An Annapolis development company is eyeing the long-vacant gas station on West Street.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Thomas Baum, founder of LaTerra Homes and former partner at Bozzuto Group, confirmed that he is negotiating a contract to acquire the 18,974 square foot piece of property from SG Maryland, the limited liability company that owns the property. He said he has been pursuing the property for over a decade with “no success of generating interest from the land owner” up until this point.

The city wanted to acquire the property through eminent domain by passing a resolution that would have condemned the property. Until recently, the owner had “resisted selling or renovating the old gas station and has resisted all requests by the city to improve the property, allowing it instead to deteriorate to the point where it is blighted, vacant, and poses a severe hazard to the health and safety of the public,” according to a city resolution introduced by Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley.

The city wanted to use the land for affordable housing; however, the council voted to toss it out at Monday’s meeting because of the pending offer, Buckley said Monday.

SG Maryland, LLC did not return a request for comment.

According to public records, SG Maryland, LLC filed as a business in Maryland in 2012. It is unclear how long the gas station has been closed. Harry Huntley, a Democrat representing Ward 1 where the former gas station is, said that it has been vacant at least since he first moved to Annapolis in 2020.

The contract is still being negotiated, but Baum said that he is “optimistic.” Baum worked at the Bozzuto Group in 2001, a real estate company that specializes in the construction, management and development of residential and mixed-use properties nationwide, before leaving in 2018 to start his own development business in Annapolis. LaTerra Homes currently has a 320-unit mixed-use development in the works that will be located on Riva Road and Harry S Truman Parkway.

Though he did not go into detail on specific plans for the property, Baum said that he is “leaning” toward a residential use for the property.