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:<br>
<br><div id="print_content"><div class="timestamp">Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010</div></div> <div id="print_content2"><h2>Restaurants hang on for eastern arts district project</h2> <h3>Developers want changes to residences before retail goes up</h3>
</div> <div class="byline">by Elahe Izadi | Staff Writer</div><br><p>
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.</p><p>
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.</p><p>
"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."</p><p>
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.</p><p>
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.</p><p>
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.</p><p>
"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."</p><p>
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.</p><p>
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.</p><p>
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.</p><p>
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.<br>
</p><br>