[RP TownTalk] Fwd: [HOPE_in_Hyattsville] Cafritz Property

Tue Jun 12 19:32:21 UTC 2007

Jim, I don't have a degree in urban planning or anything related to it
-- just a schoolteacher by training, what do I know? ;-) -- but it
would seem to me that the critical mass factor outweighs the
between-town-competition factor. what do i mean by that? i used to
live in hyattsville, moved in there about a year before Franklin's
opened its restaurant...  the word was that the banks didn't want to
touch their loan proposal because of the area.  presumably, this was
not due solely to redlining based on income or education levels, but
to the fact that there weren't any lively businesses in the area. they
didn't see people coming there to shop or eat, therefore they assumed
no one would come there to shop or eat.  (Someday there should be a
monument to Mike and Debbie Franklin -- maybe somewhere along a
reconfigured, pedestrian-friendly Route 1.  "Build it and they will
come."  Kevin Costner could help dedicate it.)

Seems to me that the more good retail we have, the more will come.
With Franklin's established, EYA opening up, and and the development
at University Town Center, now suddenly others too will come.
Whatever goes in on the Cafritz property, assuming its good attractive
retail and or restaurants and not more nail parlors and hair salons,
will add to this critical mass and, along with what's happening at
EYA, help fill in the continuing development along Route 1 and, sooner
or later, our own Town Center.

I would think too that a smart, attractive (relatively expensive) high
density residential component at Cafritz or wherever would be a plus,
not a minus in this regard.  The more "urban" in nature these new
developments, the more necessarily pedestrian-oriented they will be,
and that, along with the fact of increased population, will, I would
think, make our community that much more attractive to investors and
entrepreneurs.

my $.02.

On 6/12/07, jcolema3 at aim.com <jcolema3 at aim.com> wrote:
>
>  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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-- 
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http://rpcoffeehouse.blogspot.com/
~~
Map of Riverdale Park MD Trolley Hiker-Biker Trail and Cafritz Property
http://tinyurl.com/2wsfql
~~
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