[RP TownTalk] Cut-throughs/development

[Jonathan W. Ebbeler]

-There is no guarantee that the project will get 995 units.  An adequate
public facilities study has not been performed.  I suspect that the APF will
allow for it based upon additional infrastructure improvements and offsets
etc. but until it is performed we will not know the true limit.  The
agreement is for a maximum of 995 so that is the legally guaranteed ceiling
of development but it could be well south of that number as well.

 

-The project is phased and there was little indication or appetite for full
build-out by the developer.  Do I think that eventually they will build it
out, sure - but that could happen in 30 years, or never.  The only thing
they have committed to is the first phase of retail including the Whole
Foods and potentially (but no solid commitment to) 120 townhomes.  This is
very similar to UTC in that if you look at full build-out vs. what is there
today it is very different.  In the future that site also will look vastly
different when the additional residential and commercial/retail components
are built.  One of the core failings that project suffered was its phasing
and creating an interiorly-isolated Phase I.  In this discussion much of the
negotiation was centered around what they committed to for Phase I.  It is
the only thing that there is a solid agreement to build.  The trigger for
the bridge is driven by the Phase I retail trigger.  The developer wanted
the bridge and other triggers driven by the residential build-out which
indicates the 'shoulda/woulda/coulda' bait and switch that is normally
employed.  We stuck to our guns on this and tied the trigger to the retail.

 

-2/3 of the traffic as reported by EVERY traffic study performed on the site
is driven by the retail NOT the residential (even at full build-out)

 

-2040 Projected traffic numbers WITHOUT any development are within 10% of
2040 traffic numbers with full build-out

 

-Prince George's County is currently redistricting schools.  While the plans
are not finalized Riverdale Elementary will likely not be this area's school
district nor any part of town west of the RR tracks.  

 

-Letters of support and agreement for the bridge from both UMD and CSX were
proffered during the District Council Evidentiary Hearing

 

-Additional covenants on the land have been placed by Whole Foods
solidifying the signed lease between WF and the Cafritz owners.  

 

-Financing is TBD as the Adequate Public Facilities Study could increase the
offsets they are required to contribute to mitigate traffic or impacts to
communities .  The current direction we are exploring is to finance it
through a TIF which is a geographically delineated area limited to
residential and retail tax receipts on the Cafritz property.  It works
fundamentally like this:  the future tax receipts of the improved property
will be $X dollars, to finance our share of a current project - i.e. the
bridge we give up a percentage of that and only collect 8/10 of X.  So if
the future benefit to the town is say 2 million a year in tax receipts we
would give up a percentage of it - say 10% of that and only collect 1.8mil.
The numbers are for demonstrative purposes only - there are legal limits on
the percentage of the TIF.

 

-The property will have multiple points of access on all 4 sides servicing
multi-modal transportation options including the trolley trail (running from
EYA up to College Park).  Some of these are pedestrian/bike access only,
some like Route 1 are more auto-centric (cars and buses), some like the CSX
crossing will be both pedestrian and auto-centric.  Additionally a
privately-funded shuttle will be running with a 15-minute headway connecting
the site to the CP and PG metro stations as well as the RP Marc/Town Center
stop.

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