For years, developer Mark Renbaum has argued with skeptical Baltimore County residents that building new apartments alongside office, retail and green space at Lutherville Station would give new life to one of Maryland’s most divisive, and consequential, pieces of land.
Black and white signs that read “NO APARTMENTS, NO COMPROMISE” and “SAVE SUBURBIA” cropped up in nearby yards.
Now, he seems to finally be taking the “no compromise” to heart.
After the passage of a new law taking aim at a statewide housing shortage and greenhouse gas emissions, Lutherville Station LLC resubmitted its application to Baltimore County for designation as a transit-oriented development, or TOD, Tuesday afternoon. Renbaum’s modified plan would build 560 apartments as part of an ambitious new development a stone’s throw away from a light rail station.
In a press release, Renbaum called the proposal a “once in a generation opportunity for Baltimore County” as he looks to capitalize on the state’s new bullish energy for transit-oriented development.
A bill that passed this year in Annapolis allows for greater housing density on certain land parcels located within .75 miles of a rail station, aiming to kick-start housing construction at a time when supply can’t keep up with demand and prices are increasingly unaffordable. Lawmakers also hoped to bring potential riders closer to train lines that have been slow to recover since ridership plummeted at the start of the pandemic.
Soon after, the state transportation department revealed new plans for the Reisterstown Plaza Metro Station that swaps a sprawling parking lot for about 800 new apartment units. Multiple apartment buildings are going up along a downtown stretch of the light rail as part of a revitalization of the Howard Street corridor, and one of the many promises of the Red Line, a future east-west light rail planned across Baltimore’s urban core, is the additional development it could spur around stations.
The Lutherville Station development plan includes 110 more housing units than previously proposed and includes two inner courtyards, a community dog park and a five story parking garage with nearly 1,000 spaces. A five-story, 96,250-square-foot office building would go up right next to the light rail station; an event lawn that could host concerts or outdoor markets would go in next to that.
Urbanists and transit advocates argue that higher housing density with things like grocery stores, doctors’ offices and restaurants close by will lead to walkable, vibrant communities. And when next to a transit stop, those amenities become easily accessible without the need for a car, helping the fight against climate change by reducing how often people need to drive, they say.
Renbaum says the new state law would allow him to build up to 1,300 apartments on the site. Before, the project needed sign off on a zoning change from Wade Kach, the local Republican council member. It will still need county approval, however, and Renbaum is still holding out hope he can get local community associations on board.
Kach said in a statement Wednesday that the plan “flies in the face of the efforts to reach an agreement on a redevelopment sensitive to this area’s uniqueness.”
Currently, only single-family homes sit within short walking distance to the light rail stop. And some of the residents who live in them haven’t taken to Renbaum’s ideas. Over the years, they have spoken up in community meetings, written editorials in The Baltimore Sun, and of course, made yard signs.
They argue that more housing density means more strain on county resources — worse traffic, more stormwater runoff that could lead to flooding, and more students enrolling in already overcrowded schools.
Recent county legislation took aim at school overcrowding, gradually lowering maximum school enrollment from 115% capacity to 105%. It would also require developers to seek special permission to build more housing in areas with overcrowded schools.
But the final version of the bill has a carve-out for affordable housing, in part to keep the county’s obligation to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through a settled discrimination lawsuit.
A spokesperson for KO Public Affairs, which manages outreach for the development venture, said Wednesday that Lutherville Station is intended as market rate apartments, but the company is in ongoing conversations with state and local officials and intend to comply with any affordable housing requirement.
Not all locals make up the opposition, though, and Renbaum says he has a plan for each of the concerns residents have named. The new TOD application includes results of a traffic study that says the proposal would generate fewer daily car trips than if the current building were fully occupied.
Wes Guckert, founder of The Traffic Group, one of the region’s most prominent traffic engineering firms who was commissioned by Renbaum for the study, confirmed the findings in an email.
Though Tuesday’s application marks a significant milestone, Renbaum said, he’s still years away from getting shovels in the ground.
Rona Kobell contributed to this story
This story has been updated to clarify that Mark Renbaum is a principal with MLR Partners.
