Tenants for the retail component of the former Greenspring Quarry redevelopment likely will include Starbucks, Walgreens, a liquor store and a dry cleaners, project officials said Monday. These will complement the project flagship, gourmet grocer The Fresh Market.
At the construction site on Greenspring Avenue in Baltimore County for a ceremonial groundbreaking of the retail site in front of the former mine ? now slowly filling with rainwater to become one of the state?s deepest lakes at 500 feet ? county and development officials called the project the epitome of mixed-use development and said they are being highly selective of shop tenants.
The 230-acre site will also feature about 500 condominiums, 83 single-family homes, four restaurants and three office buildings, already under construction.
“I?m wearing a jacket to show we can take the heat to ensure first-rate, quality properties here,” said County Council Member Kevin Kamenetz, D-District 2. “That?s what this Quarry Lake project is all about. It?s a gem of the Greenspring community and Baltimore County.”
The signed tenants represent 32 percent of availability, commercial developer Thomas Obrecht said. Other lease proposals include a national bank, cell phone store, art gallery and various clothiers. Asian, Mexican, Italian and steakhouse restaurateurs are considering the site, he said, and LifeBridge Health Inc. has signed a lease for one of the office buildings. Obrecht said he expects the restaurants and shops to open in the spring.
“It?s becoming a reality,” he said. “The leasing is going very, very well.”
The Fresh Market store will be the North Carolina-based chain?s first Maryland location. More than 80 percent of the stores? goods are perishable, sold in a European open-air market atmosphere. Fresh Market spokeswoman Dorothy Carlow said the company analyzed neighborhood demographics??which boasts 300,000 consumers within five miles and a $90,000 average income ? and said the community and store can grow together.
“We feel like we?ll be accepted by the community and be embraced by them,” she said. “We feel like they?ll come to our cooking demonstrations and wine galas and all of our in-store events.”
The rent for retail space at the site is about $45 per square foot, said LaurieJohnson of property manager Obrecht and Blue Realty. The single-family homes are priced in the $800,000s and condominiums are between $300,000 and $400,000.
