ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Calvin Ball today launched the transformational “Gateway Master Plan.” This effort will provide a comprehensive, actionable roadmap to guide Gateway’s long-term transformation as the new innovation district in the state and region. It will become the regional destination for anchor institutions and companies to bring cutting-edge research and ideas to niche industries within an area that is dynamic, mixed-use, connected, groundbreaking and creative.
Gateway’s Master Plan will open the door to opportunity and innovation in Howard County and beyond. The area is primed to become the major employment hub of tomorrow, while bringing diverse housing options and compelling civic centers and open spaces. I look forward to an engaging process that will certainly result in a bold, new plan for Howard County and offer recommendations that will result in creating a national model for green design and energy independence.”
The plan will address multiple elements including, innovation, economic development, housing, development phasing, environment and energy independence, urban design and architecture, and land use and public facilities.
“The Gateway Master Plan represents an opportunity to spearhead economic growth for Howard County residents. By integrating mixed-use development with sustainability, we can create a thriving innovation hub that uplifts community members through good jobs, workforce housing, and environmentally conscious design,” said Jennifer Jones, Director of the Howard County Economic Development Authority. “We envision this site as a living laboratory where the latest resilient technologies take root through collaboration.”
The exciting effort will build on Howard County’s recently approved general plan, HoCo By Design, which envisions Gateway transforming into the major hub for employment, entertainment, and innovation, offering new housing and job opportunities, open space and multi-modal transportation options.
To develop the master plan, the Department of Planning and Zoning and its consultant team will engage property owners, business owners and the broader community in a discussion about Gateway’s future. A public engagement event to kick-off the master planning process will be held on Thursday, January 25th from 4:00 to 7:00 pm., at 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive in Columbia.
Our consultant team has decades of experience in planning innovation districts. The team will be led by HOK, a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm and will be joined by Stilletto, a market research and strategic planning firm, and Partners for Economic Solutions, an economics consulting firm. We are looking forward to working with this exceptional, highly-qualified team and to our future discussions with the community. As this is one of the County’s last major redevelopment opportunities, we look forward to advancing the vision set forth in HoCo By Design and engaging the community and all of Gateway’s stakeholders in the planning process.
The Gateway master planning process is expected to conclude in early 2025 and will go before the Howard County Planning Board and Howard County Council for review and adoption. The County will also be engaging firms that provide transportation, water and sewer and infrastructure financing modeling and analysis services to complement the team.
Additional information is available at www.howardcountymd.gov/gateway. Community members interested in following the project can sign up at https://bit.ly/3TQLWvt to receive email notifications.