Converting Truckstops to Townhomes - $300 Million Mixed-Use project Coming to Laurel?

Back when dcmud was still running around in knickers (it was the ‘80s – fashion victims all), we spent a year or so living in Laurel MD, just miles north of the Beltway along Route 1 in Price George’s County, but miles (and years) away from the developing mini-city it has recently become (plenty of farms were still around then). The latest major development involving Laurel now arrives via DC-based Patriot Group, which is hoping to build a $300 million mixed-use community on the 10-acre site of a former trucking terminal, located just east of Route 1 at Marshall Avenue and Staggers Road. In late June, Patriot Group submitted a conceptual development plan to the city, the first step in an approval process that might not be completed until 2009. (Those interested in this project should note that there will be a community forum this week (August 1, 7 pm at Laurel City Hall) to discuss the plan.) The developer envisions erecting seven buildings (ranging in height from five to 20 stories) that would feature 1,208 residential units and over 140,000 sf of office space. If all approvals are met, construction will begin in 2009, with project completion slated for 2017.