Reliable Churchill facility may be largest in Baltimore County

Reliable Churchill LLLP’s new operations and distribution center may be the largest industrial building in Baltimore County, according to the developer.

The company, the state’s largest liquor distributor, celebrated its move into the 449,200-square-foot facility at the Baltimore Crossroads @95 development in Middle River on Wednesday. A second sister building is also being built on spec next to the Reliable Churchill facility, which was delivered Aug. 1.

“I think these are the largest [industrial] buildings in Baltimore County, period,” said Jim Lighthizer, a principal at Chesapeake Real Estate Group LLC.

Reliable Churchill employs more than 500 people at the facility, which will deliver to every account in the state of Maryland. The new facility can handle 750,000 cases of inventory and provides more space in one place than the building and four warehouses the company was previously operating in Anne Arundel County combined.

“The building that we were in previously we had really outgrown the day we moved in because we did an acquisition and bought another company. “ said Kevin Dunn, Reliable Churchill president and CEO. “So expanding and being able to get into one building is going to make it a more efficient operation.”

The land development on the project started in 2008 and construction on the Reliable Churchill building began in 2013 and took about a year to complete.

“The weather was tough so it made it difficult to build during the winter. Other than that it’s big, it’s big and it’s got a lot of structural mezzanine for conveyor systems and wrap around,” Lighthizer said. “It’s unusual to have that many layers inside of a building.”

The 1,000-acre Baltimore Crossroads is located along Route 43 near Interstate 95. There are more than 60 companies located at the development, including BGE Home, Atlantic Designs and Social Solutions, that employ about 2,900 people. Once the project is complete it will provide about 5.5 million square feet including retail, office and residential units.

St. John Properties has also announced plans to build a new 200-acre development called Greenleigh at Crossroads along Route 43 that will include office space, single and multifamily units. The project will also include parks and a coordinated streetscape to create a pedestrian friendly community. The developers hope to break ground on the project next year.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz praised the project for helping create a business community along Route 43, but he also said the proposed residential developments make the commercial space more appealing because it allows employees to live close to work.