Work starts on new apartments in Owings Mills

Construction has started on a new seven-story apartment building in the Metro Centre in Owings Mills, bringing the total number of apartments clustered there at 350. The 114-unit building, called The Met at Metro Centre, is part of a massive transit-oriented development there offering residents access to the Baltimore Metro on site and a walkable neighborhood around the transportation hub. It’s also near Interstate 795. Developed by David S. Brown Enterprises, the overall project — with housing, retail and office space — has been in the works for years and has overcome snags and County Council infighting. “The Met at Metro Centre continues the momentum we have generated with a high-end residential product that responds to the living needs of Baltimore County residents,” said Howard Brown, chairman of David S. Brown Enterprises, in a statement. Eventually, it’s designed to include more than 1.2 million square feet of office space, 200,000 square feet of shops, 1,700 apartments and a 225-room hotel. A Baltimore County library branch and the Community College of Baltimore County already have opened buildings there. owned by an adjunct professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has opened in Mount Vernon. The ReLeaf Medical Cannabis Dispensary, in the 1100 block of Cathedral St., is among 50 dispensaries licensed in the state, close to half of the 102 allowed by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. Most of the licensees have opened in recent months after long delays getting the industry off the ground in Maryland. The General Assembly created the program in 2012. A half-dozen of those licensed are in Baltimore City. The majority of the dispensaries are in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, leaving gaps in availability in the state’s farther flung counties. Dr. Andrew Whelton co-founded the ReLeaf shop with his son Connor Whelton. Unlike some other major health systems in the state that ask their doctors not to recommend the drug, Johns Hopkins Medicine has no policy directing physicians about whether they should recommend medical cannabis, which remains illegal under federal law. ReLeaf, in the 1100 block of Cathedral St., has invited members of the public who are 18 or older to a grand opening on Friday. It begins at 11 a.m. and Councilman Eric Costello, Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young and State Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden are expected to attend. Whelton said he brings decades of professional experience in drug development and safety to the business of cannabis. Registered providers in Maryland can recommend it to patients with specific maladies such as pain or wasting disorders.