Rethink College Park

At the end of October, the County Council authorized a new Route 1 Sector Plan update and planning process.  The update rescinded a previously proposed, controversial, southern amendment of area to add to the sector.  The amendment would have included Rt.1-fronting properties and the Cafritz Property.  The Sector Plan is a document of policies and recommendations to guide development, public amenities, and transportation within the sector’s defined boundaries.

Community charettes will be held in early December (see calander along top left column of this page, or MNCPPC website).  They will be the premier forum for affected residents and business owners to air opinions to planners and politicians.

The old plan (left) included the proposed southern amendment Rt.1-fronting residential properties from Pineway and Carleton Terrace south to East-West Hwy., as well as the Cafritz Property.  The updated plan (right) took out that southern amendment.  The proposed northern amendment of areas including Ikea, Cherry Hill Rd., and parts of the Hollywood neighborhood was kept.

State Highway Administration [SHA] financing for many improvements the Sector Plan recommendations (bus slips, sidewalks, bike lanes) is now shrouded in doubt.

Our beloved Route 1. Its not the ICC but its improvement is important to  College Park and the entire area. The District 21 Delegation is staging a rally on November 15th at 9am at the State Highway Administration Building, 9300 Kenilworth Ave., Greenbelt. 

Get out there and let them know you want our funding restored. We surely can do better than the picture on the left. HERE is a flyer about the event suitable for plastering all over your workplace. 

For more infor contact Delegate Peña-Melnyk’s office: (301) 858-3502; or Mary Lehman, Legislative Aide, (301) 538-0436; Joseline.pena.melnyk@house.state.md.us

**REMINDER** College Park US 1 Corridor Sector Plan community meeting:       Wednesday 7-9pm @ Lakeland/College Park Community Center [5051 Pierce Ave]

The updated Sector Plan, once initiated, will be a PG County Planning document containing legal stipulations and overall vision for development of properties within its boundaries.  There is currently in place, an older version of the Sector Plan.  It is thought to have problems since it has been around for a while and the Rt.1 mixed-use development it envisioned has not been realized.  A property’s ultimate inclusion in the Sector Plan will ensure its rezoning and development [both if any] conform to  specifications and vision of the Plan.

The updated Sector Plan is still in its planning stage.  Wednesday’s meeting is part of a public process where updates to the Plan will be discussed.  A public design charrette [interactive community workshop] will be held in December for the same purpose.  More information about the Sector Plan @:

• RTCP Library page on Rt.1 Corridor Sector Plan [RTCP library can always be found on the right-hand column of the blog under "About This Site"]

• M-NCPPC page on the Sector Plan

M-NCPPC proposed to amend to the updated Sector Plan, properties in two separate swaths north and south of the current Sector.  The northern swath includes parts of the Ikea, Hollywood, and Cherry Hill Rd. neighborhoods.

The southern swath includes Rt.1-fronting properties between Guilford Rd. and East-West Hwy. (including Cafritz Property).  College Park and University Park both oppose this addition.  County Councilman Eric Olson is planning to not include the southern swath in October when time comes for him to motion initiation of the Sector Plan amendment to voting by County Council.  Once he does that, no one can make a backdoor effort to re-include the controversial properties.

The Sector Plan will also be discussed at a tentative M-NCPPC Planning Board meeting October 2nd, and at a tentative County Council public hearing (where Sector Plan update/amendment is initiated) October 21st.

Articles in today’s Diamondback and Washington Post report on yesterday’s announced state transportation budget cuts.  The cuts occur after the state received less transportation revenue than expected, attributed to the current economic recession.  Local projects affected by the cuts:

• Route 1 Corridor Improvements [bus slips, sidewalks, bike lanes]   $7.1 million over next four years, now deferred

• Purple Line [engineering work for federal proposal]                                 $100 million, now reduced to $75 million

Both projects’ original funding were allocated from the state’s transportation trust fund in a 6-year plan released in January.  The $2.4 billion Inter-County Connector apparently remained unscathed.

Transportation Secretary Porcari reported that the Purple Line will still apply for federal funding (necessary for the project’s ultimate realization) next year.  Apparently the early stages of the project received more budgeting than absolutely necessary, according to other Transportation officials.

The first public meeting for the Central US 1 Corridor Sector Plan is scheduled for September 17th 7-9pm at the Lakeland/College Park Community Center at 5051 Pierce Avenue, College Park, MD 20740. This will be an informal gathering where attendees should expect an overview of the plan followed by an information gathering and listening session where the thoughts, opinions and comments of those in attendance will be taken into consideration before formal initiation of the plan. Additional sessions will be scheduled in the future. We’ll keep you posted.

For those of you not in the know, this is a huge step in implementing a redevelopment plan to achieve four goals revolving around the aesthetics, use and future of the route 1 sector leading to campus. For more information check out RTCP’s development map and route 1 corridor plan section.

As many are well aware, RTCP is in semi-hibernation mode at the moment. We’re planning on a kickoff meeting to discuss the future of the site sometime in May. Until then there are a couple tid-bits to report despite the dampened state of the real estate market. Thanks to everyone who continues to email and post comments about all the great changes coming to the city….

-> Starview Plaza - The Diamondback reports that Starview Plaza is progressing through the early stages of the approval process. The project, which sits just north of College Park Carwash, has languished for years (at least 5?) and the underlying land is owned jointly by the City and University. Originally planned as a hotel, the developer now plans a 500-bed mixed use student housing project with an impressive LEED Silver rating. As the Diamondback reports, there has been much debate over exactly what materials should be used on the facade. The Sector Plan requires 75% brick and as the Mazza Grandmarc debate showed us, the city and the county in particular hold tightly to that standard regardless of how visible certain parts of the building are. The choice is between hardyplank - a composite of recycled materials which helps a buildings LEED rating - and brick (an energy-intensive material) on the least visible parts of the building. Let’s hope the county council departs from its absolutist ways by avoiding unneccessary delays…

-> Campus Construction - The University has released an updated campus construction map, which shows progress on several different projects we’ve blogged about over time. The new journalism building is progressing, the Tyser Tower expansion at Byrd Stadium is underway, and improvements to the Southwest quad and in front of the business school are coming to a close. Also, North Gate Park, a project mired in bureaucracy, funding constraints, and development SNAFUS for the better part of four years is scheduled to start construction this summer. North Gate Park is a joint venture between the city and university and was designed by undergraduate students. 

-> Parking - Recognizing the serious burden that parking requirement place on private developers of student housing, UMD-DOTS via the university’s strategic plan has agreed that students at select off-campus housing complexes can park on-campus. This is a smart move that we think could pay serious dividends by encouraging more student housing. Building lots on Route 1 are small and shallow, thus making the provision of suburban-style parking ratios extremely difficult for dense mixed-use projects. Hopefully the city/county can capitalize on this new policy to implement their Transportation Demand Management plans.

-> Purple Line - There are signs that Campus Drive advocates are making serious inroads. More to come shortly.

We know as well as any the difficulty of keeping track of all the development occurring and proposed in College Park, as well as how hard it is to separate truth from fiction when it comes to the economics of real estate. That’s why we decided to post these slides, presented by the city’s economic development planner Chris Warren at the February 12th Real Estate Roundtable. They present a concise snapshot of new developments on Route 1, and the College Park Retail and Office markets. Notably they show retail space in downtown College Park commands very high rent, as the number of residents has grown but effective space remained largely unchanged. Also, vacancy rates are generally low, despite the high-profile vacancies downtown. (Paperworks and Wawa)

Route 1 Projects

Retail

Office

The full presentation is here.

The Commerce Bank project (just across from Plato’s Dinner) was rejected unanimously by the City Council almost a year ago and not approved until it removed a drive thru window from its plans. Now, we are getting news that the bank pulled out and now the developer is walking away…

‘Starview Plaza’ (located just north of CP Car Wash), a project which has languished for years as a joint venture between the City-University Partnership, a private developer, and other public partners, has been reborn as a five-story student housing project with 540 beds and ground floor retail. According to the Diamondback, the developer is taking LEED Silver Certification seriously. The project joins a growing list of recently proposed student housing projects - the trend differs dramatically from what we saw just 6 months ago.