BALTIMORE — The world’s largest distiller plans to build a Guinness brewery in suburban Baltimore, a project that could bring 70 new jobs to the area and could welcome tourists from all over, Baltimore County officials said Tuesday.

It would be the first Guinness brewery in the United States in more than 60 years.

County officials said the plans represent an investment of $50 million and would create up to 40 jobs in brewing, warehousing and packaging. About 30 people could work on the visitor side of the operation, which would be similar to the company’s Open Gate Brewery in Dublin.

Diageo, the parent company of Guinness and other well-known alcoholic beverage brands, hopes to begin construction this spring and open in fall 2017, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of imports of the classic Irish stout to the United States.

“Beer tourism is about to boom in Baltimore County,” Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said in a statement. “We are thrilled that Diageo is reviving an historic building with the iconic Guinness brand. This will be a world-class tourist destination that will bring new jobs and become the perfect complement to our Maryland craft breweries.”

Diageo shut bottling operations at its suburban Baltimore facility in the village of Relay in 2015, three years after making upgrades to the plant. At the time, more than 100 people worked there.

County officials said they started working with the company then on a plan for the complex, which the liquors conglomerate inherited when it bought Seagram’s wines and spirits business in 2000.

Diageo said Tuesday it would build a “mid-sized brewery” and “innovation microbrewery” to create new beers for the U.S. market. (Its classic Irish stout would continue to be made at St. James’s Gate in Dublin.) The complex would include a taproom and allow for tours for visitors.

“Given the success of our Open Gate Brewery in Dublin and the popularity of beer tourism in the U.S., we are confident that Americans will welcome the opportunity to come experience Guinness brewing in Baltimore County,” said Tom Day, President of Diageo Beer Company, USA, in a statement.

Tom Quirk, chair of the Baltimore County Council, called the jobs and investment an “economic win” for the county, adding that he resisted a proposal to turn the site to residential use.

Some changes at the state level related to liquor laws will have to be approved for the plans to move forward, said Quirk, who represents the area and wrote a letter to General Assembly members in support of the plans.

“It’s definitely a move in the right direction,” Quirk said. “I hope it leads to more things in the future as well.”

In recent years, more breweries have been opening and expanding across the state. Heavy Seas, also in Baltimore County, expanded twice in 2011 and 2012.

The Diageo site has a long history with alcohol. It’s where Maryland Distillery Inc. opened the state’s first legal distillery after Prohibition was lifted in 1933.

“Southwest Baltimore County is definitely a powerhouse for this now,” Quirk said.