Federal employees at the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Metro West complex are getting new digs. The SSA plans to move its 1600 employees from its current location at 300 N. Greene Street in West Baltimore to a new office building in Northwest Baltimore near the Reisterstown Plaza Metro station.
The 538,000 square-foot office building and 1,076 square-foot garage will be built on an 11.3-acre parcel of land at 6100 Wabash Avenue that will be leased to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The GSA is currently seeking a developer to complete the building by 2012.
The move from the technologically obsolete West Baltimore offices is not a part of any stimulus project, according to Rochelle Spector, City Councilwoman of the 5th District where the new offices will be built. However, it will have the same impact as stimulus money would act as an economic generator for the next four decades.
"This is a major anchor for Baltimore City. It will promote further development for that area, including more residential, office and retail spaces. This has already benefited our area. For the first time in the Park Heights area in almost 40 years we have one-family homes being built so that people can live, work and play here. That's a real plus. This is not stimulus but it accomplishes exactly what we need to do to get people to live and work in Baltimore city," she says.
The planned office complex is the first stage of a larger development centered on the metro station at Reisterstown Plaza. It will include housing, retail space and offices. It is part of an initiative by the state of Maryland to create transit-centered mixed-use developments. The Reisterstown location could become a model for similar developments.
The SSA project that could cost upwards of $60 million will bring new jobs first in construction and later in retail and other sectors to the area.
Writer: Walaika Haskins
Source: Rochelle Spector, 5th District City Councilwoman