Towson Development News - Page 5

scando · July 30th, 2007, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STLgasm

I hereby request pictures of Towson-- what does the skyline look like?

Towson has a weird skyline. Several tall buildings are right at the summit of a large ridge at the town center (views posted by Northern) but most of them are downhill from that ridge and are almost invisible from a distance. The ridge buildings can see all the way to Annapolis on a clear day, being almost 900 feet up at the building tops. Others on lower land can only see a few blocks.

Maudibjr · August 23rd, 2007, 04:58 PM

From the Towson Times:

Virginia Towers owners seek 2 high-rise buildings

08/22/07
By Loni Ingraham

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Virginia Towers LLC is seeking approval from Baltimore County development review officials for a plan that would bring 328 new apartments to Towson.

The owners of the 15-story Virginia Towers apartment building are planning to add two high-rise buildings to the 1.798-acre site at 500 Virginia Ave.

"But it will be at least two years before we break ground," said attorney Ernie Rafailides, who represents the corporation that owns the property.

Then, according to the plan, it would take two years to construct one building and another two to do the second.

The cost of the project hasn't been determined yet, Rafailides, said. "We're still talking with lenders and construction people."

The preliminary plan was submitted to the county Monday under the working title "Virginia Commons."

"But the name is subject to change," Rafailides said. "We're not married to it."

The existing Virginia Towers structure would have the new buildings, one on Virginia Avenue and the other on Pennsylvania Avenue, as bookends, according to a site plan submitted by Century Engineering of Hunt Valley.

Both buildings would feature commercial and retail space on the first two floors, Rafailides said.

Both would have one- and two-bedroom apartments with rents set at market rate.

"We believe there is a market for market-rate apartments," he said, adding that the Pennsylvania Avenue building, which would be constructed first, would have 160 apartments, while the Virginia Avenue building would have 168.

"It's an excellent location; we're hoping for a mix that includes young professionals and retired people downsizing and looking for an urban setting," he said.

He is aware of the uproar created by the eventually abandoned proposal for a 600-bed college apartment dorm for Towson Circle next door.

With rentals going for $1.70 to $1.90 a square foot -- a 900-square-foot apartment might rent for $1,589 to $1,700 a month -- Virginia Commons is not targeting college students in its marketing, Rafailides said.

Neither of the two buildings, he said, would be taller than Virginia Towers, which offers subsidized housing for the elderly and people with disabilities.

"While the construction may inconvenience the tenants of Virginia Towers, it will not affect the way their building functions," he explained.

The fact that Virginia Towers is no longer accepting applications led some residents to fear that whatever project was about to be announced would force them to move.

But Rafailides said the company stopped taking applications because the waiting list had gotten so long. Virginia Towers plans to begin accepting applications again by late September or early October, he said.

The property is zoned for an unlimited number of housing units because it's in the town center, but Virginia Towers LLC will need variances for setbacks from the street and for parking even though the plan provides for 379 spaces.

"We're looking forward to working with the Towson community to make this project a success," Rafailides said. "We're definitely excited."

Residents of The Ridgely, a 28-story condominium on the same block, may not be as enthusiastic.

The Ridgely Condominium Association has met with the LLC representatives but is reserving judgment on the plan until members see it in its final form, said its president, John Raine.

"But we have concerns," Raine said, preferring not to comment further.

Former association president Wallace North said he sees problems -- Ridgely residents living on the first 13 or 14 floors of the building who face the project would have their views blocked, and the Ridgely pool would lose its afternoon sunlight, he said.

A further complication is the fact that The Ridgely has entrance and exit easements through the Virginia Towers property, according to lawyer Howard Alderman, who is representing Virginia Towers LLC in the development process.

"They will have to be relocated or accommodated," Alderman said.

Meanwhile, Donna Merkle, who has lived in Virginia Towers for eight years and has represented the tenants in several issues, is cautiously optimistic.

"If they can stick to the plan they submitted and just keep us abreast of what's going on and dispel the rumors, it may be OK," she said.

Northern · October 15th, 2007, 01:59 AM

Wanted to do this for a while. Towson Town 360:

Maudibjr · October 15th, 2007, 04:55 PM

The towson mall expansion is bigger than I thought. Including expanding the garage.

Quite a bit of residential construction in towson right now.

Gsol · October 15th, 2007, 08:58 PM

What additional stores are going in there?

jamie_hunt · October 15th, 2007, 09:46 PM

From the Aug. 17 Baltimore Business Journal --

[snip]

The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc. are among the new retailers Towson Town Center executives expect to lure to the mall for its expansion.

Also on tap for the mall is the Levi's store and Pottery Barn, according to mall owner Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. Towson Town Center already has a Williams-Sonoma, the upscale cooking store operating under the same parent company as Pottery Barn.

Existing tenant Crate and Barrel is expected to expand to 35,000 square feet.

Towson Town Center General Manager Charles Crerand said he could not confirm the new tenants because the mall does not yet have signed leases. But he could confirm two other new tenants: The mall's expansion will include Garage, a Canadian chain for teen girls, and Teavana, an Atlanta-based tea shop chain that has one Maryland store at the Mall in Columbia.

Crerand said the mall's addition will be completed on schedule in October 2008. Currently 950,000 square feet, the mall will add 100,000 square feet after the expansion. This will put Towson Town Center on par with Security Square Mall and make it larger than Hunt Valley Towne Centre.

[snip]

TheGlobalizer · October 15th, 2007, 10:04 PM

Teavana's already there. They have some pretty aggressive employees.

Great teas, tho.

Liam0711 · October 16th, 2007, 07:50 AM

Towson is definitely in an expansion mode...they still need to do something about the traffic though.

Maudibjr · October 16th, 2007, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liam0711

Towson is definitely in an expansion mode...they still need to do something about the traffic though.

I think that Towson is going to be stuck with the traffic it has for some time.

sdeclue · October 16th, 2007, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamie_hunt

From the Aug. 17 Baltimore Business Journal --

[snip]

The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc. are among the new retailers Towson Town Center executives expect to lure to the mall for its expansion.

Also on tap for the mall is the Levi's store and Pottery Barn, according to mall owner Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. Towson Town Center already has a Williams-Sonoma, the upscale cooking store operating under the same parent company as Pottery Barn.

Existing tenant Crate and Barrel is expected to expand to 35,000 square feet.

Towson Town Center General Manager Charles Crerand said he could not confirm the new tenants because the mall does not yet have signed leases. But he could confirm two other new tenants: The mall's expansion will include Garage, a Canadian chain for teen girls, and Teavana, an Atlanta-based tea shop chain that has one Maryland store at the Mall in Columbia.

Crerand said the mall's addition will be completed on schedule in October 2008. Currently 950,000 square feet, the mall will add 100,000 square feet after the expansion. This will put Towson Town Center on par with Security Square Mall and make it larger than Hunt Valley Towne Centre.

[snip]

Am I the only one who finds the comparison to Security Square odd? I would think Towson Town is already bigger than Security considering it has 3 or 4 floors compared to one at Security and it's also a 8 billion times better and nicer mall.

TheGlobalizer · October 16th, 2007, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdeclue

Am I the only one who finds the comparison to Security Square odd? I would think Towson Town is already bigger than Security considering it has 3 or 4 floors compared to one at Security and it's also a 8 billion times better and nicer mall.

I felt the same way reading it.

Security is about the last mall I would want to be compared to.

waj0527 · October 17th, 2007, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdeclue

Am I the only one who finds the comparison to Security Square odd? I would think Towson Town is already bigger than Security considering it has 3 or 4 floors compared to one at Security and it's also a 8 billion times better and nicer mall.

Good catch. I can only hope that the author was referring to the actual square footage which is odd since, like you said, Towson has more floors.

Perhaps the author just has an odd affinity for wig shops, nurses uniforms stores, sneaker spots and Cactus Willis.

micrip · October 17th, 2007, 08:21 AM

I think he is referring to the square footage, not the demographics of the mall. They will all be dwarfed by Westfield Annapolis when it is complete. Mall management is claiming it will be larger than Arundel Mills, which now holds the size title. With 5 full-size anchors (Macys, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Penneys, and Sears), I believe it.

zac88t · October 20th, 2007, 10:44 PM

I wonder what will go in the old Crate & Barrel store and Bombay store since the chain recently filed for bankruptcy and plans to close all of its U.S. stores. I also wonder if they are ever going to replace the spot where The Silver Diner used to be.

zac88t · November 23rd, 2007, 05:13 AM

bebe Sport, Fossil, Levi's, Garage, Teavana, Spring Shoes, & Metropark are now all open.

StevenW · November 23rd, 2007, 04:17 PM

Welcome to the Forum, zac88t!

Please post often!!

MasonsInquiries · November 23rd, 2007, 06:36 PM

welcome aboard, zac!!

sdeclue · November 24th, 2007, 10:58 PM

They are doing a nice job with the mall out there. If only they could knock down some of the uglier buildings in that area and add some nice high density housing and clean up the York road area it could be a really nice area, possibly reminding people of Silver Spring or Bethesda.

scando · November 25th, 2007, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdeclue

They are doing a nice job with the mall out there. If only they could knock down some of the uglier buildings in that area and add some nice high density housing and clean up the York road area it could be a really nice area, possibly reminding people of Silver Spring or Bethesda.

I wish the County government would take a more active role in Towson development. Towson is always on the verge of being really nice and then the government seems to lose interest for some years and things start to slip back. I'm impressed by the amount of dense residential development that is happening right now but I can't believe that nobody seems to care about that monstrosity of a sick building (the so-called Investment Building) that sits at the highest point on Towson's hill. The Commons also, with its dead Border's and restaurant sites, needs badly to move along to something new. In the scheme of things, these are two fairly small sites, but they are really important to the look of downtown Towson which is geographically small and dense. The new addition to the mall seems to be moving along quickly and with the new residential developments, the center of town seems to be moving to the corner of Dulaney Valley Rd and Fairmount Ave. I just with there were a more coherent plan rather than seemingly random developments.

sdeclue · November 25th, 2007, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scando

I wish the County government would take a more active role in Towson development. Towson is always on the verge of being really nice and then the government seems to lose interest for some years and things start to slip back. I'm impressed by the amount of dense residential development that is happening right now but I can't believe that nobody seems to care about that monstrosity of a sick building (the so-called Investment Building) that sits at the highest point on Towson's hill. The Commons also, with its dead Border's and restaurant sites, needs badly to move along to something new. In the scheme of things, these are two fairly small sites, but they are really important to the look of downtown Towson which is geographically small and dense. The new addition to the mall seems to be moving along quickly and with the new residential developments, the center of town seems to be moving to the corner of Dulaney Valley Rd and Fairmount Ave. I just with there were a more coherent plan rather than seemingly random developments.

I completely agree. Like Columbia and Owings Mills, Towson doesn't seem to know what type of town it wants to become. Does it want to become a Silver Spring with lots of density, mass transit etc or does it want to become just another suburb like Cockeysville or Perry Hall?

August 23rd, 2007, 04:58 PM	#82
Maudibjr Indeed Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Baltimore Posts: 978 Likes (Received): 2	2 new apartment towers for Towson From the Towson Times: Virginia Towers owners seek 2 high-rise buildings 08/22/07 By Loni Ingraham Respond to this story Email this story to a friend Virginia Towers LLC is seeking approval from Baltimore County development review officials for a plan that would bring 328 new apartments to Towson. The owners of the 15-story Virginia Towers apartment building are planning to add two high-rise buildings to the 1.798-acre site at 500 Virginia Ave. "But it will be at least two years before we break ground," said attorney Ernie Rafailides, who represents the corporation that owns the property. Then, according to the plan, it would take two years to construct one building and another two to do the second. The cost of the project hasn't been determined yet, Rafailides, said. "We're still talking with lenders and construction people." The preliminary plan was submitted to the county Monday under the working title "Virginia Commons." "But the name is subject to change," Rafailides said. "We're not married to it." The existing Virginia Towers structure would have the new buildings, one on Virginia Avenue and the other on Pennsylvania Avenue, as bookends, according to a site plan submitted by Century Engineering of Hunt Valley. Both buildings would feature commercial and retail space on the first two floors, Rafailides said. Both would have one- and two-bedroom apartments with rents set at market rate. "We believe there is a market for market-rate apartments," he said, adding that the Pennsylvania Avenue building, which would be constructed first, would have 160 apartments, while the Virginia Avenue building would have 168. "It's an excellent location; we're hoping for a mix that includes young professionals and retired people downsizing and looking for an urban setting," he said. He is aware of the uproar created by the eventually abandoned proposal for a 600-bed college apartment dorm for Towson Circle next door. With rentals going for $1.70 to $1.90 a square foot -- a 900-square-foot apartment might rent for $1,589 to $1,700 a month -- Virginia Commons is not targeting college students in its marketing, Rafailides said. Neither of the two buildings, he said, would be taller than Virginia Towers, which offers subsidized housing for the elderly and people with disabilities. "While the construction may inconvenience the tenants of Virginia Towers, it will not affect the way their building functions," he explained. The fact that Virginia Towers is no longer accepting applications led some residents to fear that whatever project was about to be announced would force them to move. But Rafailides said the company stopped taking applications because the waiting list had gotten so long. Virginia Towers plans to begin accepting applications again by late September or early October, he said. The property is zoned for an unlimited number of housing units because it's in the town center, but Virginia Towers LLC will need variances for setbacks from the street and for parking even though the plan provides for 379 spaces. "We're looking forward to working with the Towson community to make this project a success," Rafailides said. "We're definitely excited." Residents of The Ridgely, a 28-story condominium on the same block, may not be as enthusiastic. The Ridgely Condominium Association has met with the LLC representatives but is reserving judgment on the plan until members see it in its final form, said its president, John Raine. "But we have concerns," Raine said, preferring not to comment further. Former association president Wallace North said he sees problems -- Ridgely residents living on the first 13 or 14 floors of the building who face the project would have their views blocked, and the Ridgely pool would lose its afternoon sunlight, he said. A further complication is the fact that The Ridgely has entrance and exit easements through the Virginia Towers property, according to lawyer Howard Alderman, who is representing Virginia Towers LLC in the development process. "They will have to be relocated or accommodated," Alderman said. Meanwhile, Donna Merkle, who has lived in Virginia Towers for eight years and has represented the tenants in several issues, is cautiously optimistic. "If they can stick to the plan they submitted and just keep us abreast of what's going on and dispel the rumors, it may be OK," she said.

October 15th, 2007, 01:59 AM	#83
Northern Unregistered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 270 Likes (Received): 0	Wanted to do this for a while. Towson Town 360: __________________ Cheers!..

November 23rd, 2007, 04:17 PM	#96
StevenW Born in Baltimore Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Newberry, SC Posts: 10,650 Likes (Received): 13	Welcome to the Forum, zac88t! Please post often!! __________________ Baltimore, my hometown.

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October 15th, 2007, 04:55 PM	#84
Maudibjr Indeed Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Baltimore Posts: 978 Likes (Received): 2	The towson mall expansion is bigger than I thought. Including expanding the garage. Quite a bit of residential construction in towson right now.

October 15th, 2007, 08:58 PM	#85
Gsol Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,231 Likes (Received): 13	What additional stores are going in there?

October 15th, 2007, 09:46 PM	#86
jamie_hunt Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 3,407 Likes (Received): 17	From the Aug. 17 Baltimore Business Journal -- [snip] The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc. are among the new retailers Towson Town Center executives expect to lure to the mall for its expansion. Also on tap for the mall is the Levi's store and Pottery Barn, according to mall owner Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. Towson Town Center already has a Williams-Sonoma, the upscale cooking store operating under the same parent company as Pottery Barn. Existing tenant Crate and Barrel is expected to expand to 35,000 square feet. Towson Town Center General Manager Charles Crerand said he could not confirm the new tenants because the mall does not yet have signed leases. But he could confirm two other new tenants: The mall's expansion will include Garage, a Canadian chain for teen girls, and Teavana, an Atlanta-based tea shop chain that has one Maryland store at the Mall in Columbia. Crerand said the mall's addition will be completed on schedule in October 2008. Currently 950,000 square feet, the mall will add 100,000 square feet after the expansion. This will put Towson Town Center on par with Security Square Mall and make it larger than Hunt Valley Towne Centre. [snip]

October 15th, 2007, 10:04 PM	#87
TheGlobalizer Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Albuquerque Posts: 683 Likes (Received): 0	Teavana's already there. They have some pretty aggressive employees. Great teas, tho.

October 16th, 2007, 07:50 AM	#88
Liam0711 Birdland Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Towson Posts: 377 Likes (Received): 0	Towson is definitely in an expansion mode...they still need to do something about the traffic though.

October 17th, 2007, 08:21 AM	#93
micrip Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Baltimore Posts: 2,456 Likes (Received): 23	I think he is referring to the square footage, not the demographics of the mall. They will all be dwarfed by Westfield Annapolis when it is complete. Mall management is claiming it will be larger than Arundel Mills, which now holds the size title. With 5 full-size anchors (Macys, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Penneys, and Sears), I believe it.

October 20th, 2007, 10:44 PM	#94
zac88t Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 6 Likes (Received): 0	I wonder what will go in the old Crate & Barrel store and Bombay store since the chain recently filed for bankruptcy and plans to close all of its U.S. stores. I also wonder if they are ever going to replace the spot where The Silver Diner used to be.

November 23rd, 2007, 05:13 AM	#95
zac88t Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 6 Likes (Received): 0	bebe Sport, Fossil, Levi's, Garage, Teavana, Spring Shoes, & Metropark are now all open.

November 23rd, 2007, 06:36 PM	#97
MasonsInquiries B-MORE than u strive for! Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Baltimore/Columbia, Md. Posts: 2,259 Likes (Received): 0	welcome aboard, zac!!

November 24th, 2007, 10:58 PM	#98
sdeclue Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 814 Likes (Received): 6	They are doing a nice job with the mall out there. If only they could knock down some of the uglier buildings in that area and add some nice high density housing and clean up the York road area it could be a really nice area, possibly reminding people of Silver Spring or Bethesda.