Building Diversified Communities

Best practice: Public-Private Partnership for TOD

Metro Centre, a TOD in Owings Mills, on Baltimore’s Metro Line, is being developed by a partnership between the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), Baltimore County and a private developer. Baltimore County has designated Owings Mills as a growth area and has helped fund a community college and library on the 46-acre site surrounding the station.

MTA leased land to a developer for 99 years and expects additional annual ridership revenue of $3.6 million. In such a partnership, the initial risk and financial investment is reduced and spread among each group, with the expectation that public investment in a major tenant like a college or library will attract additional mixed-use development.

Two five-story buildings house 232 apartments, ground floor retail and restaurant space. The development creates a new “main street” along Grand Central Avenue next to the Owings Mills Metro Station and the new library and community college building.

TOD Best Practices: Building Diversified Communities