Whole Foods on lower level, facing Towson Row
The developers of Towson Row have received county approval for a revised site plan that changes the location of its office tower and is, overall, slightly scaled down from the original plan.
The approval from Baltimore County’s Development Review Committee on Tuesday is the latest evidence of new life for this long-stalled project that has left a 5-acre crater in downtown Towson for more than a year.
Caves Valley Partners, the original developers, ran into issues when they discovered too much rock under the site to allow for their proposed underground parking garage. Last month, Caves Valley announced it was partnering with Greenberg Gibbons on the project. Greenberg Gibbons has a strong reputation and is the firm behind The Shops at Kenilworth, Hunt Valley Towne Centre and Foundry Row.
“We’re optimistic about Towson and about this opportunity,” Eric Walter, senior vice president at Greenberg Gibbons, said in an interview.
Corner of York and Towsontown
The previous plan had an office tower and apartments on top of a parking garage on Chesapeake Avenue, just behind the National Guard armory. The new plan is to move the office component to the corner of Washington and Susquehanna avenues.
On the Greenberg Gibbons website, Towson Row is described as:
- 1.2 Million square foot ultra-urban mixed-use development
- Over 100,000 square feet of cosmopolitan restaurant and retail space, including a premier grocer, 150,000 square foot trophy-quality office tower, 300 premier student housing units, 250 luxury high-rise apartments and a hotel
- 1,465 Parking spaces within two garages providing convenient parking to Towson Row and all of downtown Towson
- A warm, inviting central plaza and vibrant street scape will be a gathering place for Towson Row and the Towson community
Developers are creating a new road, called Towson Row, that will run through the middle of the site from Towsontown Boulevard to Chesapeake Avenue parallel to York Road. Whole Foods will front Towson Row facing east.
The businesses on Chesapeake Avenue — including the Christian Science Reading Room, Tease Me Salon, and 7West — are all remaining.
Christopher Mudd, an attorney representing the developers, said Whole Foods is still on track to open a store at the site, but no other tenants have yet been signed.
“This is just the beginning of the process,” he said.
–Kris Henry,
The Towson Flyer
Sounds ambitious! Hope the central plaza is as inviting as it seems, like those found in upscale retail/residential development near the D.C. Convention Center or the Annapolis area.
Anyone know the costs or impact for water, sewer or related? This project is nearly the size of the Towson Town Center, which I don’t think many people realize…
A new, very expensive, 24″ sewer main will soon be laid by Baltimore County DPW 20 feet deep in the travel lanes of Towsontown Boulevard from Charles Street to Washington Avenue. I don’t think this would be done if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. The 2002 City and 2005 County consent decrees require the downstream impact of added sewage flow be considered. Significant recent downstream sewer overflows into the Jones Falls in the city make me question how much more can be added.