Hyattsville

Developer Plans 316 Apartments for Hyattsville; No ‘Affordable’ Units Planned

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A developer plans to build a 316-unit mixed-use apartment building in Hyattsville near the Prince George’s Plaza Metro Station.

Berwyn Heights
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.

Beltway Plaza update: Hearing pushed back as Greenbelt Council weighs proposal

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While there are concerns about density and other issues, Greenbelt’s City Council seems cautiously supportive of a proposed redevelopment for Beltway Plaza. The six-phase plan would add between 175 and 250 townhomes or quadplex units, between 875 and 2250 multi-family units, and replace the 800,000 square-foot central mall with between 435,000 and 700,000 square feet of commercial retail space to the Greenbelt Road property. 

On Jan. 11, 2019, representatives from the city of Greenbelt and the mall’s owners, Bethesda-based Quantum Cos., briefly met with the Prince George’s County Subdivision Design Review Committee to discuss the proposed redevelopment. Nothing major came of the meeting, aside from the rescheduling of a Planning Board hearing for the proposed redevelopment to March 14, 2019, to give city officials there time to consider whether or not to support the proposal. Greenbelt City Council is tentatively scheduled to consider and vote on such a resolution at its Feb.

College Park

To block development, group wants College Park to buy Route 1 Metro property

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Just north of Riverdale Park Station, a wooded tract of land sits for sale. On state property records, its listed at 4535 Albion Road. If you’ve ever driven between College Park and Hyattsville on Baltimore Avenue, you’ll recognize it by the grove of bamboo that fronts the eastern edge of the roadway. It is owned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which purchased the land for just under $432,000 in 1989 as it prepared to construct Metrorail’s Green Line out to Greenbelt. Underneath, tunnels carry trains between College Park and Prince George’s Plaza Metro stations. WMATA has recently listed the 12-acre property for sale.

Business

Mount Rainier Artist Lofts has serious structural flaws

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Critical structural issues are affecting a Mount Rainier mixed-use affordable housing complex for working artists. Mount Rainier city officials criticized county building inspectors for approving work they allege has since been revealed to be below-standard. As a result, Mount Rainier city officials now want to be reimbursed by county officials for engineering assessments paid for by the city and carried out to gain a better understanding of the problems facing the building. 

The building is the Artist Lofts affordable housing complex at 3311 Rhode Island Avenue in downtown Mount Rainier. It opened in 2004. It’s a four-story building that includes 44 affordably-priced live-work apartment units for artists and ground floor retail.

Beltway Plaza

Doc Drop: Beltway Plaza conceptual site plan application filed

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A conceptual site plan application for the redevelopment of Beltway Plaza was officially accepted for review by Prince George’s County Planning Officials Dec. 10, 2018.  Key documents from that application are attached below this article. Development Review 101 

That now kicks off a 70-day timeline for the application to be considered by the Prince George’s County Planning Board, though the timeline can be stretched through appeals and requests for delay. The first planning body to consider the proposal is the Subdivision Review Committee, scheduled for its Dec. 28, 2018 meeting.

Homepage Featured
A two-story greyish brick building stands on a corner lot in an older suburban streetscape. It adjoins a red single-story building that houses a retail storefront with a sign reading Hyattsville Vacuum Service. The sidewalk is cracked narrow, receding left to right into the distance. It is and stained from years of brick erosion. Infront of the buildings, at the corner crosswalk, is a crosswalk sign.

Developer buys prime Hyattsville properties, but plans uncertain

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A developer has assembled a contiguous block of properties in downtown Hyattsville with the intention to redevelop it. The properties are just south of the EYA Arts District development and across the street from the proposed Hyattsville Armory development. But according to a senior Hyattsville economic development official, plans for the property have yet to be fleshed out. Further complicating matters are the city’s own long-term – but still fuzzy – plans for the area, such as a potential need for a new municipal building or parking garage. According to state property records, a series of holding companies registered to College Park resident Phillip Attia now owns the buildings fronting the eastern side of Baltimore Avenue’s 5200 and 5300 blocks.

Business
A partly-cloudy winter sky hovers over Riverdale Park Station at dusk, seen looking west from the Van Buren Street overpass. In the foreground, the concrete bridge platform curves away from the viewer, leading the eye to an unadorned concrete structure in the center of the photograph. This is the parking garage. It is flanked by rows of townhomes. A white sports utility vehicle is seen on the bridge, driving eastbound.

Cafritz phase II takes first step; 600+ apartments in review

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A long-planned but yet-to-be approved proposal to build hundreds of apartments at Riverdale Park Station – also known as the Cafritz Tract – is now in the earliest phase of Prince George’s County’s development review process. According to Henry Zhang, master planner in the Prince George’s County Planning Department, developers Calvin Cafritz Enterprises have submitted plans to build two apartment buildings for pre-application review. In this stage, county planning staff reviews prospective development applications before officially accepting them for public review in order to give developers feedback on issues that may arise and to avoid a time crunch. Once an application is formally submitted and accepted, the clock starts ticking on a mandatory maximum 70-day review period. During that period, County planners will solicit feedback from residents and nearby city councils before the application is considered by the Prince George’s County Planning Board.

College Park

Biznotes: University View breaks records with sale; Tech firm picks College Park

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The University View student apartments in College Park have sold for $235 million, a record-breaking transaction. The property was previously owned by Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC and Rockpoint Group, which acquired the property in 2016 for $114.7 million.Property records for the sale have not yet been processed and the buyer was not disclosed in the announcement. The sale is believed to be the highest-priced single-asset student housing transaction in U.S. history. University View is a 1,570-bed, 507-unit, two-building mixed-use student housing facility with nearly 9,220 feet of retail space. It is located across Paint Branch from the University of Maryland at 8204 Baltimore Ave. in College Park.

Commercial Real Estate

Letter to the Editor: In wake of HQ2, Prince George’s should get ‘smart’

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Amazon’s “National Landing” development will bolster the regional economy. However, I wonder if Prince George’s County elected officials will place a greater emphasis on “smart growth.” In order to capture potential residents the county should consider extending the purple line to National Harbor and Alexandria, while also intensifying density along Blue and Silver-line corridor and improving the school system. Although, I’m relatively new to Prince George’s County, I see the potential for growth and gaining desirability akin to other inner-Beltway suburban communities such as Arlington, Montgomery County, and Fairfax County. However, it is up to political willpower to invest in neighborhoods that have been disinvested for years, (such as Marlow Heights, Capitol Heights, Suitland, Oxon Hill) – instead of pursuing sprawl-y projects such as the Konterra Town Center.