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Anderson Honda Site Development Update, 2/26/10:
from Sharon Guida, chair, CVCA Land Use Committee,
By now, many of you have probably read in the newspapers that additional information regarding the proposed redevelopment of the Anderson site was presented by the developer at a February 23rd meeting of the project's working group which includes three representatives of the CVCA. The second iteration of schematic drawings provided by the Developer will be posted to the CVCA website shortly. These drawings, while substantially similar to the first iteration shown at the CVCA's December 2nd, 2009 General Membership Meeting, include the following changes which should be highlighted:
- The number of residences has been increased from approximately 50 to 90 (dependent on the unit mix)
- In order to accommodate circulation on the site, the church building on 24th Street cannot be retained in its current location. However, the development team proposes to reconstruct one wall reusing the historic materials as part of the garden center
- A one-story retail building is proposed along Huntington Avenue that would be accessible both from the street and the parking lot, shielding the view of parking from Huntington, activating the street frontage and providing commercial space that is an opportunity for small businesses
- The "medium box" retail and parking on east block of development site have been reconfigured such that structured parking no longer fronts on 24th and Maryland, but in order to accommodate parking above the "medium box" stores a large exposed vehicular ramp is proposed along the Howard Street frontage
- The loading dock on east block along 24th Street has been enclosed and window articulations added
The developer also provided additional information regarding the grocery tenant proposed above the Lowe's home improvement store, which has now been named as a 96,000sf Wal-Mart Superstore. While the developer had attempted to retain a grocery tenant, they were unable to do so, but they believe that a smaller scale Wal-Mart Superstore will be able to meet the immediate need for a grocery store.
Please be aware that there continue to be a number of opportunities for community input on the proposed development. The CVCA Land Use Committee has designated three representatives to the project working group (which includes Old Goucher, Charles Village, and Greater Remington), Matthew Compton, Alexandra Hoffman, and Sandy Sparks, who are working to channel community input directly to the development team.
They continue to coordinate with the representatives from other community associations to determine a common strategy for responding to this new proposal, with the entire range of options to be explored. Matthew, Alex and Sandy will report to the CVCA Land Use Committee on Tuesday, March 2 with a full report and recommendation to the Board forthcoming shortly thereafter. A full report will be made to the membership once a recommendation to the Board has been made.
The proposed development requires the introduction of legislation to City Council in the form of a Planned Unit Development ("PUD") which must be approved before the development can proceed. We have had a preliminary meeting with Councilwoman Belinda Conaway, who is expected to be the one who would introduce any such legislation, and continue to keep her abreast of our community's concerns. The legislative process affords the community many opportunities to voice their opinion and positively impact the development, so please make sure you have weighed in on this significant development proposal.
Please send your comments and concerns to Matthew Compton at: compton.m@gmail.com
All of your comments and concerns will be carefully considered by the Land Use Committee before any recommendations to the Board are made.
Anderson Honda Site Development Update, 1/2010:
from Sharon Guida, chair, CVCA Land Use Committee,
The Charles Village Civic Association is actively participating in the development review process for the Anderson Redevelopment Project. Since early December 2009, representatives of the Charles Village Civic Association Land Use Committee, Matthew Compton, Alexandra Hoffman, and Sandy Sparks, have attended several meetings held by the Developer, reviewed the Developer's initial plans, and attended several meetings held by various City agencies. Additionally, the Committee's activities have included the following:
Collecting and reviewing suggestions, comments, and concerns about the project from residents and local businesses,
Meeting with the Land Use Committees of the Greater Remington Improvement Association and the Old Goucher Community Association, and with Councilwoman Belinda Conaway, to coordinate the process for communicating with the Developer and clarify the legislative process, and
Reviewing information about the Developer's past urban development commercial projects in other states and the District of Columbia and Lowe's corporate policies and history in other urban locations.
In mid-January 2010, the Committee submitted an initial list of suggestions to the Developer for inclusion in its second draft of development plans, which are expected to be completed soon. When the second draft of the plans are completed, the Developer will meet with The Committee and representatives from the other impacted neighborhoods to review the revised plans. At that time, the Committee will call a community meeting to review the revised plans and to solicit suggestions, comments and concerns. The Committee will continue to meet with the Developer and various City agencies for as many drafts as are needed. The CVCA will not take a formal position on the development until the Planned Unit Development legislation has been introduced to the City Council. Please direct any requests for additional information or comments on the Anderson Redevelopment Project to Matthew Compton at compton.m@gmail.com.
Plans to Re-Develop the Anderson Honda Site:
On 11/18/09 3 members of the CVCA's Land Use Committee, Sandy Sparks, Alex Hoffman, and Sharon Guida (Land Use Chair) attended an invitation-only presentation at The Anderson GM Showroom by Developer, WV Urban Developments LLC (Rick Walker and Lawrence Cager); Architect, KANN Partners (Donald Kann and Shaw Rahman); Engineers/Planners, STV Incorporated (Anthony J. Corteal, Jr. Susan Williams, Jennifer Leonard, Donald Sternat); Financial Consultant, Resznick Group (Ira Weinstein); and, Attorney Jon Laria of Ballard Spahr LLP. Our city council representatives, Belinda Conaway, Mary Pat Clarke, and Jack Young were also in attendance.
The Developer has scheduled a Community Walkthrough for Saturday, December 5, 2009 between 10-12 a.m. and has invited any interested members of the community to attend that presentation. Location: Anderson GM showroom at Howard and 25th where the development team will present initial plans for the site and include time for community questions and input. In addition, the development team expects to take a walking tour of the site and neighborhood. This is the community's opportunity to see preliminary plans for the project and provide input at an early stage.
The proposed plan is to convert the use of the 11 acre site bounded by 25th Street/Huntington Avenue on the North, Maryland Avenue on the East, the CSX tracks on the West, and 24th Street on the South to an urban mixed-use complex that is compatible with the scale and character of the surrounding neighborhoods and that takes advantage of the unusual topography of the site, permitting multilevel construction. The proposed uses are Lowe's Home Center (first in Baltimore City), a full-service supermarket, midsize retailers such as Staples, Anna's Linens, Marshall's and smaller shop specialty retailers. The Lowe's would be on the lower level and the supermarket would be on the upper level of the site west of Howard. A parking garage is planned to serve that portion of the site. The Real Estate would be owned by Lowe's and by the supermarket user. The midsize and smaller retailers would be located on the portion of the site between Maryland and Howard as would the residential use. That real estate would be owned by a partnership including the Developer and Bruce Mortimer, among others.
None of the proposed retailers have signed binding contracts but the Developer has worked with the Lowe's National Real Estate and Operations Teams on a preliminary design that would be compatible with the site. We were told that Lowes would not have put this much time and energy in to the preliminary planning if it were not committed to this market and that without Lowes the entire project fails to attract the other retailers necessary to make it successful. Lowes was portrayed as having a greater than average commitment to community involvement and is willing to work with the communities during the design phase and afterward through its Charitable & Educational Foundation. When asked, the Developer said that there were no other large users interested in the site other than Lowes. Lowes needs the plan to be approved before it will sign a contract.
The Developer had statistics to suggest that the population of the Charles Village, Remington, Old Goucher neighborhoods, could sustain a second supermarket as compared with other similar urban environments which support 3 or more. But it was too early for them to identify a potential user. Once Lowe's commits, finding a supermarket to commit may be much easier.
The Developer showed those in attendance a very preliminary site plan to demonstrate the proposed location and size of the proposed uses. They stressed that the community's input is being sought on the preliminary plan and on the proposed uses. The Developer wants the community to provide a wishlist of potential uses to assist it in locating retail tenants. Using the downgrade from Huntington Avenue/25th Street to 24th Street, Lowe's plans for its building to be below street level to reduce any negative impact on the residential areas. The Parking garage was shown as fronting on Howard Street below 25th Street and the supermarket was shown fronting on Huntington Avenue. The midsize and small retail between Howard and Maryland was shown to be the same height as the surrounding residential properties, with the entrances fronting inside to a courtyard type parking area so that there would be no entrance impact on Maryland Avenue. The residential area would be on top of the retail space. There would be truck delivery issues that would have to be resolved under the current configuration which showed delivery trucks accessing the project from 24th Street. The truck delivery location is below grade west of Howard but on street grade between Howard and Maryland. The plan now is for delivery trucks to come from North Avenue and turn north on Howard to 24th Street.
The next step is for the Developer to meet with the Planning Department the week of 11/23 to chart the course for the process to be followed. Because the zoning east of Howard does not permit the proposed use, the Developer will need to prepare a Planned Unit Development document to be approved by City Council which will give the community many chances to review and give input. The Developer will also order a required traffic study through the Department of Transportation which will also be vetted in the community. The CVCA's Traffic Calming Committee will take an interest in this study in light of its current efforts to remove the rush hour restrictions on Howard Street north of 25th Street.
Those attending the meeting were each given a booklet containing letters and articles attesting to the expertise of the Developer in urban marketplace development, the commitment of the developer to community involvement at the earliest possible stage, the availability of New Markets Tax Credits allocated to be allocated by investors interested in participating in the project, retailer expressions of interest, and information about Lowe's community commitment. The Developer plans a "Green" development with a LEED Silver rating per Baltimore City Code, which will cost an estimated $65 million dollars, create 400 construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs, with groundbreaking in the Fall of 2010 and an Opening in Fall of 2011.
The Developer has asked those in attendance to identify community contacts for a planning group that it wants to create containing representatives of all community associations. They plan to respect whatever process each community association puts in place. The CVCA Land Use Committee will discuss this at its December 1st meeting and will make a recommendation to the CVCA Board on how to proceed, including the possibility of inviting the Developer to make a presentation to an upcoming CVCA general membership meeting in 2010.
The CVCA Land Use Committee will discuss various areas of concern which include traffic impact, street frontage impact, and whether Lowe's is a good fit for the neighborhood and make recommendations to the CVCA Board.
Please contact Sharon Guida, CVCA Land Use Chair if you have any questions ( SLG2700@cs.com).
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