Kevin Kamenetz
Walmart Announcement
February 14, 2011
It is great to see all of you again, I feel like it’s been so long. As I said earlier, today is Valentine’s Day, so we are celebrating a place that we all love – Randallstown.
Now on Valentine’s Day, you give a gift to the people you love, and since there is so much to love here in Randallstown, a simple box of chocolates or even a renovated library just won’t do. We have to go the extra mile. And that is exactly what we’re doing today.
I am proud to announce that after long negotiations, Centro Properties has reached an agreement to bring not just a Walmart to Liberty Plaza, but a Walmart Supercenter!
Now, I don’t know about everyone else here, but after all the money I spent on Valentine’s Day I can’t wait for this store to be open. I think I’m going to need their help rolling back some prices.
As part of this agreement, a 160,000 square foot Walmart Supercenter, which typically employs around 350 people, will be constructed at the rear of this property. Both Centro and Walmart are eager and ready to move forward. Centro has already met with County officials and filed the required parking variance. They are anticipating a September 2012 opening date, and Baltimore County is excited and ready to work with them to try to get it opened even sooner than that. And to ensure that this project doesn’t fall by the wayside, I have appointed Bebe Kernan a special assistant to the County Executive from Economic Development. Bebe will be an integral part of this process at every level, ensuring that permits get completed and that it is all moving towards an opening as soon as possible.
Revitalization Efforts
With Marshall’s already here at Liberty Plaza, this represents a significant step forward in the revitalization efforts that have been taking place in the Liberty Road corridor. Successful projects like Home Depot, a new Randallstown Community Center, and the renovation and upgrade of nine major shopping centers (totaling over one million square feet of retail and restaurant space), represent more than $66 million in public and private investments which have been made to improve Liberty Road since 1999. Walmart and Centro’s investment will push that number to well over $75 million. And this doesn’t even count the over $110 million of investment in Northwest Hospital, including the 50,000 square foot, state-of- the-art medical office building along Old Court Road.
And we’re not done yet. I know that there’s a lot of work left to do, so I’m here to assure you that Baltimore County is committed to working with everyone in Randallstown in order to make sure that this community that we all love continues to move forward. I have been working the halls of Annapolis every week to secure $2 million of State aid toward a new revitalization project near Liberty and Old Court Road. And having Walmart here will make it even easier to encourage more investment. We’re going to show those national chain restaurants that Randallstown is the place to be, and we’re going to keep working hard to get them here.
Many Thanks
I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this deal possible. Carol Merriman, Bill Greimel, David Vender, and everyone at Centro have been dedicated to the success of Liberty Plaza and their hard work helped make today possible. In addition, although he isn’t here, I’d like to thank Marc Newman, the Senior Redevelopment Representative for Centro Properties. He has been an invaluable partner throughout this process and was vital to this deal’s success. I also want to thank Bobby Williams and Walmart for believing in Randallstown. Believe me, you just made a great investment in not only the future of this community, but in the future of your company as well.
This project would not have been possible without the contributions of this amazing community. Special thanks also go to Harold Reid and the Liberty Road Business Association, Aaron Plymouth and the Stevenswood Community Association, and Christine Cypress and the Liberty Road Community Council. Erik Wexler is out of town, but I want to thank him and the folks at Northwest Hospital for their important contributions to this corridor.
And most of all I want to thank all of you for making Randallstown such a great place to live—and not to mention the perfect place to celebrate my first Valentine’s Day as County Executive!
Now I am pleased to introduce a man who worked hard to see this day happen and is committed to the future of the Liberty Road corridor and the future of all of Randallstown – Councilman Ken Oliver!
