Erickson Retirement Communities is backing out of plans to build a new campus-style retirement community on land near the historic Doughoregan Manor in Ellicott City.

The owners of the 18th-century Doughoregan Manor estate struck a deal last September with Erickson to sell part of their 892-acre property for a senior community in exchange for preserving the original manor and at least 665 acres of adjacent land. The estate, located just south of Frederick Road where it meets Route 40, was once home to Charles Carroll — who signed the Declaration of Independence — and has been in the Carroll family for nine generations.

“It is regrettable that the current economic conditions have caused the Carroll family and Erickson Retirement Communities to agree that now is not the time to move forward with development plans for the Doughoregan Manor project,” Wayne Rush, regional vice president of development for Erickson, said in a statement Thursday. “The project may — or may not — be revisited based on future decisions and assessments of the two parties.”

Members of the Carroll family could not immediately be reached for comment.

Erickson had planned to build 1,500 independent-living units, 128 assisted-living units and 96 nursing units, divided into three neighborhoods, on 153 acres. The Catonsville-based company also submitted a proposal to county officials earlier this year to create a new zoning category for "continuing care retirement communities" to accommodate those plans.

County Executive Kenneth Ulman said Thursday he had not spoken to either Erickson or the Carroll family, but was disappointed to hear the deal had fallen through. However, he said he hoped the Carroll family’s request to have about 500 acres of its property put in agricultural preservation will not be affected.

“We had been talking all along about a situation that made sense for them and the county,” Ulman said. “It’s a priority of ours to see as much of that property in preservation as possible.”

Ulman said he hoped, as part of any deal, that the family would be able to continue to preserve the historic manor house and surrounding buildings.

This article has been updated.

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