East Campus Specifications Released; Grad Housing, Hotel Requested
November 10th, 2006 | by Rob Goodspeed | Published in East Campus | 3 Comments
The University released today the second part of their Request for Proposals for the East Campus Redevelopment Initiative, a massive project to redevelop the 38 acres of university-owned land pictured above. This document was released to a “short list” of the companies that made it past the first round of the application process. The university told us they would not release the names companies selected to participate in the Part B of the process. The initial selection was made by an “Evaluation Committee” which contained no student representation we are aware of.
The document instructs the companies to create a “lively, successful town center destination in which they can work, shop, live, learn and play. The project should create a pedestrian friendly environment that complements and grows the many assets of the University.” While the 18-page document specifies that “no specific use or tenant mix is required” it identifies four components that an “optimal project” would address: housing, an affordable infant and childcare program, a “high quality” hotel, and a bookstore. The document contains the following information regarding their plans for housing (emphasis added):
- upscale market rate housing geared towards empty nesters, professionals, faculty, staff, and families to enjoy the many amenities of a university-oriented town center;
- affordable graduate housing with a approximately 450 beds. The mix should be approximately one-third of the beds in 2 BR, 1 BA units and two-thirds of the beds in 4 BR, 2 BA units. In 2006 dollars, the affordable rental rate for 2BR units is approximately $950/month/bed and the for 4BR units the affordable rental rate is approximately $600/month/ bed. Resident graduate students will be permitted to purchase on-campus parking on the same basis as other students, on a first- come, first-served basis.
- East Campus is intended to include a mix of housing types, including a healthy market rate component. It is not intended to be a predominantly student housing community.
Developers are instructed to submit detailed financial tables describing the impact of including the following into their proposals should they choose not to include them: “Undergraduate housing replacement including costs, time constraint on demolishing undergraduate housing, graduate student housing rent caps, child care, including development of facility and program operation etc, bookstore, hotel.” The RFP directs the companies to take into consideration the University’s Environmental Stewardship Guidelines and incorporate the proposed Purple Line into the design.
The document also says that proposals could remove the Old Leonardtown complex with or without replacement of the 240 undergraduate beds, the proposal should make up for the loss of revenue for the university. New Leonardtown, on the other hand, is described as important for the university and “New Leonardtown will not be permitted to be developed unless and until the University is assured that: a) all undergraduate beds will be replaced and be affordable to the students, and b) the net revenue from New Leonardtown is fully and satisfactorily addressed.”
These are just some of the interesting details we picked out after a cursory reading. What do you think of the document?
> Read the East Campus RFP Part B (PDF)
> View our East Campus library page or archives for more information
November 10th, 2006 at 12:30 pm (#)
The University has a latent demand for nearly two thousand undergrad student beds, but they would tear out Old Leonardtown and not replace it? What are they thinking? I understand the need to attract a variety of people to College Park, but I think student housing – both graduate and undergraduate – should be the top priority.
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November 10th, 2006 at 5:52 pm (#)
I still cannot understand why the plan intends to accommodate so few beds when the 38-acre East Campus site is a golden opportunity to eliminate all housing waiting lists while fulfilling the University’s desire for an urban character.
More housing on East Campus would reduce the pressure placed on the existing neighborhoods, surely pleasing the City Council. More housing would satisfy the needs of students so desperate that they currently pay outrageous rents for ratty housing. The university would make itself more attractive to prospective graduate and undergraduate students without having to foot the bill for construction and maintenance. Developers get a greater overall return on investment—albeit they would assume a slight increase in risk for a bigger project, but they could benefit from economies of scale.
I don’t see who would object to more housing on East Campus or why they would object. Did I neglect to consider something?
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November 15th, 2006 at 2:20 pm (#)
Why does the University want another big bookstore to be part of the project? MBX and UBC are both large-scale bookstores with huge sections for both textbooks and regular books, as well as massive selections of “Terp Gear”. BookHolders fills the demand for super-cheap, well used textbooks, and Vertigo fills in most any niche that the bigger bookstores don’t fill.
It seems obvious to me that a Barnes & Noble or Borders on East Campus would almost certainly put Vertigo out of business, and might do the same for MBX if it is to carry Terp gear and/or textbooks. It would really be a shame for College Park to lose 2 of the very few independent businesses that are left here… Vertigo carries books that you can’t find anywhere else, and often has signings and readings from prominent and up-and-coming authors. The Book Exchange has been in College Park for more than 70 years (by far the city’s oldest business) and has a very friendly staff, some of whom have been working there for decades. What would a Borders/BN offer that we don’t already have?
It seems equally obvious to me that the University basically wants College Park to become a carbon copy of Silver Spring and/or Bethesda: Borders/BN, giant multiplex, Potbelly/Coldstone/Chipotle/Noodles, and several family-friendly bar/grill type chain restaurants (Austin Grill, Macaroni Grill, etc.) These places are convenient and no doubt profitable, but they tend to have the feel of a “town center” which could have been ordered out of a catalog. They suffocate local (non-chain) businesses in favor of big-name chains who carry zero risk. This may be alright for fairly affluent, nondescript suburbs, but a college town should have its own character. Let’s hope that the University keeps that in mind.
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