[RP TownTalk] Fwd: [HOPE_in_Hyattsville] Cafritz Property

Tue Jun 12 19:03:21 UTC 2007

 I see a number of arguments that have been made, but no facts given. It makes me a little suspicious. Is it possible as it happened in Arlington that a rising tide lifted all of the boats? It's very reasonable to believe that there will be cross-pollination throughout the area, instead of just in one or another area. I could see the value of a study that joined all of the effected areas to come up with what will work in our five mile radius. What does anyone else think?

jc

-----Original Message-----
From: Dwight Holmes <dwightrholmes at gmail.com>
To: TownTalk <towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
Sent: Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:34 pm
Subject: [RP TownTalk] Fwd: [HOPE_in_Hyattsville] Cafritz Property

Cross-posted here, with Chris Curries' permission.  

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Curries <
the.curries at verizon.net>
Date: Jun 11, 2007 9:58 PM
Subject: RE: [HOPE_in_Hyattsville] Cafritz Property
To: HOPE_in_Hyattsville at yahoogroups.com

My views on urban planning were largely
formed as a child witnessing the growth of suburban Detroit.  It was a clinic on what *not* to do to create healthy, vibrant
communities.  One particular memory I have from my late teens was a
newspaper report on the rapid advance of commercial blight in Detroit's inner suburbs.  At that
time, experts said that the commercial dead zone was expanding outward from Detroit at the rate of
one mile per decade.  The primary reasons?  Unrestrictive zoning and the
seemingly inexhaustible supply of flat, buildable greenfields in southeastern Michigan.  There
was no incentive to redevelop existing retail/office districts when it was so
cheap, easy and profitable to build new ones.

That reminds me a little of the prevailing
conditions in the inner-Beltway Rte. 1 area.  Look first at what EYA is
trying to do.  They had to buy existing commercially-zoned land at the
premium price such sites command.  Then they had to raze existing structures
and do environmental abatement.  Then they had to create a development proposal
within the constraints of a detailed zoning master plan, with all of its
attendant expensive conditions.  Now they are trying to lure wary
retailers with incentives and somehow they also have to turn a profit. 
(The way they are doing that is with maximizing the number of housing units,
but that's another story.)

Then look at the Cafritz property.  Zero
cost basis for the land.  A rare greenfields tract in a developed area –
a clean site almost ready to build on.  The zoning is R-55 single family
detached residential, but the owners will apply to have it rezoned to fit
nicely whatever it is they want to do there.

Now it is easy to see what the Mayor means
about Cafritz having "competitive advantages" over Arts District
Hyattsville, Riverdale
 Park Town
 Center, or UTC.  And
why he – and others – are concerned about the potential adverse
impacts of creating new, cheap-to-develop commercial districts in an area where
the existing centers are struggling and vulnerable – particularly on Rte.
1.  The laws of economics indicate that our under-served area will attract
new retailers to serve the existing and emerging market.  But where we
will allow them will have very much to do with whether the final result is a
vibrant, sustainable community or another sad rerun of the failed development
patterns on Rte. 1 from time immemorial.  

The rumors are that Whole Foods wants a
location close to the University
 of Maryland.  That
doesn't surprise me.  Several years ago, when I learned Wegman's
Food Market was planning to enter the Washington
market, I called their site selection manager and talked up the (then) Lustine
tract.  Unsurprisingly, he told me that our income levels were too low and
the site not quite large enough (they wanted 18 full acres).  But he did
ask me how far the site was from the university campus, telling me that they
would relax the demographic requirements to get a site close to the school. 
He said that upscale grocers typically do better near college campuses.  

Whole Foods has a choice between the
Cafritz property and the East Campus site, which is contiguous to the campus
and in an existing commercial district.  The latter site is also better
situated with respect to income and educational attainment levels within a
three-mile radius.  The chief advantage of Cafritz would seem to be the
low cost of the development and therefore the more greatly discounted
prospective rents.  If I'm on the site selection team for Whole Foods,
I'm thinking this: Play Cafritz's low-ball offer against East
Campus to strengthen my negotiating position and get a better deal on the site
I really want.  

If that's the scenario, is Cafritz
the loser? Not necessarily.  Whole Foods is the lure that gains community
acceptance for a radical up-zoning of the parcel, which in turn allows for much
greater returns on other development.  Building stores, offices and condos
will make them more money than single-family homes.  (But rest assured
they would make good money either way.)

Therein lies my chief concern.  Right
now there is a very successful, economically productive single-family
residential district nearly surrounding the Cafritz property.  It's
not an urban residential district – it's a more suburban
model.  One that values lower density, less congestion, quiet and
serenity, low crime.  If you develop a high-density mixed-use center in
the middle of it – particularly one anchored by a big-box tenant –
you are going to permanently alter the character of that community.  There
will be significant impacts in terms of traffic, noise, crime, litter and light
pollution.  Impacts that are tolerable in a more urban setting –
such as Arts District Hyattsville – but much less so in that
community.  There is a danger that the surrounding neighborhoods might
begin to decline (even as other communities' commercial districts also
decline as a result of competition from the new commercial center).

Although one might argue that from
Hyattsville's parochial point of view, we shouldn't be too
concerned about maintaining the character of that community if new amenities
can be put there that will serve ours, I would respond that there is a
symbiotic relationship between the two now that can be damaged if everyone is
not careful.  Hyattsville is primarily a community of "starter
housing" – and is becoming ever more so with the influx of new
townhomes, condos and apartment housing.  I think we all know families who
have moved to University Park or College Heights as their families have grown. 
There is an increasing shortage of "move-up housing" here in
Hyattsville, which makes it all the more important for community stability
(for, as Margaret Morgan-Hubbard pointed out, all of our Rte. 1 communities
share a common thread) to have such options nearby.  In terms of the
overall housing mix, putting high-quality single-family-detached homes on the
Cafritz site will help restore balance to our market, while putting more
high-density attached or multifamily housing will make the imbalance worse than
it already is.  

And we should also not forget that the
prospective customers for new retail at UTC and Arts District Hyattsville (and
patrons of Renaissance Square's forthcoming YMCA) may come from new
homeowners in the Cafritz development, as customers for places like Franklin's
do now come from those neighborhoods north of East-West Highway.  

I think there are a number of good things
that are emerging from the community feedback process – like the Trolley
Trail, historical markers, retention of a tree buffer on Rte. 1, etc. 
They are all consistent with having a development with lower-density housing as
its primary component.  We should be careful, in my opinion, not to focus
on one retailer, nor should we view this development in isolation – away from
the context of the character of surrounding neighborhoods and from nearby
commercial centers.

Chris

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