DC Metrocentric

Last year University of Maryland officials unveiled a plan for redeveloping their College Park East Campus area along Route 1. Many DC area Universities have new development plans in the works, but this one is by far the largest.

Currently the East Campus area encompasses the university’s bus maintenance yard, facilities-management operations and several warehouses. The university wants to replace those facilities with a large-scale development containing office, retail and possibly a hotel.

Well now more details are starting to come together and the partnership between Rockville-based Foulger-Pratt and Argo Investment to develop the 38-acre mixed-use project is apparently ready to privately submit initial site layout plans to the University which will focus on street-facing retail, pedestrian and bicycle connections, and lots of public gathering space.

The interesting element that the project has to deal with is the uncertainty from the State and County over how public transportation will intersect with the area. 

With various proposals including light rail and the Purple Line extensions in various stages, it will be vital that the East Campus plan stays flexible enough to encorporate the additional public transport changes that are eventually coming to the area.