer has gone so far as to suggest he will abandon the mall project if Foundry Row gets its zoning.

Howard Brown, chairman of David S. Brown Enterprises, previously told Patch he is opposed to rezoning the Solo Cup property. He declined to comment on the planning board vote.

Gibbons disagrees with the opposing developers and said all the projects can get off the ground at the same time.

“I think our project is validating the market from a retail perspective,” he said. “Quality retail brings other quality retail.”

County Council Chairwoman agreed.

Gibbons said he would consider taking on the mall project himself.

“If Kimco is not moving forward with the mall, that’s something we’d be interested in looking at,” he said.