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In an effort to make good on campaign promises to Prince George's 163,000 Democratic voters four years ago, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) announced Friday he will try to relocate a state agency headquarters to the county and encourage development around county Metro stations.

"Today's announcement fulfills a commitment we made to the people of Prince George's County four years ago," O'Malley said at the Branch Avenue Metro in Temple Hills as he announced that the state is moving the 330 people at the Department of Housing Community and Development from Crownsville to land near an undetermined Metro station in Prince George's County by 2014.

After the cheers, O'Malley, supporters and others conceded that the DHCD relocation is not certain. Costs and feasibility will depend on what developers are willing to propose when the state solicits bids for the move this fall, state officials said. Staffers said an actual move won't be made for at least three years.

"We don't have the money right now," O'Malley said.

But county and state officials cheered the announcement, saying it could bring investments of construction, stores and jobs to the economically depressed and undeveloped county areas. Many investors and developers have long shied away from locating in Prince George's because of the county's low-performing schools and high crime rates compared to neighbors, business leaders, elected officials, and county planners have said.

Montgomery County is home to several federal agencies, including the National institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. Excluding the National Security Agency, Maryland's state government is the top employer in Anne Arundel County, home of the state house in Annapolis.

"Now it will be a whole lot easier to get others to come in," said Arthur Turner, a Democratic Central Committee member who is running for the County Council District 6 seat.

O'Malley and other officials were unable to say how much the proposed relocation will cost, saying costs will be weighed after seeking bids this fall.

With the highest number of foreclosures in the state, O'Malley said Prince George's County makes an ideal new home for the agency, which handles foreclosure counseling and distributes community grants to needy communities across the state.

"This is a county where this department has such an important role to play," O'Malley said.

O'Malley confirmed that the Friday announcement was to keep a 2006 promise he made to county residents to bring a major state agency there.

Turner said leaders made the state agency pledge a condition when the Baltimore mayor needed the county's democratic support to unseat then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, who was seeking re-election that year.

"We said that we accounted for 21 percent of the votes," Turner recalled. "And that we have never had a state agency choose to locate in our county."

"The promise is delivered," Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Terry Speigner said.

County senators constantly reminded O'Malley of his promise during the past four years, Sen. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Dist. 23A) of Bowie said. O'Malley formed a task force in 2008 to study which offices should relocate to Prince George's.

"The senators have been lobbying him on every occasion about it," Peters said. "It's an idea whose time has come. This has been an area of consensus."

O'Malley also announced that Maryland will give special tax incentives to businesses choosing to develop near Metro stations in the state. Prince George's has only developed one of its 15 Metro stations, the most of any county in Maryland.

Peters said much of the redevelopment potential in the county's Metro stations will rest on partnering with the Washington Metro Area Transportation Authority, which owns the best land for development.

Department officials agreed with O'Malley's comments on the benefits of the relocation.

"People have been generally very positive," said DHCD spokeswoman Barbara Holt Streeter.

O'Malley conceded that the move could add up to 45 minutes to the commuting time for most of the department's 330 workers, as fewer than 33 live in Prince George's now.

"No doubt it may involve some inconvenience," O'Malley said. "But we can be a part of inspiring private investment in these areas."

E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine@gazette.net.