The Baltimore County Council voted Monday night to give a politically connected developer a tax break of $16.5 million over 30 years in exchange for setting aside 10% of units for affordable housing.

The bill only affects two redevelopments: Metro Center in Owings Mills and Security Square Mall in Woodlawn. Developer Howard Brown has a significant ownership interest in Metro Center and used to own parts of Security Square.

The unanimous council vote came after about an hour of discussion. Councilman Wade Kach, a Republican, was not present.

Located at the Owings Mill Metro Station, a frequently used stop for downtown commuters, Metro Center is the county’s only transit-oriented development. The development is about 80% built and includes a community college campus, library, hotel, homes, shops, restaurants and parking.

The revitalization of Security Square is just starting. Baltimore County has bought 39 of the development’s 88 acres, including the former Macy’s and Sears department stores, and is looking for a developer to build it out with housing, shops and transit.

County Councilman Julian Jones represents Metro Center and had attempted to pass the tax credit for Brown several times before. This time, he partnered with Councilman Pat Young, who represents Woodlawn, in hopes that the tax break could cover both properties.

“If we can get someone like Howard Brown to do affordable housing at a premier location like Metro Center, then to me that’s going to change a lot of people’s mindset about affordable housing,” Jones said. “Like him or not, he’s sort of a trend-setter.”

Young agreed to champion the legislation because the county doesn’t have any development that includes required affordable housing.

“Metro Center has been dead set against any kind of affordable housing,” Young said. Brown has been requesting a tax break for several years, Young said, so requiring a set-aside of affordable housing is a way to benefit both the Metro Center and Security Square projects, as well as the county as a whole.

Affordable housing at Metro Center and elsewhere was a priority of former County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., who issued an executive order requiring new developments to include affordable housing just before he resigned to become a member of Congress.

County spokesman Dakarai Turner said the legislation is the first proposed commercial revitalization district to include a commercial housing requirement; the council approved a commercial revitalization district for White Marsh Mall, for a Walmart at Middle River, but there was no affordable housing requirement. While Metro Center is successful, Turner said, incentives could make it more so, including bringing along a second hotel.

“This is the opportunity to hold folks’ feet to the fire and keep them honest about it for the first time, and a good opportunity to show that proof of concept,” Young said. “They don’t benefit if they can’t get affordable housing in there.”

Sameer Sidh, the county’s senior deputy administrative officer, said the incentives would clear the way for Security Square to become like Metro Center in 10 to 15 years. Metro Center has galvanized development around Owings Mills, he said, and Security Square could enjoy similar benefits. In exchange, the county would receive much-needed affordable housing.

Councilman Todd Crandell criticized the administration for not being clear earlier about the benefits before acknowledging that he would “probably have to vote for this bill” because his colleagues had finally explained the various benefits to him.

“You guys, frankly, you haven’t been anywhere,” the Dundalk Republican said.

Both Crandell and Councilman David Marks expressed frustration at seeing yet another project on the West Side when their part of town just lost a crucial Middle River library project, and Crandell has been told he will have to wait for a new high school at Sparrows Point.

“My constituents are pretty angry right now,” Marks said.

The measure represents the first time that a set-aside of housing has been pegged to an incentive, the tax break.

But housing advocate Nick Stewart, who is also running for county executive in 2026, said a 10% set-aside is not enough to meet the need. And he said that if the plan is solid, it should not just help Brown’s developments but also potential projects at White Marsh, East Point, and Lutherville.

“This idea that this should only be a bespoke solution for one particular property is nonsense,” Stewart said. He added that tailoring the bill for one developer is “part and parcel of the culture” in the county, where developers have to know their councilmen and convince them to pass favorable legislation for their projects.

“It’s been going on for years,” he said of the boutique bills. “And the very worst part is that it’s all so unsurprising.”

The Owings Mills and Security Square projects are much larger than those, county officials said. That’s why the incentives are so important — because the projects can be transformative, Sidh said.

“Passage of this legislation makes clear that Baltimore County is ready to move into the future with competitive incentives to revitalize some of its most core economic anchors and make them vibrant communities for years to come,” County Executive Kathy Klausmeier said in a written statement Monday night.

Brown’s attorneys at the Venable law firm came to Councilman Jones this year just as they had last year to ask for the tax credit. Jones said he believed that Brown and the law firm crafted the legislation together, with feedback from the county administration. According to an analysis from the county, officials back the legislation — Jones said he wouldn’t have put it forward if they were not.

Brown has been a well-known name in the county for decades.

In 1996, he demolished the historic Samuel Owings House, one of the oldest homes in the county, just hours before a judge was to hold a hearing to determine whether to save it. Brown was able to do that for his office tower development after he entered into a handshake deal with then-County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger. After the demolition, reports revealed that Brown had contributed to the campaigns for both Ruppersberger and then-Councilman T. Bryan McIntire.

Brown was also the subject of an inspector general report in 2020. Beginning in 2011, the county waived millions of dollars in fees that Brown was supposed to pay at Metro Center for inspections and permits. Arnold Jablon, who was then the director of the county’s Department of Permits, Approvals, and Inspections, waived the fees. Brown provided Jablon with a parking space for his Porsche in one of Brown’s garages and renovated it for Jablon when the county official said it was not suitable for the car, the report said.

At the time, according to the IG report, the county’s chief electrical inspector questioned the arrangement in an email to his supervisors: “With our budget the way it is, it seems odd that we will be sending multiple inspectors to this site several hundred times and not getting anything from it.”

The story has been updated to clarify that Howard Brown previously had a stake in Security Square.