The developer of Westport's waterfront is selling an acre of the property along Baltimore's Middle Branch of the Patapsco to a company planning to build a luxury apartment building - part of the first phase of new construction in the proposed $1.2 billion mixed-use community. Baltimore-based Turner Development, headed by developer Patrick Turner, has signed a contract with Landex Development LLC for a parcel at the southern end of the development site a block from the Westport light rail station. Turner plans a 50-acre transit-oriented community of offices, shops, homes and a hotel.

Turner said in an interview Wednesday that he is close to signing sales contracts on two additional parcels, where developers would build townhouses and an office building. But it will likely be several more years before such projects could be completed, by which time "the economy will certainly be robust or substantially better," Turner said.

Turner has planned from the start of the project to act as a master developer and sell parcels to builders of specific projects.

Landex, based in Linthicum, said it plans to build a 200-unit, six-story building that will have a glass facade, balconies and terraces, secured underground parking and concierge services. Construction is slated to start sometime during the last three months of next year. "The Westport waterfront offers very strong market potential," said Peter Siegel, chief executive officer of Landex.

He said the site's proximity to rail and highway transportation and access to biking and walking trails would make the apartments attractive to professionals who work in Baltimore or Washington. It is expected to take at least a year for the project to go through the planning, design and permitting process, Turner said.

"Baltimore has always had high demand for good quality rental projects," Turner said. "Landex is a seasoned developer and very well established."

Landex began in 1983, specializing in the acquisition, rehabilitation and management of multi-family housing. The company has developed and financed a portfolio of more than 3,000 homes in properties across 10 states.

In the Baltimore area, Landex's projects include the renovation of the Hanover Park Apartments in Cherry Hillinto the Riverfront Townhomes and Broadway Overlook in East Baltimore, a redevelopment of a 429-unit public housing complex near Johns Hopkins Hospital into a mixed-income neighborhood of for-sale and rental housing.

In December, the City Council authorized Baltimore officials to issue $130 million in bonds to build sewers, roads and water mains for the Westport development, but investors had not shown interest and the bonds had not sold. Turner said he is hopeful that the project will be able to make use of some of the recovery bonds, earmarked for infrastructure, that are part of the federal stimulus funds that have been allocated to the city.