[RP TownTalk] EYA II (East side of US 1) update

[Dwight Holmes]

If you're not on the Hyattsville HOPE list, where there's been a lively
discussion of these issues, you may not be aware that the EYA develops have
come to the Hyattsville City Council with a request to change the specs and
design in order to make phase II (the east side of the road, where Busboys &
Poets, Tara Thai and maybe Yes Organic Market, in addition to residential
units would be).  Here's an article in the Gazette:

Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010
Restaurants hang on for eastern arts district project Developers want
changes to residences before retail goes up
by Elahe Izadi | Staff Writer

The long-awaited eastern portion of Arts District Hyattsville, where
restaurants Busboys and Poets and Tara Thai have signed leases, is closer to
becoming a reality, but developers want changes to the residential portion
before retail can go up.

Bethesda-based developers EYA said the economic environment is making the
project more and more difficult to complete and they need to get approval on
changing the number and kinds of residences and switching to less expensive
building materials in order to make the project more cost-efficient and
easier to finance.

"We cannot develop the retail on the east side in a vacuum," Vice President
of Development Aakash Thakkar said during a Jan. 18 Hyattsville City Council
meeting. "Building out the rest of the east side is a condition the rest of
the financers and frankly, we, ourselves, have placed."

Busboys and Poets, a restaurant and café that also serves as a community
space, has locations in both Washington, D.C., and Virginia. The Hyattsville
store would be its first in Maryland and one that developers say would make
Hyattsville a destination in the area.

Although EYA developers spoke before the City Council, ultimately the
approval of the county planning board is needed in order to make changes on
approved detailed site plan. They're scheduled to appear before the board
Feb. 25.

EYA wants to add a 198-unit building, most likely an apartment complex which
could become a condominium, and make changes to the number, size and
materials used on the townhomes.

"Yes, it's different to a degree, but in the overall scheme of things, our
goal was to put forward something that is financeable," Thakkar told the
council. "We believe it's both financeable, but as importantly, we do
believe [the building materials] to be of the highest quality and something
you can be proud of."

EYA wants to change the dimensions of some of the townhomes, get rid of a
live-work unit and add HardyPanel siding to the mix of townhome building
materials, EYA Vice President of Architecture Gregory Shron said.

The townhomes on the west side were built primarily with brick and sheet
metal, and the changes to building materials and sizes could save EYA
$10,000 to $15,000 on each unit, although that won't lower the costs of the
homes for buyers, keeping them in the high $300's, Thakkar said.

EYA is currently looking to sign more leases on the east side, and
businesses — such as Yes! Organic Market, which currently only has stores in
Washington, D.C. — have expressed interest, Thakkar said.

If everything goes EYA's way, construction can begin on retail space in
March and retailers can potentially move in as soon as October, Shron said,
and construction on townhomes could begin in November.
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