Proposed development around Reisterstown Plaza subway station includes 800+ housing units in Northwest Baltimore

Maryland transportation officials hope to replace acres of underused parking lot near Reisterstown Plaza subway station in Northwest Baltimore with residential units, retail space and public park space.

The Maryland Department of Transportation released a “vision plan” on Tuesday for redeveloping the area surrounding Metro SubwayLink station, located near a spaced-apart collection of office parks and large parking lots in Northwest Baltimore.

Officials aim to turn the 26-acre plot of land off Wabash Avenue into a walkable, mixed-use development and transit hub through “major enhancements to pedestrian infrastructure” that would encourage the use of mass transit, according to a news release.

Transportation officials said Wabash Development Partners, the group led by developer Dean Harrison selected to build out the state’s transit-oriented vision, is expected to break ground on the project in fall 2025.

The subway station is located near a handful of major employers, including a handful of Maryland Transit Administration facilities, a Social Security Administration office, a city district courthouse, the American Red Cross and businesses at Reisterstown Road Plaza itself. But subway riders have to traipse through roads and grassy patches of business park land to get to some of those locations, as most of the current infrastructure there is built for car commuters.

The development project would reshape that area to capitalize more on the mass transit station at the heart of it. Officials proposed in their vision plan to include more than 800 rental and homeownership units, including workforce and senior housing, on top of restaurants and other neighborhood fixtures. About 53,000 square feet of retail space would be spread across eight buildings, and a little less than five acres would be dedicated to green space.

Although the project would be built on top of the current 700-space parking lot outside the station, officials proposed to include a parking garage with electric vehicle charging and spaces dedicated for transit riders.

The release from the state’s transportation department noted the development “could be a catalyst for future development opportunities along MTA’s Metro Subway Line,” noting that approximately 179 acres of undeveloped property sit along the single rail line that runs between the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Owings Mills.