The developer of the 25th Street Station project in Remington announced Tuesday that it was done pursuing the development.
In a statement, Caroline Paff, 25th Street Station project manager, said that the the company stopped its work late last week. She wrote that after many administrative filings and appeals by residents, the company felt that the potential for lasting agreement was too uncertain.
The proposed project was to be built on 11 acres along Howard Street. It included apartments, retail, and other commercial buildings. The City Council originally approved plans in 2010, when both Walmart and the home improvement store Lowe’s were planned. Lowe’s dropped the following year, but the City Planning Commission approved a redesign last fall.
Many opponents feared increased traffic and pollution, while supporters hoped for job opportunities and access to shopping.
City Planning Director Tom Stosur said in an email that a new developer could build under the same approved zoning plan with "no additional process besides obtaining a building permit." Any substantial changes, however, would require review.
Read more here from the Baltmore Sun and here from the Daily Record.
Here is the full statement from WV Urban Developments:
I regret to advise you that, as of late last week, WV Urban Developments is no longer pursuing its 25th Street Station project. As you are well aware, the project has been the target of numerous appeals and filings by opponents which have delayed the project for years. While every decision issued by every administrative body and every court has been in favor of the project, these appeals continue today and have contributed to an environment sufficiently uncertain that the relevant parties are unable to reach the agreements necessary for WV to continue. Though I am saddened by this outcome for WV, I am hopeful the project may be completed nonetheless and that the Remington neighborhood will continue to thrive.
We are grateful to the many supporters of the project - in the surrounding community, retail industry, City government and Administration - and the project team members who worked for years on a project which could bring hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of dollars of direct investment to the Remington neighborhood and City of Baltimore.
Added May 21st, 11:36am:
Kelly Cross, President of the Old Goucher Community Association, thinks that the change is "positive, because we now have the opportunity to do something better than what was proposed. Whether that includes or doesn’t include Walmart, that remains to be seen." Much of the opposition in Old Goucher, he said, was due to the design of the project. He disagreed, however, that the appeals were "determinative [for] whether this project succeeded or failed."