Celebrating the grand opening of a Home Depot, with a Wal-Mart and Ruby Tuesday on the way, Baltimore County officials credited the “renaissance” of Randallstown?s Liberty Road to more than $95 million in new, private investment.
County economic development planners over the past four years wooed the interest of the national chains now calling Randallstown home, including the Home Depot at Brenbrook Plaza, which opens to the public Wednesday after a “soft” opening Tuesday night for neighbors.
County Executive Jim Smith,
District 4 Council Member Ken Oliver and community leaders gathered in the big box store?s parking lot Tuesday morning to marvel at what used to be a long-abandoned and deteriorating K-Mart store and discuss plans for other new businesses moving to the area.
“I told them about the community and the county?s commitment to our older business districts,” said Smith, referring to Home Depot officials he met at a shopping center convention. “It was the perfect fit, and there?s more to come.”
The county is building a $13 million community center adjacent to the Home Depot, where a Ruby Tuesday is slated at a long-vacant site. Across Liberty Road, renovations are under way at Liberty Plaza in anticipation of a new Wal-Mart. The facades at Marriottsville and Kings Point shopping centers ? and all-new tenants there and at Liberty Court Shopping Center ? are also new improvements.
The area?s largest employer, Northwest Hospital, is undergoing a $100 million expansion, and a new park welcomes visitors and residents at the intersections of McDonough and Liberty Roads.
But looming behind the crowd at Home Depot Tuesday stood a largely vacant shopping strip and empty parking lot. To community leaders, it?s a sign there is still work to do.
“It?s a long-term process,” said David Goldman, president of the Liberty Road Community Council, Inc. “But you?ve seen what they?ve done in Pikesville, Dundalk. Success brings success.”
The Liberty Road corridor is one of the county?s 13 “commercial revitalization districts,” making businesses located there eligible for special tax credits, loans and architectural help to assist owners with upgrades.
