Development
33-story "iconic building" proposed for Hyattsville
While LifeSci Village, Percontee's proposed community of homes, shops and research facilities in Calverton, waits for Montgomery County's approval, they are turning to Hyattsville, where they've envisioned one of the most ambitious urban redevelopment projects in the region.
Rendering of Belcrest Plaza courtesy of Percontee.
The existing Belcrest Plaza is a 1960's-era garden apartment community built by the Gudelsky family. Percontee seeks to redevelop most of the 783-unit complex, behind the Mall at Prince George's on Belcrest Road, into an urban neighborhood comparable to Reston Town Center or Bethesda Row.
The area around the Prince George's Plaza metro station, has become a nationally-recognized example of Smart Growth. A case study of the adjacent University Town Center, a redeveloped office park, appears in the recently-published book Retrofitting Suburbia. Two luxury apartment complexes flank Belcrest Plaza. Across East-West Highway, a new hotel and an office tower are planned atop the Metro station.
At build-out, Belcrest Plaza's thirty-five acres would have 2,750 townhomes and apartments, 200,000 square feet of office space, 55,000 square feet of retail, and space for a library and recreation center. Toledo Terrace and Toledo Road would become treed boulevards lined with buildings from five to seventeen stories, while a thirty-three story "iconic building" would sit at the corner of Belcrest Road and Toledo Road. "We want something . . . to send the signal that this is a vibrant area," says Genn of the tower, which like the rest of the complex was designed by the Vienna-based Lessard Group. "The reason is to make a signature and a statement."
Left: Aerial view of apartment buildings in the redeveloped Belcrest Plaza.
Right: site plan of the redeveloped Belcrest Plaza. Images courtesy of Percontee.
While nearby garden apartment complexes are just renovating buildings, Percontee seeks to do tabula rasa, clearing the site and starting over. The redevelopment would happen in phases, starting closest to the new Post Park apartments on East-West Highway and moving east. In May, Genn told the Prince George's Sentinel that it was "less cost effective to make repairs" than to build new. "We don't feel it is the most responsible way to move forward by retrofitting ... rather than by changing what is there."
While community support for LifeSci Village is high, neighbors of Belcrest Plaza are less enthused. Current apartment tenants seem ambivalent about redevelopment. "It doesn't come as a surprise," one tenant told The Sentinel in May. "The owners and management have to stay up to date to compete." At a meeting in August, residents from neighboring University Park complained about everything from pollution to the potential for gentrification. Current residents will be able to move to buildings on Toledo Place that will not be redeveloped. "We want to minimize dislocation as much as possible," says Genn.
While Lambert says there will be "some provisions" for affordable housing, Prince George's County has no requirements for how many units must be built at Belcrest Plaza. Percontee claims that the new community, with nearly four times as many homes as the original, could have fewer school-aged children because of its drastically different demographic make-up.
Left: high-rise apartments and a public green at Belcrest Plaza.
Right: mid-rise apartments along Toledo Terrace. Images courtesy of Percontee.
There was also some skepticism about the success of previous upscale development in Hyattsville. University Town Center has had difficulty filling its retail space and selling apartments; a mile away, the Arts District Hyattsville development (which JUTP visited in 2007) has stalled due to the recession.
Despite its large size, Belcrest Plaza is racing towards completion. Percontee will submit a full site plan for approval by Prince George's County next spring, with construction to begin as early as 2012. Full build-out should take "ten to twelve years," Genn says. "A lot of people have a general resistance to change," responds Genn. "We believe big in Hyattsville and its potential. We do think it can be like a Bethesda Row or some of the great exciting places to be in the DC area. We see it as helping to stimulate more investment in the area."
For more images, check out this photoset on Flickr.
 | Dan Reed writes about planning issues in eastern Montgomery County and is interested in how people, especially young people, experience the urban realm. He grew up in Silver Spring and earned a double degree in Architecture and English at the University of Maryland. Dan is currently studying city planning at the University of Pennsylvania and lives in West Philadelphia. Since 2006, Dan has written his own blog, Just Up the Pike, about eastern Montgomery County.    |
Comments
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by SOS Redline on Dec 14, 2009 2:19 pm
Very hard for me to believe that anyone would finance a project of this scale in Hyattsville. There is absolutely no precedent for something so massive there.
by David Daddio on Dec 14, 2009 2:37 pm
"Mayor Tabori said that there is another meeting tomorrow at 1pm, with involvement from the Storm Water Management group. Mayor Tabori said the County planning staff are issuing a number of referral memos about concerns around the Belcrest Plaza proposal. Once significant County concern is that the Belcrest developer wants to activate Toledo Road as a public road, which is currently a private road owned by Prince GeorgeÂ’s Plaza. This activation requires a 70-foot right of way. There has been no public statement by the mall owner in support of this project, or in terms of granting public rights to their private road.
In a recent meeting, during discussions of roads, the Hyattsville representative expressed concerns and objections on behalf of the Mayor of Hyattsville. The developer has not considered parking or pedestrian crossings. Mayor Tabori said there is a discussion in Hyattsville about annexing Belcrest Plaza. This is a concern to University Park, as Hyattsville did not ramp up police and fire protection services for the University Town Center development.
Ms. Mallino expressed her concerns and frustrations with the Belcrest development team. Mayor Tabori noted that the site will go from 70% to 100% impervious surface coverage, with 10% of the area replanted with potted trees. Potted trees are only half as effective as trees in undisturbed soils, so the pervious coverage would effectively be 5%. The question remains about drainage and runoff, as Wells Run is at or beyond capacity now during major storms."
by Jon on Dec 14, 2009 2:38 pm
by Marian Berry on Dec 14, 2009 2:47 pm
I think what the 30 story high-rise speaks to is the over-priced dollar amounts we attribute to pieces of property...although probably parking requirements as well. You talk to area developers who own, say, a large tract shopping center...and even if it is not within walking distance of METRO at all, they will say they need to build higher than 5 stories in order for the construction to be profitable for them.
The most desirable areas to live in this region...Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, Old Town, Georgetown...this mid-rise scale, at least according to developers, could, evidentially, not be built profitably today...or so they say.
Thoughts?
by stevek_fairfax on Dec 14, 2009 3:01 pm
by Thayer-D on Dec 14, 2009 3:10 pm
I understand what you're saying, and I'd agree that the Prince George's Plaza area isn't the premier TOD regionally. It certainly doesn't compare to Bethesda or Clarendon in terms of urban design or walkability. But the University Town Center was featured in Retrofitting Suburbia (written by professors in New York and Georgia) as one of the first redevelopments of a suburban office park. (I can't think of another example like it around here.) So while it's not perfect, this area has gained some notoriety.
by dan reed on Dec 14, 2009 3:18 pm
by mark on Dec 14, 2009 3:51 pm
by David Daddio on Dec 14, 2009 3:57 pm
by NikolasM on Dec 14, 2009 4:43 pm
by Ben on Dec 14, 2009 5:11 pm
by Jon on Dec 14, 2009 5:16 pm
And when the mall is closed? Add a 15 minute detour around the windowless mall.
by Eric F. on Dec 14, 2009 6:23 pm
by Jon on Dec 14, 2009 6:37 pm
One potential downside to this development is the fact that they're leaving some of the old garden style complexes in the 'back yard'. While an important source of lower priced housing, these certainly won't encourage late night walking in this area.
The new "luxury" Post Park apartments at the intersection of East West and Toledo Terrace recently opened and are comparable with newer developments in Bethesda or Arlington. The parking lot near the rental office looks full every day. If this complex turns out as successful as it appears, I hope we see additional building nearby soon (West Hyattsville Metro please?).
by Scott on Dec 14, 2009 6:58 pm
Don't forget the elevator that is never working which causes people with strollers to carry them up the stairs or people in wheelchairs to go to the end of the block.
That bridge needs to be redesigned asap would it be so hard to build ramps instead of the stairs; they could get rid of the damn fountain and start a ramp there going up to the bridge and one going across it in a T shape and do the same thing on the other side of the street it would be more useful to the people than the fountain which seems to shoot water off the sides of it.
by kk on Dec 14, 2009 7:11 pm
Take the roof off that mall and build on those parking lots. A super block full of parking does not make a walkable area. And while we're at it, East-West Highway needs to be boulevardized. There is no reason to have a hideous pedestrian bridge. Build a series of crosswalks and get rid of that obnoxious fence in the median. The other super blocks in that area need to be replaced with a discernible street grid with more buildings fronting the streets.
Synergy will really take hold when the PG Plaza area grows into the West Hyattsville area. Ideally, the city could put in a circulator trolley connecting those two areas with the Arts District and the Riverdale MARC station. But that's some wishful thinking.
And once again, I am very concerned that PG wants to tear out existing affordable housing and replace it with more expensive housing, effectively getting rid of the existing residents instead of incorporating them into the new development.
by Dave Murphy on Dec 14, 2009 9:10 pm
Re: What does DC have to do with PG County getting the same type of Development as Northern Virginia???
by Eric on Dec 15, 2009 2:26 am
by Eric on Dec 15, 2009 2:34 am
by CW on Dec 15, 2009 10:25 am
If this thing is going to be built it is much better to put it on a metro stop instead of in Calverton miles from any metro. Calverton is sprawlsville. I know. I'm here now. There is so much potential in Hyattsville with both metro stops and Rhode Island Ave on the other side.
by Bianchi on Dec 15, 2009 10:28 am
by NikolasM on Dec 15, 2009 10:37 am
by jmo on Dec 15, 2009 3:21 pm
If this thing is going to be built it is much better to put it on a metro stop instead of in Calverton miles from any metro. Calverton is sprawlsville. I know. I'm here now. There is so much potential in Hyattsville with both metro stops and Rhode Island Ave on the other side.
NikolasM Quote: Foil hat indeed! These buildings will not be as successful as they could be if they are forced to look out over an outdated mall and its giant parking lot. That would be a soul-sucking view.
RE: It doesn't matter how you spin it, being against this project is another way of saying that you don't support Upscale Modern Development in PG County because it would rival Northern Virginia's Upscale Developments. Calverton is no more of a "Sprawl" than Springfield, Fairfax, Reston, Alexandria, and Tysons Corner. It is far worst to deny Tall Office Towers and Dense Retail Malls from being built in PG County than to allow PG County to continue down the spiral of Abandonment with low scale Industrial like Development while Northern Virginia continues to Build more Glass Office Towers and Expand their Retail Shopping Malls........
by Eric on Dec 17, 2009 12:47 am
And what the hell do people in University Park (a 100% single family residentail enclave) think they are doing? Do they want to continue to drive to other places for their needs? Its going to be right next door!
by DR on Dec 18, 2009 3:43 pm
*environmental concerns
*traffic concerns
*school overcrowding
Convenient shopping is nice, but not everyone's #1 priority.
by Jon on Dec 18, 2009 4:02 pm
by Jeremy on Jan 3, 2010 4:56 pm
by Jon on Jan 4, 2010 4:45 pm
by Cody Akers on Jan 12, 2010 12:06 am
You are entitled to your suspicions, but UP residents express their concerns through their elected representatives, who are th source of the quote above about the standards that are violated.
by Jon on Jan 12, 2010 2:56 pm
It doesn't matter that it "violates both the Park & Planning standards and the Transit District Overlay Zone (TDOZ) requirements." Those are just bureaucratic guidelines. The development will be beautiful. And after all, haven't we all had our fill of height restriction in DC?
Local retail and office space will be more desirable if this project were to move forward. Additionally, the permanent residents and stakeholders in this community have everything to gain from its fruition.
by John Smith on Apr 14, 2010 6:26 pm
Yes, the current apartments are pieces of crap, but that doesn't mean that whatever replaces it is OK. It doesn't mean that the local government should just roll over and let the developer screw up the road network and the Anacostia River tributaries. If the council wouldn't just give developers whatever they want, maybe we could end up with a beautiful development that fit in well with the surrounding community. "Do whatever the developers want" isn't a good recipe for that.
by Jon on Apr 15, 2010 10:17 am
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