Annapolis Towne Centre to add 208 apartments

Construction of a $55-million apartment building at Annapolis Towne Centre will start next week, but the prospect of congested parking lots has some businesses wary.

To cope with construction, workers will reconfigure the Riva Road median so motorists can turn left into the parking lot in front of Gordon Biersch. An additional security guard will be hired to work 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at that entrance to help with parking. On Thursday, a free valet stand also will be set up.

Weve done these things proactively, Greenberg Gibbons President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Fitzpatrick said.

We want (the tenants) to be successful, Fitzpatrick aid. We take this as a positive for the Towne Centre. There will be some transition while were going through construction, but at the end of the day, weve demonstrated being good operators and that we know how to manage first-class retail property.

Tenants have mixed feelings about the addition of the apartments, which are expected to be two- and three-bedroom units with rents as high as $1,600. An online petition has been launched in opposition, because Annapolis does not need further development, crowding our streets, and cluttering our skyline, according to the document at Change.org.

The planning for this addition has been going on for some time. In 2010, the Baltimore County developer announced that it wanted to increase the propertys residential units by as many as 225 apartments. The developments Mariner Bay community has 208 apartments, while Parole-based Sturbridge Homes built 150 condominiums in the GrandView building.

There is also concern that more development will make parking even tighter on the Riva Road side of the property. Pei Wei Asian Diner and Qdoba Mexican Grill will also open at that end of the property.

Its going to be a complete nightmare that is going to dramatically affect all of us, said a tenant who does not want to be identified. Mariner Bay Apartments has been in the upper 90 percent occupancy for a very long time. Theyll make a lot more money off of this building than they will off of our building.

But some said there will be a long-term payoff to the work.

Its going to hurt us for traffic on that side, when you try to get out on the Riva Road side, said Lisa Gilmore, manager of Lucy, an active wear store in the development. Itll add more construction (and) traffic, but in the long run itll bring more people.

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Annapolis Towne Centre to add 208 apartments