The Wal-Mart chain wants to open a 94,000-square-foot store above Lowe's in 25th Street Station.

WV Urban Development LLC, headed by Rick Walker and Lawrence Cager, is seeking city and community support to build the $65 million shopping and residential center.

Community leaders from around the area were called to a meeting Feb. 23, where the announcement that Wal-Mart is interested was made.

Wal-Mart "agreed to design and construct a smaller store, suitable for the site and the market," according to project spokesman and architect Jon Lauria of the Baltimore firm Ballard Spahr.

Previously announced tenants include Lowe's, Marshall's, Staples and Anna's Linens, a 300-store chain.

A Wal-Mart would "bring to the city a type of convenience shopping for which we city residents now have to drive to the suburbs," Lauria said.

In addition, the center would have 15 to 20 small specialty retailers, the developers said in December at a meeting of the Charles Village Civic Association.

They said the project would create 400 construction jobs and up to 800 permanent jobs when finished.

Lauria said Wal-Mart alone would bring about 200 jobs at all levels.

The 11-acre site on the border of Remington and Charles Village is owned by Anderson Automotive, which has its Honda and General Motors showrooms there.

Anderson Honda is moving to Hunt Valley in 2011 because its customer base is increasingly in Baltimore County, said Bruce Mortimer, whose family owns Anderson Automotive.

And, with GM announcing plans to shutter thousands of its dealerships across the country, including Anderson, the Mortimer family is negotiating to sell the site to Walker and Cager's Washington-based company.

There's no firm timetable for development, and city zoning variances would be needed, the developers said. They've been going to community meetings around the area in the past few weeks and explaining their plans.

The proposed Wal-Mart would feature a one-acre green roof, showing the company's committment to sustainability, Lauria said.

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user comments (2)

user mwarfield says...

There is a huge opposition growing to this from Baltimore City residents. A facebook page started just 5 days ago already has over 625 participants. A grass roots opposition group of various people is starting to organize. We will be attending the Remington Neighborhood Association meeting on Tuesday March 9th, 7pm, at the Good Shepherd Church and the Greater Remington Improvement Association meeting on March 15th, 7pm, at the Guardian Angel Church. We will most likely be meeting after the March 15th meeting in the neighborhood to discuss future plans. We can stop this. To find the facebook group see: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=329642011388&ref=ts

Posted 7:03 PM, 03.04.10

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user hometownguy says...

Many of the residents in the Remington community are excited about this coming to our neighborhood. There are jobs that are needed in an area where there isn't anything available close by us. Walmart has stuff that I can't get in Hampden or around here without getting on a bus.

Posted 11:27 AM, 03.05.10

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