WASHINGTON (February 16, 2005) – The Smart Growth Alliance recognized two development proposals in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties for its quarterly recognition program. The proposals straddle two of the most historic and important corridors in the region: Rockville Pike and Route 1.
The SGA is a coalition of five regional organizations: the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Greater Washington Board of Trade, Coalition for Smarter Growth, Metropolitan Washington Builders’ Council and ULI Washington (a district council of the Urban Land Institute). These organizations, some of which have held opposing views on growth issues, formed the Alliance four years ago to research, identify and encourage land use, transportation and environmental policies and practices that support smart growth in the region.
The proposal in Prince George’s County is the first one recognized by the SGA jury within the County. Located in the city of Hyattsville along Route 1 and very near to the popular Franklin’s restaurant, Eakin/Yongentob (EYA) proposes to redevelop a twenty-acre vacant site with townhomes, condominiums, and ground-floor retail. The proposal would greatly improve retail opportunities for an area poorly served by retail and create a well-designed walkable neighborhood out of a currently forlorn auto-oriented strip.
“EYA believes in redeveloping communities,” said Robert Youngentob, President of EYA, “With the site currently made up of vacant former auto-dealerships, the redevelopment of this site will provide tremendous benefits for the city of Hyattsville, the greater Route 1 Corridor, Prince George’s County, and the region as a whole. Community support has been critical and we are very pleased to have the support of the Maryland Parks and Planning Commission, city of Hyattsville, Prince George’s County Executive and County Council, and several other civic and public institutions.” The location is also 2 miles away from both downtown Washington, D.C. and the University of Maryland, two of the region’s largest job centers.
The SGA jury also recognized the JBG Companies for their mixed-use development along Rockville Pike in Montgomery County. The site is within a block of the White Flint Metro station and currently consists of an aged motel and surface parking lot. This is the third JBG project to be recognized by the SGA. Designed by the Silver-Spring based design firm, Torti Gallas and Partners, the proposal, called White Flint Crossing, will be a mixed-use project with residential units over two levels of retail space and parking below ground.
“We can make Rockville Pike a more pleasant place to live and work. By taking advantage of the nearby Metro station and providing additional retail opportunities, the JBG Companies can create a neighborhood on the Pike where driving isn’t essential for every trip,” said Rod Lawrence with the JBG Companies. JBG will also incorporate green building techniques into the design to create a more environmentally friendly development. Perhaps most impressively, JBG has committed to providing the County required moderately-priced dwelling units on site.
Sam Black, chairman of the SGA jury and senior counsel at Squire, Sanders and Dempsey, LLP believes that both proposals, while different in appearance, uphold smart growth principles convincingly. “Both of these proposals would bring storefronts and pedestrian life to critical corridors in the region that currently serve mainly cars and not people.” Noting the particular importance of mixed-use development in the eastern half of the Washington region, “Prince George’s County has generally not seen the benefits of the region’s growth. Many of the region’s older suburbs like Hyattsville offer tremendous opportunities for redevelopment.” Mr. Black went on to note how the high-quality design of each proposal makes the scale of the development appropriate to the neighborhood.
The recent SGA-sponsored Reality Check initiative clearly shows broad agreement among a very diverse group of regional leaders on the need to incorporate future growth, where possible, in places where infrastructure currently exists, near transit, and especially encourage development on the eastern part of the region. Public support of these proposals would be a good first step toward meeting that broad vision.
The SGA recognition program is now in its third year and has recognized twenty-five proposals. Through the program, the Alliance highlights “smart growth” development proposals to raise awareness among public officials, citizen groups and developers of the long-term benefits of well-designed, pedestrian-oriented projects that incorporate a mix of uses and offer a variety of housing and transportation choices.
Information on the application process is available at www.sgalliance.org; or through e-mail:sga@uli.org
