Town Center Developer Chosen, Town Also Receives $300,000
Legacy Grant by Chris Davis
At two meetings in late December, members of the Town
Center Redevelopment Committee and the Mayor and Council
heard presentations from two potential developers at
the site: All-Phase Real Estate and Douglas Development
Corporation. Those present at the meetings on December
12 and 19 posed many tough questions of the developers
and studied (very) preliminary architectural plans.
Using criteria such as strength of the presentation,
proposed commercial uses, business philosophy, and experience
working with small historic retail centers, the committee
recommended to the Mayor and Council that the town partner
with Douglas Development. Douglas Jemal, who already
owns highly visible commercial properties in Riverdale
Park on Route 1 (the former Citizen's Bank Building)
and on our border on Kenilworth Avenue (the office park
near Madison Hill), recently developed the historic
buildings in Chinatown around the MCI Center in Washington,
DC.
At the January 7 Legislative Meeting, the Riverdale
Park Town Council voted 4 to 0 to accept the committee's
recommendation. The town's next steps are primarily
legal ones, including deciding financial arrangements
and establishing covenants governing acceptable uses
for the properties. A committee appointed by the Mayor
and Council made up of the Town Administrator, two councilmembers,
and four residents will work with the firm's architect
to finalize the design of the buildings. The Architecture
and Design Subcommittee's earlier report to the Council
and a 1919 photograph will be used as starting points
for that phase of the project.
Also in December the Town of Riverdale Park received
a $300,000 Legacy Grant from the State of Maryland for
redevelopment of the Town Center. We are grateful to
Town Administrator Patrick J. Prangley, whose work on
the grant application helped garner us such generous
funding. The average award throughout the state was
$50,000.
Watch for more updates on the Town Center throughout
the year.
Chris Davis, Ward 4 Councilmember and Economic Development Committee Chair, is Cochair of the Town Center Redevelopment Committee.
