Monday, April 30, 2012
What would you like to see fill the former dirt shop and cycle accessory store?
Along U.S. Route 1, near Hollywood Road, sits this squat brick building with a bright, purple door. According to city information, this former dirt shop and cycle accessory store, located at 9592 Baltimore Ave., has been vacant since 2009. It's currently for sale at $669,000. The city hopes to use some of a $75,000 state Community Legacy grant to support marketing costs to sell the property, though it's not as lucky as some other vacant College Park buildings that will be demolished with the grant. The .2-acre space is zoned for Mixed-Use-Infill, which means that whatever is developed there must promote smart growth principles, encourage efficient use of land, public facilities and area services. A search on the state's Department of …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Several neighbors grew concerned this week when heavy machinery was deployed at the site.
A team of workers boring soil on the Cafritz property raised alarm early this week among nearby residents, some of whom were concerned that the developer had jumped the gun on its mixed-use blueprint for the site. Shortly before noon on Tuesday, several workmen could be seen clearing brush with a chainsaw and maneuvering a large piece of drilling equipment around the densely-wooded section of Riverdale Park. Cafritz attorney Chip Reed first said he was unaware of any heavy machinery on the scene, but after looking into the matter, Reed called back to report that the developer's geotechnical team was indeed conducting soil borings. "It's mainly to understand the consistency of the soil," Reed said. Read the full story on Riverdale Park-…
Friday, April 13, 2012
The hearing was gaveled to order again on Friday before immediately going into recess.
The Prince George's County District Council resumed its hearing of the Cafritz rezoning application Friday morning before immediately recessing to Monday, April 30 at 10 a.m. The short-lived meeting followed a five-hour session on Wednesday marked by procedural objections and confusion over the hearing format. Few in the audience were initially aware that the District Council process would be quasi-judicial, meaning it would include sworn testimony, cross-examination, and other evidentiary constraints. After many members of the public declared that they had not come ready to testify under oath, Chair Andrea Harrison decided to continue the hearing to a later point, giving residents more time to prepare. Because the council had already …
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
With the District Council set to review the hotly-debated development Wednesday, Patch runs down the 'consensus conditions' and how they came to be.
Editor's note: The District Council's hearing on the Cafritz property is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 10 a.m. Check back with Patch throughout the day for the latest news out of Upper Marlboro. Back in December, as many were busy preparing for the holidays, local and county officials were hard at work crafting a list of conditions for the proposed Cafritz development. Now, those same conditions—along with the rest of the project—will face a key test as the Cafritz rezoning plan comes before the District Council on Wednesday. Composed of the members of the Prince George's County Council, the body will have the final legislative word on the developer's application. Working up to today's hearing, in meeting after meeting, lawmakers, civil …
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The granite pillar had stood on the grounds of the old McAlpine Mansion since the mid-19th century.
For over 150 years, the half-ton boundary marker sat lodged in the earth of what is now known as the Cafritz property, situated on the north end of present-day Riverdale Park. Hewn out of granite and inscribed with an "R," the weathered monolith once marked a 203-acre subdivision of the Riversdale Estate. As the site was transformed over the decades—from the private grounds of McAlpine Mansion to the Longfellow School for Boys to housing for ERCO factory workers during World War II and returning GIs in the postwar era—the marker stood fast, dutifully marking a long-forgotten line. On Friday, six men, a metal sled, and a Ford F-350 pickup finally uprooted the stone and transported it to its new—or rather, old—home: Riversdale House Museum…
Friday, April 6, 2012
Council will likely vote next week on a resolution that would form a city-appointed committee, charged with growing and diversifying the market, and emphasizing locally grown produce.
The College Park City Council will likely vote next week on a resolution that would form a committee to manage and grow the downtown farmers’ market. Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich (Dist. 3) said at Wednesday’s work session with mayor and council that she and her constituents were interested in growing the downtown market and diversifying the products and produce sold there. They’d also like to see a greater emphasis on locally grown produce, she said. Brad Miller of Miller Farms, in Clinton, who currently coordinates the market, said he supports the idea of a city-appointed market committee. “Whatever we can do to make this market as good as it can be is a good idea,” he said at Wednesday’s meeting. The downtown market began in 2011, …
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Calvert Hills resident Joseph Grikis calls on the District Council to reject the developer's rezoning proposal.
The proposed rezoning of the Cafritz property would cause "immense and wide-ranging" harm to the surrounding community and should be rejected by county lawmakers, Calvert Hills resident Joseph Grikis writes in Thursday's issue of The Gazette. Calling the development "highly debatable," Grikis argues that the Cafritz project lacks the attention to smart growth and economic development seen in the University of Maryland's nearby East Campus development. Under the Cafritz plan, the developer's 37-acre parcel on the north end of Riverdale Park would be rezoned from single-family detached residential (R-55) to mixed-use town center (M-UTC), easing the way for the construction of more than 900 units of housing, a 35,000-square foot Whole Foods, …
Sunday, April 1, 2012
What business would you like to see fill the quaint Little Tavern on Baltimore Avenue?
What would you like to see fill the quaint, green and white—and vacant—Little Tavern on Baltimore Avenue? Patch isn't the first to pose the question. It originated on Shop College Park's Facebook page, which is operated by the city's economic development staff. The suggestions thus far: independent coffee shop with espresso bar, extension of the College Park Diner, donut house, Waffle House, College Park information center and gift shop. The tiny building was constructed in the 1940s and first served as a burger joint, but most recently was inhabited by Curry Express, Patch reported in October 2010. For a time that fall, Cherry Street Grill served food from a trailer in the parking lot from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m., Patch also reported. …
Monday, March 19, 2012
View the parts of East Campus that will be built as part of phase 1 and phase 2 in the development.
Construction should begin for the East Campus development by this time next year, according to a top official at the Universtiy of Maryland. University of Maryland's Vice President for Administrative Affairs and Chief Financial Officer Robert Specter announced the news at Thursday's real estate roundtable at the Clarion Inn. The project, which aims to create a sort of town center area with graduate student housing, restaurants, shops and a hotel, has been a long time coming. After a plan to develop the entire 38 acres in one shot fell through in 2009, the university has taken a phased approach. View the renderings above to see what part of the parcel, located at the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and Paint Branch Parkway, will be developed …
University and city officials strive to make College Park a top college town by 2020, ranking among the likes of Lawrence, KS and Ames, IA.
In 2010, the American Institute for Economic Research compiled a list of the top 10 college towns in the United States. Factors included location, quality of life and research opportunities, all things the organization says lead to the picture-perfect feel of a traditional college town. College Park didn’t make the cut. Not only excluded by AIER, College Park didn’t make recent lists of top college towns by two other influential rankings, the Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. Critics of College Park say the city simply does not cater to the more than 30,000 students at the University of Maryland, who make up a sizable portion of College Park’s population. “College Park just seems sort of run-down outside the campus boundaries…
Shannon Hoffman
11:12 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
No one has any suggestions for this location? What new joints do you want to see in this part of College Park? I know there are lots of good ideas out there! Let's hear them! more ›