BRAC Brings Jobs, Housing Demands to Howard County

BRAC has become a household name in the Ft. Meade area but also in Howard County. BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) will bring many new jobs, households and lots of traffic to the surrounding areas.

Currently Ft. Meade is the 4th largest installation workforce in the Army. There are 15,000 residents on base and 35,000 vehicles a day driving on and off base. There are 156,000 jobs currently on Ft. Meade and in the Ft. Meade area (Rt. 32 Business Park and NSA). Between 2007 and 2015, BRAC will add 42,000 jobs, according to the Howard County BRAC Task Force. The majority of those haven’t begun to move in yet. 

Within the last week the largest move so far took place. (Defense Information Systems Agency) moved into its new building on base. This move represented about 700 jobs. Employees are moving from the Arlington, VA, area and commuting. A large number of the DISA employees will be relocating to the Ft. Meade area over the next year.

Currently 39 percent of Anne Arundel County residents are working at Ft. Meade and Howard County is close behind at 22 percent. This makes Ft. Meade the largest single employer of Howard County residents. 

The Howard County BRAC Task Force website is staying up to date and attempting to keep all residents and business informed. Ft. Meade is far enough away for the traffic congestion to not be such a headache for most of the county, but close enough for residents to take advantage of jobs and economic growth.

BRAC will affect real estate for the good. The basic supply and demand rule will apply here -- that could cause housing prices to rise if the influx of people is large enough. Howard County is such a desirable area with great schools and communities; it can’t help but to draw new families in. Families will also be looking to move far enough from Ft. Meade that the commute is doable but they’re not within all the congestion, making Ellicott City a great place to be.