At last, the Warfield Complex has landed a developer.
The complex, a former state mental hospital inherited by Sykesville in 1995, had sat dormant for nearly 20 years but is aboutto be developed by Washington-based Cafritz Interests LLC.
Cafritz is to sign a 60-year lease to develop office, educational and commercial space in the largest development project in Carroll County in years.
“It?s a wonderful, absolutely delightful project,” said Sykesville Mayor Jonathan Herman. “It?s a win-win-win situation: It?s a win for the town, it?s a win for the county, and it?s a win for the state of Maryland.”
Cafritz remains unsure exactly how it will develop the 42 acres of open space and 12 vacant hospital buildings, said Melanie Domres, senior vice president of Cafritz. The buildings at the Springfield Hospital Center were built in the early 1900s, and Maryland has designated the area a historic site.
An academic park and a corporate campus are among the possibilities Domres listed for the site.
“This is a unique project, which is one of the reasons we?re anxious to do this,” Domres said. “In terms of the immediate area, this project is one of a kind.”
Nexion Health Inc., a nursing home management company, and Carroll Dance Studio are the only companies that lease space at Warfield. They have been there about one year.
Cafritz develops and renovates buildings mostly in the D.C. area, but it did redevelop the 850,000-square-foot Security West complex, part of the U.S. Social Security Administration?s headquarters in Woodlawn, said Steve Peer, president of Cafritz.
Herman said the Warfield board interviewed several developers throughout the past few years, but Cafritz had the “understanding and awareness” to do the best job.
Columbia-based Manekin LLC backed out of negotiations in August after it asked for more money from the town to develop the complex?s infrastructure.
Cafritz officials declined to disclose how much Cafritz paid for the lease.
