St. John Properties has announced the sale of a portion of the former North Point Drive-In site on North Point Boulevard to K. Hovnanian Homes.
St. John bought the 18-acre site for $3.5 million in 2007, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.
On Tuesday, the company announced it had sold 11 acres to the national home builder for $2 million.
K. Hovnanaian will carry out the plans to build The Townes at North Point, a 108-unit "upscale town home community," according to a statement from St. John officials.
The housing project is a Baltimore County-designated Planned Unit Development and will adhere to specific design guidelines as set forth in the county's approved "pattern book," according to the statement.
The pattern book calls for certain standards, such as a specified amount of exterior brick on each home, "generous windows" on end units and reserved open spaces for residents.
St. John will retain two pad sites and still plans to build a 10,000 square-foot retail center on one pad, according to the statement. The other site is available for sale or lease, with the hope that a casual restaurant, financial institution or medical facility might be interested in the location.
The company originally planned to build a 160,000 square-foot retail center on the land, according to the Baltimore Business Journal. Plans to secure a big-box store like Costco or Sam's Club to anchor the new center never materialized, and the decision was made to build a residential project instead.
"St. John Properties remains extremely sensitive to the rich and storied history of the former North Point Drive-In and, together with K. Hovnanian Homes, we pledge to become active and involved in the local community," Jerry Wit, St. John senior vice president for marketing, said in the statement. "We also intend to develop retail product that local rsidents will be proud to support."
Hovnanian expects to break ground on the project later this year, according to the statement.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.