Baltimore Business Journal

Ward Properties of Edgewood will break ground Thursday on a 700,000-square-foot business park in Abingdon to be anchored by a new Wegmans grocery store.

The developer is hoping to tap into a pent-up demand for office and retail space in the area, driven by an influx of several thousand military workers and defense contractors being shifted to the nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Ward plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony at the site, at Box Hill Corporate Drive and Woodsdale Road Thursday morning. The project, adjacent to the Box Hill Corporate Center, is being marketed by MacKenzie Retail LLC, which announced the groundbreaking plans Monday afternoon.

The Boulevard at Box Hill is slated to include more than 450,000 square feet of retail space and 50,000 square feet of restaurant space. It will include a 144,000-square-foot Wegmans to employ as many as 1,500 workers, MacKenzie announced. The store could open in 2011.