FBI - J. Edgar Hoover Building in D.C. (credit: Wikipedia)

For months and years, talks have been around to build a mixed use development (MUD) in the north core of Greenbelt Metroland project, located on the other side of train tracks near north College Park. The development would consist of hotels, town houses and shopping centers.

However, in recent weeks, that plan seems to be getting replaced by the another plan to develop FBI’s headquarters at the proposed site.

According to this Greenbelt Review article, the Greenbelt City Council discussed this topic in their February 2 work session. The firm who is pitching the idea of FBI relocation is saying that the move is good for Greenbelt (and possibly for College Park), because it will attract several thousand federal employees to the area, boosting its economy. The Greenbelt Council seems not too excited though.

Talks of relocating the FBI has been brewing since at least 2010, when Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) obtained funding for a study on that question. Per this report, The Government Accountability Office issued a report to Congress on November 8, 2011, stating that relocating the FBI headquarters from the J. Edgar Hoover Building in DC to another transit-accessible location in the region was both the cheapest and quickest option to allow the FBI to consolidate its workforce and maintain operational security.

The issue will be certainly a topic of discussion at tonight’s Greenbelt Sector Plan meeting at the Spring Hill Lake Elementary School.