Aberdeen officials have cleared the way for a 500,000-square-foot business park next to Ripken Stadium, but not everyone sees the planned development as a home run for the city.

Towson developer J. Joseph Credit wants to put up the complex of four buildings to cash in on a wave of military jobs being shifted to Aberdeen Proving Ground as part of the military’s base realignment.

City leaders say the new offices — approved by Aberdeen Mayor Michael Bennett and City Council Aug. 24 — should help make up for a lack of space to accommodate thousands of workers. But the business park likely will not come with the hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue promised by earlier plans for the property. Credit had planned to build a 16-screen multiplex movie theater and 130,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space within walking distance of the stadium.

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Construction at the Commons at Fieldside Village is not slated to begin until after Credit has lined up enough tenants to lease space at the property, according to city documents.

Credit, formerly CEO of Nottingham Properties Inc. and now head of Sherwood Partners LLC, has been planning to develop the property since 2002 as a companion to the city’s Ripken Stadium baseball stadium. He could not be reached for comment. The project’s costs have not been disclosed.

As much as 3.1 million square feet of commercial space will need to be built surrounding the military base for defense contractors, space which isn’t available in the county now.

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Fieldside Village is just one of several planned business parks in the city, Miller said, and he expects many of those developments will start to move forward in the coming months. Developers including Manekin LLC, Stewart Associates and Preston Partners are all planning projects tied to BRAC. That’s in addition to two large business parks under construction by Corporate Office Properties Trust and St. John Properties Inc.

WBAL.com

The Aberdeen Test Center says staff will be creating several strong, loud explosions for the rest of the month and part of September.

Aberdeen Proving Ground officials made the announcement Tuesday but said the testing began Saturday.

Officials said the detonations will likely be heard and felt outside the boundaries of the military installation. The tests are also expected to create non-hazardous smoke and dust clouds in the area.

Detonations could be rescheduled depending on the weather conditions during the testing period.

Baltimore Business Journal

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $229.3 million contract to build a chemical defense complex at Aberdeen Proving Ground for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, USAMRICD, a government agency charged with protecting the military from chemical and biological attacks.

The Army Corps awarded the contract Aug. 14 to Clark Construction Group LLC of Bethesda, which will build the new space for the institute’s research efforts. The government agency is part of the Defense Department’s U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command.

The 526,255-square-foot project, to be completed by May 2013, will include a central energy plant, administrative and support space, and new laboratories for work including animal testing.

The Baltimore Sun has a story today by Scott Calvert about testing of MRAPs at Aberdeen Proving Ground, primarily the Cougar and the M-ATV. They also have video (embedded below) that goes along with their story.

WMAR

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But a neighbor who claims he recruits people for the nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground claimed in a recent radio report that crime in the Winston Choice subdivision is already prompting transplants from the base realignment process to choose to live in Delaware.

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“I was very surprised by this story,” said Harford County Economic Development Deputy Director Denise Carnaggio, “I feel very comfortable that the folks that have moved in from New Jersey and other who are moving from Virginia and Texas are very pleased with our quality of life, and they serve as our multipliers.”

The latest numbers show more than 75% of the early mover for BRAC have chosen to rent or buy homes in Harford County.

13% have opted for Cecil County, while just over 5% have located in Pennsylvania and less than 4% have headed for Delaware.

The resident sounding the alarm also claimed in a neighborhood of about 75 homes, criminals had broken into 15 cars.

But Aberdeen City Police have looked back at the crime numbers thus far this year, and they say crime in that area doesn’t merit this level of warning.

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