Route 1 Reporter (https://route1reporter.com/category/news/hyattsville/page/2/)
Campaign spending was down in Hyattsville’s 2019 council elections, according to finance reports finalized by the city’s Ethics Commission earlier this month. Hyattsville City Council candidates spent, on average, almost $1,300 less on their campaigns in 2019 than candidates in 2017.
Developers have provided the first look at the architectural designs for 131 new townhomes planned for Hyattsville.
A new Hyattsville Middle School, as well as a new Adelphi Middle School, have gotten the green light to be included in a plan to build six new schools across Prince George’s County.
Hyattsville will phase out its Nixle emergency alert system over the next several months in favor of a new emergency alert messaging company named CodeRED. Hyattsville has been using Nixle to distribute emergency alerts for more than seven years, according to message records. However, it lacked the ability to reach landlines or residents without cell phones or email access, Hyattsville City Police Department Chief of Police Amal Awad said during a recent community meeting. The new service will allow police to distribute emergency notifications and public safety alerts by text message, robocall and email. It also has teletype option for deaf subscribers.
Hyattsville City Council approved a measure to issue $13.8 million in debt for the renovation of the city’s Public Works Facility and the construction of a new police headquarters on Hamilton Street. As a result, it may be hard to borrow for other infrastructure projects in the city in the future. The vote happened at a special session of Hyattsville City Council held Aug. 28, 2019. The measure was unanimously approved, though Mayor Candace Hollingsworth and City Councilors Joseph Solomon and Carianna Suiter were absent.
$3.3 million will be allocated to the Public Works Facility.
Is a multifamily developer eyeing North Brentwood for a major redevelopment project? A recent property sale in North Brentwood’s Rhode Island Corridor suggests so. According to state property records,, a corporate entity named NP 111 LLC purchased several parcels near the 4550 block of Rhode Island Avenue in North Brentwood in a two transactions recorded July 12, 2019. NP 111 LLC is a holding company of RSE Capital Partners LLC, a real estate investment trust focused on multifamily properties in the Washington, D.C., area. NP 111 LLC bought approximately one acre of land for $4.9 million in separate transaction with two other real estate ventures registered to real estate developer Langon Drew Hample: 4550 Rhode Island LLC and Congressional Commercial LLC.
The properties are presently zoned for mixed-use-infill development. One is a presently home to a Beacon Roofing Supply warehouse, the other is an abandoned storefront that recently hosted an antique plumbing supply store.
In the wake of Hyattsville’s fourth firearm homicide since January, city officials attempted to assuage community concerns during a meeting held August, 23, 2019. The meeting came in the wake of the murder of 26-year-old Yuri Echavarria Jr., on Aug. 13, 2019 inside his apartment building on the 4200 block of Oglethorpe Street. During the meeting, led by Hyattsville Chief of Police Amal Awad at the First Baptist Church on 42nd Avenue, Awad provided an overview of details of the incident, much of which had already been disclosed. She noted her officers were not handling the case directly.
The Maryland State Highway Administration is currently in the process of re-designing the surface of Queens Chapel Road in Prince George’s County. The bad news: it doesn’t go far enough to enhance pedestrian or cyclist safety.
A man was shot and killed in Hyattsville last week. Then, over the weekend, two mass shootings less than a day apart in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, rocked the nation. And on Monday, Hyattsville City Council gaveled into session.
Hyattsville City Council will spend $90,000 to develop an affordable housing strategy for the city.