[RP TownTalk] Google alert dredges up some TownCenter history for me

[Dwight Holmes]

Not only is Google my friend, so is Google Alerts. I have a bunch of
Google Alerts ("riverdale park town center," "riverdale md raytheon,"
etc.) that give me links to things that Google finds on the web, in
blogs, news feeds, etc.

BTW, there's a steady stream of job ads for Raytheon, not only in
"Riverdale" (not Park) but all over the Metro area. All the jobs here
seem to be IT type things, computer security, meteorology, etc.

But this Google Alert on "Riverdale Park Jemal" just came in -- it
must have recently gone through TownTalk archives. This thread was
from May 2006 -- before I was a resident of Riverdale Park or a
subscriber to TownTalk.

Thanks to Sarah and Marc for the history.

[RP TownTalk] The Jemal Approach
Marc Molino mmolino54 at hotmail.com
Fri May 26 12:05:34 UTC 2006

    * Previous message: [RP TownTalk] Interesting Use of Eminent Domain
    * Next message: [RP TownTalk] Interesting Use of Eminent Domain
    * Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

Seemingly surrounded by other Douglas Development properties every where I
travel, it seems to me that Douglas Jemal's approach is not so much to
simply leave buildings empty, but to sit on them until he gets exactly the
tenants/profit he wants. And judging by some of his downtown D.C. projects,
he seems content to sit and wait for up to a decade or more. Not exactly
uplifting news, but his projects have been successful (which is probably why
the town chose him in the first place). He owns a ridiculous amount of
property right now (currently listing 107 properties available for lease).
In Riverdale alone, he trying to lease the following properties:

6202-6212 Rhode Island Ave  Riverdale Town Center  Riverdale MD
6200 Baltimore Ave  Citizens Bank Bldg & Annex  Riverdale MD
6715 Kenilworth Ave  A.B.S.S. Bldg  Riverdale MD
6801 Kenilworth Ave  Berkshire Bldg  Riverdale MD
6811 Kenilworth Ave  Calvert Bldg  Riverdale MD
5711 Sarvis Ave  Crestwood Bldg  Riverdale MD

Does looking at this in view of all his Riverdale holdings (i.e., number of
properties held and years vacant) do anything for our cause?

-Marc (4801 Queensbury)

Note: All info gathered from http://douglasdevelopment.com/

From: Alan Thompson & Sarah Wayland <twacks at his.com>
To: TownTalk <TownTalk at riverdale-park.org>
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Interesting Use of Eminent Domain
Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 21:59:49 -0400

On May 25, 2006, at 4:34 PM, Regina Kreger wrote:

 > I find it very interesting -- less for the condos, more for the
 > Douglas Development properties.

The irony, oh the irony!

The town actually acquired the Jemal properties by eminent domain under
Ann Ferguson's mayorship a number of years ago. The town then sponsored
a town center visioning process, chaired by the very adept Ann Marie
Larson. During this process, numerous town residents met over a period
of several months and created a vision of what they wanted town center
to look like. The Town (at this point now under mayor Michael Herman)
put the properties out for bid, and Mr. Jemal submitted a proposal
which clearly created just what the citizens envisioned. The Town sold
the properties to Mr. Jemal, and he renovated the buildings per his
proposal, bought out other neighboring buildings and.... left them
empty. No one thought to put a clause in the contract that the
buildings had to be occupied by viable businesses within some period of
time, with a penalty clause (and why would they? No one knew at that
time that Jemal would prefer to leave a building empty than to deal
with the hassle of actual tenants.)

Anyway, my understanding of eminent domain laws in Maryland is that the
town has to prove that the buildings are neglected *and* unimproved for
some period of time (5 years??) before they can start the process. I
know there are people on this list who can correct me if I'm wrong. :-)

<very deep sigh>

-Sarah