Bethesda Park???
September 29th, 2006 | by David Daddio | Published in Downtown, East Campus, M Square Research Park, On Campus Development, Route 1, Starview Plaza
While doing some research for our presentation to the SGA last night, we came across some shocking data. Even though we are one of the most outspoken organizations constantly exclaiming College Park’s ‘ripeness for redevelopment’ and are on record talking about CP’s imminent “massive development campaign” several times, putting these numbers in one place really took our breath away (italics indicate our confidence that the project will be built):
-> East Campus Development Initiative (extensive housing – 1000 units?, office, retail)
-> M-Square Research Park (extensive office, 490 condos)
-> Private Investments in the pipeline
- Mosaic at Turtle Creek (8 stories, 300 condos behind Hillel)
- City Hall deal (9 stories, 165 condos, 350 space downtown garage, retail)
- Northgate Condominiums (17 stories 204 condos, retail)
- Starview Plaza (110 units, office, retail)
- University View Overlook (office, retail in front of University View)
- Berwyn House Apartments (additional 72 units)
- CP Metro Station (400 condos)
- Hillcrest Heights (140-160 condos, retail – now considering combining with Lasicks and providing student housing)
- Mazza Grandmarc Apartments (211 unit student housing – North CP)
- Knox Redevelopment???
- Universal Barber Site – Condos???
- North Gate Luxury Hotel???
We got most of this information from the College Park Development Update. Although some of these projects are still in the conceptual stage and have a rigorous approval process ahead of them, they represent literally billions in potential investment for the area. Even if only half of these projects come to fruition in the next 10-15 years, College Park will be forever changed by the influx of both diverse buyers/renters and retail. Alas, the condo market, politics, and planning are notoriously fickle – potentially thwarting plans from year to year and changing the nature of projects.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:36 pm (#)
An incredibly interesting article–and website. . I am very impressed by your efforts. . as co-publisher, you should be proud of this project!
October 18th, 2006 at 9:50 pm (#)
[...] We’re happy to announce that Rethink College Park is sponsoring a Community Housing Forum with the undergraduate and graduate student governments. SGA president Emma Simson has been working closely with us over the last several weeks to make the event a reality. The goal is to open up a wider community dialogue on student housing in and around the university. The topic is critically important given the ongoing East Campus Initiative and several private projects in the area. [...]
November 9th, 2006 at 3:15 am (#)
[...] Sure, students are rowdy, and it can be a pain to live next to us, but we have the same right to live in College Park as anyone else. Owner-occupancy requirements not only hurt College Park’s development potential, they are downright immoral – not all that dissimilar from discriminatory housing policies that excluded “undesirable” people before the 1968 Civil Rights Act. The perverse incentives the council has created amount to nothing more than a distraction from reality – College Park simply needs more housing. If the council truly wants to “strengthen neighborhoods,” it must work with the county to speed up and simplify the development approval process and stop pretending it knows who will live where. There is no other solution to high rents unless, of course, the council would rather students not live in College Park at all. Ultimately, city residents must embrace College Park’s more urban future. They can’t stem the tide of new construction that is upon us. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get a truly great college town in the process. [...]
September 11th, 2007 at 10:49 am (#)
[...] Our previous Cafritz posts may provide a starting place as you consider our community’s future. But we need to look beyond the Cafritz Property and to the growth taking place up and down the Route 1 corridor. The number of units, approved and planned, is truly amazing. Rethink College Park did a quick rundown almost a year ago and this does not include the recently approved Landy Property’s 1200 units and EYA’s expansion–or Univ. Town Center. [...]