Greenbelt
A large suburban strip mall is seen from above, at an angle. A sidewalk of street-facing retail, including a Shoe Show store, can be seen across a small two-lane circulator roadway.

Phase One of Beltway Plaza Redevelopment Takes Shape

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Detailed plans for an ambitious redevelopment of Beltway Plaza will soon be weighed by the Prince George’s County Planning Board. If approved, construction at the site could begin within a year. 

The six phase redevelopment would eventually demolish the mall and add between 875 and 2,250 multi-family husing units and would replace the 800,000 square-foot central mall with between 435,000 and 700,000 square feet of commercial retail space. 

The first phase calls for the construction of a three multifamily apartment buildings with a total of 750 units, a 92-room hotel and a 27,000 square foot recreation center. The last time we heard about this project, the mall’s ownership group — Silver Spring-based Quantum Cos.  — was soliciting feedback on the finer details of their detailed site plans. A diagram shows a proposed overhead layout for a six-phase redevelopment of Beltway Plaza in Greenbelt.

Crucially for any retailers inside the mall: the current mall structure will not be touched during the first phase of the redevelopment. Rather, the first phase is focused on a sparsely-used parking lot on the northern side of the mall, fronting Breezewood Drive. 

The plans recently received the conditional blessing of the Greenbelt City Council, with some reservations from City Council members, according to the Greenbelt News Review. 

The project goes before the Prince George’s County Planning Board at its Sept.

College Park

Mystery industrial plans emerge for College Park site

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At least two industrial development projects are interested in buying the Stone Straw site in northern College Park, according to city officials. Further details remain a mystery, save one: a proposal to build a fish processing plant on the site, first revealed in 2020, seems to be dead.

College Park

Planned Beltsville Treasury facility raises environmental concerns

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Concerns about polluted creeks, increased car traffic, and loss of wildlife habitat dominated a public hearing on a Treasury Department proposal to build a 1 million square-foot cash factory on the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. 

“This project is sited in the wrong place,” said Greenbelt City Councilor Rodney Roberts during the meeting. “It should not be on BARC at all.”

The virtual hearing was hosted Dec. 2, 2020, by representatives from the Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the government office in charge of the production of U.S. coins and cash. The public meeting is part off a mandatory environmental review process for new federal facilities. More specifically, the meeting sough comment on a draft environmental impact report prepared for the project. 

The Proposal

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing wants to build a 1 million square foot cash production facility at a 104-acre tract of land along Poultry Road between Odell Road to the north and Powder Mill Road to the south.

A large suburban strip mall is seen from above, at an angle. A sidewalk of street-facing retail, including a Shoe Show store, can be seen across a small two-lane circulator roadway.
Greenbelt

Greenbelt officials say Beltway Plaza plans need work

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The next step on the multi-phase redevelopment plans for Beltway Plaza is underway. Bethesda-based mall owner Quantum Cos. is gathering feedback on a still-in-the-works detailed site plan for first phase of the planned six-phase redevelopment. Most-recently, representatives from Quantum Cos. shopped their plans before Greenbelt’s City Council during a Nov.

Development

Beltway Plaza preliminary plan approved by Planning Board

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A proposal to redevelop the aging Beltway Plaza Mall into a mixed-use town center took a big step forward last week as the Prince George’s County Planning Board unanimously approved preliminary plans for the project. The vote took place after hours of testimony at the Planning Board’s Feb. 20, 2020 meeting. “This is a generational project. Every now and then you get one of those projects that will change Prince George’s County.

A large suburban strip mall is seen from above, at an angle. A sidewalk of street-facing retail, including a Shoe Show store, can be seen across a small two-lane circulator roadway.
Greenbelt

Greenbelt blesses Beltway Plaza redux, with conditions

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Editor’s note: See correction below story. After two hours of deliberations, Greenbelt City Council voted to support preliminary plans for the first-phase of a proposed redevelopment of Beltway Plaza, but with a hefty list of conditions. The five-to-two vote, with Mayor Colin Byrd and Councilor Rodney Roberts against, came at Greenbelt’s Feb. 10, 2020, City Council meeting. Noteable among the 20 conditions are items requiring the developers to set aside 25,000 square feet for recreation space, and a requirement that at least 15 percent of the total residential units be available for ownership, rather than just rentals.

College Park

Update: Beltway Plaza Planning Board decision delayed

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The Prince George’s County Planning Board delayed until Feb. 20, 2020, consideration of preliminary plans for Beltway Plaza’s proposed redevelopment. The vote to delay occurred at the Planning Board’s Feb. 6, 2020, meeting. The delay was sought by the mall’s owners to give time for the city of Greenbelt to weigh in on the matter, which it is expected to do at its Feb.

A large suburban strip mall is seen from above, at an angle. A sidewalk of street-facing retail, including a Shoe Show store, can be seen across a small two-lane circulator roadway.
College Park

Redeveloping Beltway Plaza axes townhomes from plans

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Several members of Greenbelt’s City Council appear uneasy with major changes to plans for a proposed redevelopment of Beltway Plaza into a mixed-use town center. Conceptual plans already approved by the County originally called for the construction of between 850 and 2,500 apartment units and up to 250 townhomes. Now, those townhomes are gone. As recently as October, when developers submitted preliminary design plans for approval, those townhomes were still in the plans. But in late December 2019, the mall’s owners, Bethesda-based Quantum Cos., submitted revised plans to county officials that removed the townhomes and went all in on the 2,500 multi-family residential units.

Development

Greenbelt Metro Apartments get final approval from Planning Board

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Without much discussion, Prince George’s County Planning Board unanimously approved plans for a 354-unit apartment complex near Greenbelt Metro on Cherrywood Road. The vote took place at its Jan. 9, 2019, meeting. Aptly-named the Greenbelt Metro apartments, the project is planned to build two five-story apartment buildings flanking a broad, median-lined avenue. The building will have 55 studios, 157 one-bedrooms, 123 two-bedrooms and 19 three-bedroom units.

A large suburban strip mall is seen from above, at an angle. A sidewalk of street-facing retail, including a Shoe Show store, can be seen across a small two-lane circulator roadway.
Greenbelt

Mixed-use Beltway Plaza redevelopment takes next step

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The planned redevelopment of Beltway Plaza has taken another step down the road, as the mall’s owners have submitted paperwork to redraw property lines to build 211 townhomes and condominiums, the first of a planned five-phase project that would reshape the old mall into an mixed-use town center with retail, office and residential uses. 

Earlier this month, mall owners Quantum Cos. filed an application seeking approval of its preliminary plan of subdivision for the first phase of the redevelopment. According to the documents, Quantum is asking for approval to divide the land into 139 townhome lots, six lots to house 72 condominium units, and 53 lots set aside for commercial use. But it also goes into great detail showing just how the mall’s owners plan to break up what is today an enclosed retail center and run a grid of roads through the property. See below:

Most obviously, the area where you today enter the Giant Grocery store from within the mall would be replaced by a large parking lot. 

Another chart submitted as part of the application, seen below, shows how the developers plan to assemble their townhomes, which would be built along the parking lot in the mall’s rear, to the north.