Crews break ground on Annapolis Junction project

County and state officials on Monday broke ground on the first step of a $180 million mixed-use project that will bring housing, office and retail space to a plot of land next to the Savage MARC station in Howard County.

The Annapolis Junction project will combine 416 apartments, 100,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of retail space and a 150-room hotel on the nearly 19-acre site, located close to the National Security Agency's headquarters at Fort Meade.

The groundbreaking June 9 was for a 704-space parking garage for the development, which is a joint effort by the Howard County government, the Maryland Department of Transportation and private developers Somerset Construction Company and OA Partners.

The garage will incorporate space for buses bringing employees from Baltimore's Pennsylvania Station and Washington's Union Station to Fort Meade. Officials said 57,000 cars currently pass through Fort Meade every day.

We have formed a partnership to support the mission of Fort Meade, help workers get on and off the base, and bring much-needed economic growth to an important part of the county, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said of the project in a statement.

The development is scheduled to be finished by spring 2016 and is expected to create 712 new permanent jobs, as well as several hundred temporary construction jobs, officials said.

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Crews break ground on Annapolis Junction project