The town of Cheverly has sued the town of Bladensburg over its attempt to annex the site of a long-planned development.

In an 11-page lawsuit filed in Prince George’s County Circuit Court, Cheverly officials are seeking to block Bladensburg from annexing the former site of the Prince George’s Hospital Center and seeking $40 million in compensation.

Since the hospital closed in 2021, the county has planned to turn the 44-acre site into a massive development with more than 1,300 apartments, senior housing, and townhomes, as well as a hotel, 40,000 square feet of shops, and 70,000 square feet of medical centers, and offices.

The county and a developer had long worked on the project with the assumption that it would eventually be annexed by Cheverly.

After Bladensburg began planning to annex the property, a lawyer for the county wrote in a Dec. 6 letter that the proposed annexation “does not comply with Maryland law” because it is not contiguous and adjoining to the town’s current limits.

Cheverly claims in its lawsuit that the annexation could hurt the redevelopment.

“The economic benefit of this development would be in the many multiple of millions of dollars which are now in substantial jeopardy as a result of this illegal action,” the town wrote in its complaint.

Bladensburg officials have long argued that they have the right to annex the site.

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