New Carrollton New Home to Md. Housing Dept.

A plan to remake the City of New Carrollton is getting a boost from the state of Maryland.

Monday, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley announced the signing of a 15-year, $40 million lease to house the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

“This is a great day in Prince George’s County,” O’Malley said.

The governor gathered with county officials at the New Carrollton Metro Station for the announcement.

If approved, the DHCD headquarters will move from Anne Arundel County to a new mixed-use development next to the New Carrollton Metro. The building would include retail space and more than 400 apartments.

O’Malley said the relocation promotes smart growth and will help to stimulate transit-oriented development in Prince George’s.

“It’s convenient to Metro, it’s convenient to subways, it’s convenient to buses, convenient to MARC, convenient to AMTRAK ” O’Malley said. “And when it’s completed, it will also be convenient to the purple line light rail as well.”

O’Malley also said the project will create jobs. He estimates 300 construction workers will be hired to put up the building, and when it’s done, there will be as many as 80 jobs in retail and building management.

Not everyone is happy about the deal.

Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold has written a letter to the state treasurer and state comptroller asking them to reject the proposal, which still has to be approved by the state Board of Public works.

And the union for workers at the agency also object to the move. A majority of the agency's employees live in Anne Arundel.

If the project is given the go-ahead, the new DHCD headquarters would open in the late summer or early fall of 2013.

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