Redevelopment in Prince George’s County is Coming
Redevelopment in Prince George’s County hopes to emulate the urban feel of neighborhoods like Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Arlington with upscale condo buildings, boutique shops, and hip restaurants with outdoor seating. According to Sonja Ewing, Planner Coordinator for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission's Plan Prince George's 2035, “Research is really telling us that the millennials as a generation group, and the boomers, are really looking for a different type of housing that's more multi-family housing, smaller, but still very high amenities, and they want to live in walkable, urban places, and that employers are following them to these places.”
Ewing’s group recently came up with a new general plan update for redevelopment in Prince George’s County. County planners would like to select a few sites in the county and dedicate resources to revitalize them. As of June, they have identified three locations for growth and mixed-use development in the county: Prince George’s Plaza Metro station, College Park Metro station, and New Carrollton Metro station. But there are also other big projects in Prince George’s County including development at Branch Avenue, the potential for the FBI to move to Greenbelt, and a possible hospital in Largo.
Hyattsville has a thriving arts district and is a model for redevelopment in Prince George’s County. An old car dealership was converted into a mixed-use development with apartments, city homes, Busboys and Poets, Tara Thai, Arrow Bicycle, and more. But one problem in Hyattsville is parking since the Gateway Arts District is about a mile away from the Metro. So the county hopes to avoid that problem with future transit-oriented development centered at Metro stations.
The Cafritz development in University Park with townhouses and the first Whole Foods in Prince George’s County met a great deal of opposition. Part of the opposition stemmed from the fact that this redevelopment in Prince George’s County was high density, but not near a Metro station. Many thought it was a great development idea for a different location with more transit options.
In the past five to ten years, there has been some redevelopment in College Park along Route 1 for student housing. But the new redevelopment efforts will focus on a multigenerational community with more restaurants and high-end shopping. This will likely include national companies as well as local businesses unique to the area.
The draft plan for redevelopment will be available in September with a public meeting in November and final plans in the spring of 2014. So get ready for redevelopment in Prince George’s County.
