Prince George’s planning and parks agency is moving forward with plans to consolidate its headquarters in Largo, which the county envisions as a burgeoning downtown, having recently acquired two office buildings there from the Maryland state government and University of Maryland Global Campus.
The powerful agency, which oversees the county’s critical land use regulatory function and has a $778 million budget for the present fiscal year, will move some 800 employees to Largo from several offices it owns or leases in Upper Marlboro, Riverdale and Greenbelt. County leaders say the centralization will increase the agency’s efficiency, increase accessibility to its public proceedings, and, perhaps most importantly, help drive “Largo’s evolution as an economic hub for Prince George’s County,” per the agency’s website.
In a $75 million deal, the agency acquired the three parcels at 1440, 1601 and 1616 McCormick Drive — nearly 26 acres in all, with two office buildings comprising about 270,000 square feet and accompanying parking lots, according to property records. The deal settled March 10 and was filed in state property records April 19.
