October 25, 2015

Property Location: Old Eastern Avenue and Hopkins Landing Drive

Middle River in Essex Maryland is preparing for a possible new water front development. Manekin, a Columbia Maryland based real estate developer wants to build a community of more than 200 homes. Neighbors are raising concerns about possible overbuilding and the impacts this would cause on existing residents and the environment.

The community if approved would be called Water’s Landing at Middle River and would include single-family homes and townhouses. Some of the homes are proposed to have rooftop decks to create stunning water views.

According to Baltimore County, the proposed plans are for 207 total homes. Homes would consist of 45 single family detached houses, 56 – 24 feet wide townhouses and 106 – 20 feet wide townhouses.

A similar proposal was filed to build the same community with 222 dwellings (52 – single family detached houses, 55 – 24 feet wide townhouses and 115 – 20 feet wide townhouses) and was abandoned in 2010.

“It’s the last big piece on the main part of Middle River,” said Allen Robertson, president of the nearby Bowleys Quarters Community Association.  “Middle River is one of the cleaner rivers in the state on the Chesapeake Bay,” Robertson said. “Why keep building, building, building until it’s as degraded as other rivers and you have to spend millions of dollars on cleanup?”

The Water’s Landing site is zoned to allow more than 200 single-family homes, however, Manekin wants a mix of townhouses and single-family homes. This mix of homes requires approvals for the community to move forward. The developer says they would build walking trails throughout the community and all of the houses would be at least 100 feet away from the shore.

This article brought to you by Todd Sachs – Realtor and founder of the SachsGroup.com. The Sachs Group specializes in investor transactions working exclusively in Baltimore County, Maryland.