SYKESVILLE — Sykesville and Carroll County officials said this week a feasibility study to renovate a building within the Warfield Commerce and Cultural Center may help solidify a deal with a South Carroll developer — and perhaps revive confidence in Warfield as an economic engine for the county.

Warfield, a 100-acre tract on ground that used to be part of the state-run Sykesville Hospital, was purchased by the town in 2001.

Located just east of Route 32 in Sykesville, the campus includes 12 buildings — formerly part of the hospital — that are poised for renovation, plus other tracts that the Town of Sykesville have zoned for office and commercial use.

Officials this week declined to name the developer who has shown interest in moving to Warfield, but Brad Rees, chairman of the quasi-public/private Warfield Development Company, said the party has entered into a letter of intent and feasibility study to renovate Building F, also known as the Austin Crother Cottage.

A letter of intent expresses interest without entering into a binding agreement.

The developer also has an option to enter into a similar agreement for Building W, known as the Warfield Cottage, he said. Both buildings are an estimated 16,000 square feet of space.

"We're pretty excited," Rees said in an interview with The Eagle. "We obviously have some details to get through, but we're hoping that this may be the next building (developed)."

For county officials and the WDC, the potential for redevelopment at Warfield is good news — and is seen as a possible sign that economic interest in the county is increasing.

Carroll County's Department of Economic Development has offered to pay up to $18,000 for the feasibility study to determine how much it would cost to renovate the Crother Cottage.

Larry Twele, the county's economic development director, said the cost for the study could come in a little higher or lower, and will include engineering work, as well as architectural, electrical, plumbing, structural and other cost estimates.

"It's possible that more studies on other buildings may be needed, but right now, we're focusing on that building," Twele said.

He added that the cost might also give "good insight" on what it would take to renovate the Warfield Cottage as well.

The study will take about a month to complete, but the developer has a 90-day period to figure out whether to pursue the building, Rees said. The developer hopes to use Crother for professional offices, he said.

Even if this developer falls through, Rees said, a feasibility study can help show other interested companies what the possibilities are Warfield can be.

Finding its niche

It was May 2005 when local, county and state officials — including then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich — gathered for a celebration at Warfield to tout the state's sale of the property to Sykesville.

At the time, all parties envisioned Warfield becoming a model public/private project, luring corporate interests and local business to a campus that would include redevelopment of the older, stately buildings, as well as new construction, a performing arts center, open space and other amenities.

Nexion Health, a national health care provider, and Carroll County Dance Center & Ballet Conservatory, moved into Warfield buildings in 2006, but things have been quiet on the campus since then.

Now, Sykesville Mayor Mike Miller, who sits on the WDC board, said the interest in the Crother and Warfield cottages are just two of several Warfield deals that are in the works.

None have been specifically named, but in an e-mail to The Eagle this week, Miller revealed that the WDC has a letter of interest with another business interested in opening a restaurant and catering hall on a vacant parcel, and that business also has an option to purchase another parcel.

Still another developer is interested in leasing another existing building and using it for office space, according to Town Manager Matt Candland.

The corporation is working to finalize those deals, Miller said, and other options are in the early stages.

If all those deals go through, about half of the historic buildings would have agreements, Candland said.

Twele said he remains confident that Warfield will be a "valuable economic development site," and said the Board of County Commissioners is committed to helping bring jobs to the complex.

Its location on the southern end of the county — straight down Route 32 to Interstate 70 — remains a selling point to Baltimore area and Howard County markets.

"We think Warfield will be an attractive location for business to be in South Carroll," Twele said.

Homegrown interest

The recession has likely played some role in stalling Warfield's interest over the past year or two, but Rees said a bigger factor is that the property was essentially off the market for two years while the town and the WDC wrestled with the best way to develop it.

He said increased interest now is due to the WDC taking the lead in negotiating directly with potential developers -- a practice they almost abandoned.

In 2008, the WDC tried to find a "master developer" to oversee the entire campus, renovate buildings and lease space at Warfield.

The corporation heavily pursued Washington, D.C.-based developer Cafritz Interests to become that master developer. But after long negotiations, that deal fell through, and WDC officials ultimately decided to go another route.

Now, the corporation deals with developers that have interest in a particular building, he said.

"It's made these projects more viable for the companies that expressed interest over the years," he said.

Much of that interest has come from local companies — another byproduct of WDC's control of the process, Rees said. Previously, he said, local, smaller companies were scared off because the project seemed just too big to undertake.

Today, that local connection is a driving force behind recent action, he said.

"The biggest benefit is these local guys understand the market," Rees said. "They understand the potential for the property. They have a better grasp of what to do to these buildings, locally."

To be sure, over the past year or so, the sluggish market and the length of time it takes to proceed from a letter of intent to a lease or purchase agreement contributed to "the lack of visible progress," said Miller.

But that doesn't mean nothing was happening, he said.

"Progress at Warfield has been slow, and many think nothing is going on with respect to marketing and activity associated with the property," he said.

"But this is not the case."

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