Plans expand for west county energetics center

Friday, March 23, 2007

Charles County Economic Development Director John Reardon said in an interview Monday that a larger campus will also enhance the long-term stability of Naval Support Facility Indian Head, which has been eyed for downsizing or closure in previous base realignment and closure processes.

Additionally, the Energetics Technology Center, the centerpiece of the business park, will now be built near the front of the campus along Indian Head Highway to provide better access to the naval base. The 50,000-square-foot ETC was initially planned as a 52-acre facility that bordered Maryland Airport.

A 180-room hotel with 20,000 square feet of meeting space also will be developed on the site, said Reardon, who declined to name the hotel because plans have not been formally announced.

Construction on the campus’ first building will begin next summer or fall, and it will open in late 2009 or early 2010, Reardon said.

According to county commissioners’ President F. Wayne Cooper (D), the county only has a stake in the original 52-acre parcel, which was granted to it by the state. The additional 228 acres is an investment by the La Plata-based Facchina Group and its partner, Corporate Office Property Trust, a prominent developer of government buildings.

‘‘They have a lot of confidence that this is going to happen,” Cooper said. ‘‘It’s very exciting. ... They have the vision for the future.”

Cooper said that a business park developed around the county’s energetics project would ‘‘bring a lot of quality, high-paying jobs” to the county as well as serve as ‘‘insurance” against future rounds of base closings.

John Bloom, president of the Indian Head Defense Alliance, agreed.

‘‘Our alliance has always viewed that as an important addition to what Indian Head provides to the Department of Defense,” he said.

Its expansion will make the project a more visible economic development magnet, Bloom said. ‘‘It’s really like a mall and the anchor store is the Energetics Technology Center.”

Commissioner Edith J. Patterson (D), whose district includes western Charles County, said it is a ‘‘phenomenal opportunity for technology development to occur in the Bryans Road corridor.”

She said the project brings the promise of high-paying jobs and shows that ‘‘private-public partnerships can exist.”

‘‘I think that Paul Facchina has certainly shown his commitment to the [economic] development of Charles County,” Patterson continued. ‘‘I’m just excited. I think it’s a good move.”

Charles McPherson, chief operating officer for the Facchina Group, said that his company is excited for the project as well.

‘‘We can get excited about anything that brings jobs to the county,” McPherson said. ‘‘We live here. We believe in the project. It’s not going to be easy, but we believe in the project.

‘‘We’ve got to get people outside the county to want to invest in this,” McPherson said, explaining the next step of the process. He said that the availability of the business park would be a key element to the success of the energetics center. ‘‘I don’t think [the center] would work the same without [the park].”

Vince Hungerford, president of the Western Charles County Business Association, agreed that having a large available business park around the energetics center would give it more gravitational pull.

‘‘Instead of having a small, 50-acre parcel that they could only put a building on ... now they’re going to have a complex, like a campus,” Hungerford said. ‘‘I think it’s great. ... We need some stability in the western part of the county. We feel it’s a good move.”

With the energetics center, a new business park, the approval of an airport expansion and the county’s plan to support the park with a four-lane road, Hungerford acknowledged that the stars are seeming to finally line up for Indian Head’s limping economy.

‘‘We’ve had an eclipse or two, but it should be pretty good from here,” Hungerford said.

E-mail Alan Brody at abrody@somdnews.com.