Monday, April 15, 2013
Developers have submitted both a preliminary site plan and a detailed site plan for review in May.
After repeated delays due to the developers’ failure to meet several conditions, the Cafritz development is scheduled before the Prince George’s County Planning Board again in May. Calvert Tract’s efforts to begin developing the 37-acre parcel of land in north Riverdale Park first ground to a halt back in January when the planning board staff recommended disapproval of the prelminary site plan. Following a letter from the American Center for Physic, it became clear the developers had established neither a location or a funding mechanism for a CSX crossing. Under the terms of the rezoning plan approved by the planning board, ground cannot be broken until this condition is met. Developers also failed to meet several other conditions, …
Monday, March 18, 2013
The developers are seeking an alternative bridge proposal across property owned by the University of Maryland.
In yet another blow to the Cafritz development team, the American Center for Physics (ACP) has decided not to allow a CSX bridge across its property. In a letter to Jane Cafritz dated March 15, ACP president Beth Cunningham wrote that the organization opted to decline the developer’s proposal for the land required for the bridge, stating: Our decision is based not on any defect in your plans for the bridge/roadway. Rather, our final decision is based on a judgement by ACP to maintain our current property with its extensive landscaped and treed environment. The ACP vision of a serene, verdant campus-like setting was established over 20 years ago. We are now reaffirming our hope to maintain that setting, but with enough land to give us …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Going forward the Cafritz development will be lead by attorney Lawrence Taub from the firm O'Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore.
In what was described by Riverdale Park Mayor Vernon Archer as a "shake-up of leadership," Calvert Tract LLC has hired a new lead attorney to head up the Cafritz development project. Larry Taub, an attorney with O'Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore, was named new lead attorney on the project during Monday's Town Council meeting. Taub was also the lead attorney on EYA's Arts District in Hyattsville several years ago, ushering the project through the planning process. Archer applauded the hiring. "Larry Taub you were a joy to work with [on the EYA development] and I’m very happy that Mrs. Cafritz chose you to lead the legal team. I have renewed faith," Archer said. Calvert Tract LLC has also retained a second firm, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill…
Monday, February 4, 2013
The District 3 councilmember addressed several key development topics Monday at Plato's Diner.
East Campus, transit-oriented metro development, and the Cafritz project were all hot topics at Monday morning's coffee chat with Prince George's County Councilmember Eric Olson’s (District 3), held at Plato’s Diner in College Park. East Campus The construction of the development know as East Campus—a 39-acre parcel of land located at Paint Branch Parkway and Route 1—has once again been put on hold. The site was conceived to be a town center for students, including graduate student housing and a grocery store. The University of Maryland’s first shot at developing the property fell through in 2009, and recent efforts to build the property out in two phases have been delayed. “For the time being, they are pulling back,” said Olson, who …
Friday, February 1, 2013
Calvert Tract, LLC files letter of intent to resubmit their preliminary plan for approval by county planners.
Calvert Tract, LLC, developers of the Cafritz Property in Riverdale Park, have announced their intent to re-file their preliminary plan of subdivision before the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The move comes in the wake of a controversy surrounding a last-minute withdrawal of a previous preliminary plan review application after surrounding municipalities raised concerns about the developer's ability to meet key requirements imposed on the project. The developers have to wait until at least Feb. 28 before they can file their preliminary plan again, according to University Park Mayor John Tabori, but it will likely be longer than that before the plan is filed. For example, the recently withdrawn preliminary plan was …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Mayor, town council call for reforms and greater oversight after confusion over authorship of letters of support for controversial development.
Following a town council meeting earlier this month which left some of University Park's elected officials feeling as if they had been deceived, town leaders had harsh words for the legal team representing the company which wants to redevelop the Cafritz property. "I am not comfortable with what happened," said Mayor John Tabori during last night's University Park Town Council meeting. "I will probably never be comfortable with it." Drafty Documents This latest round in the ongoing Cafritz saga began two weeks ago, when University Park's town council members prepared to review a preliminary plan of subdivision up for consideration at a special session on Jan. 14. In the hours before that meeting, the Cafritz developers, Calvert Tract, LLC…
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Members held off on assessing the developer's preliminary plan after it was temporarily put on ice.
The College Park City Council tabled discussion of the Cafritz project at Tuesday's worksession after the developer announced that it would temporarily withdraw its preliminary plan of subdivision from consideration. Attorney Chip Reed told the council that he had been unable to get a required letter of support from the American Academy of Physics (ACP) ahead of Thursday's Prince George's County Planning Board hearing. ACP owns property where Calvert Tract, LLC plans to build a road bridge spanning the adjacent CSX tracks—one of many conditions agreed to between the developer and neighboring towns. In a letter sent to the towns of College Park, University Park, and Riverdale Park, ACP President Beth A. Cunningham said that studying the …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The developer was unable to secure approval to build a CSX crossing on property belonging to the American Center for Physics.
After receiving a strongly worded letter from the American Center for Physics (ACP), Calvert Tract, LLC has decided to temporarily withdraw its preliminary plan of subdivision (PPS) from consideration by the Prince George's County Planning Board. “We were working very diligently to try to get a letter from the American Center for Physics before the hearing date consistent with one of the conditions of approval. Unfortunately we will not be receiving that letter from ACP before the [Jan. 17] hearing date," said Chris Hatcher on behalf of Calvert Tract, LLC, the owners of the Cafritz property. At last week's meeting, the Riverdale Park Town Council raised several concerns about the plan, the placement and funding of the bridge among them…
The developer's proposal fails to meet several conditions for passage, a new report finds.
Staff for the Prince George's County Planning Board are advising members not to approve the current preliminary plan of subdivision for the Cafritz project, arguing that the proposal fails to meet several conditions required for passage. The Prince George's County District Council authorized the rezoning of the Cafritz property from residential use (R-55) to mixed use (MUTC) in June, allowing for development of the 37-acre parcel of land to begin. Thursday's Planning Board hearing, where the Cafritz team will seek the green light for its preliminary plan of subdivision (PPS), marks the next major hurdle for Calvert Tract, LLC in developing the property. But in a report dated Jan. 10, planning staff recommended "disapproval" of the Cafritz …
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Check out these instruction on how to become a person of record.
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission received phone calls stating that residents were confused about how to go on the record to comment on the Cafritz development preliminary plan. If you are currently a person of record (POR) in the zoning case for Cafritz, that doesn't mean you are automically a POR in the preliminary plan for the subdivision. Residents much register separately for each case, according to the M-NCPPC. You can register on the Prince George's County Planning website or mail in submitting your name, address, and application number (4-12004) to: The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Development Review Division 14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive County Administration Building, Fourth …
Really Not Here
9:17 pm on Tuesday, April 16, 2013
East Campus would be a much better spot for mixed use development and a grocery store than half way down a hill with not transit let a lone real east west routes. more ›