Columbia/Howard County Development News

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Columbia & Howard County

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By June Arney | Sun reporter
November 14, 2007
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A controversial proposed 23-story condominium tower at the heart of redevelopment planned for downtown Columbia may be in jeopardy as its developer struggles in a challenging condo-building market.

Florida-based WCI Communities Inc. insists that the project is solid despite financial problems that caused it last week to announce 575 job cuts -- about a quarter of its work force. "We're going to move ahead and are moving ahead with the project," said James P. Dietz, WCI's executive vice president and chief financial officer.

But fresh questions about the feasibility of the Plaza Residences project near the downtown lakefront have come as WCI said more people are backing out of commitments to move into its existing condo towers and the company reported third-quarter losses that prompted stock analysts to say lenders will be increasingly less flexible with the company.




GGP is holding private meetings on Town Center
"I would be shocked if WCI could actually go forward with that tower in Columbia, Md.," said Susan Berliner, a senior managing director and analyst at Bear Stearns Co. who follows the company and the homebuilding sector. "To me, there's no way it's going to get built."

In addition to the job cuts, WCI reported that six board members, including billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn, will work without pay for the rest of 2007 and all of 2008.

Dietz said: "We've begun the utility preparations on the site. We're going to continue those and ramp up our selling efforts very shortly. We think it's a good market and a market that wants this type of product. Your readers should expect to see the tower coming out of the ground sometime soon."

But Berliner said that WCI did not mention the Columbia Plaza Residences project as one of the towers it has in the works during recent conference calls with stock analysts to discuss the company's performance.

"WCI is in talks with their banks to try to get more flexibility in their covenant to cover their interest costs," Berliner said. "I don't see how the banks would let them build another tower."

"Everyone is just waiting to see what's going to happen with them," she said. "WCI can't continue to exist in their current form."

In a company statement issued last week, Jerry Starkey, president and chief executive officer of WCI Communities, said: "Demand continues to be unpredictable from week to week, and we saw an increase in defaults and cancellations during the third quarter. We are focused on reducing our costs of operation and recently announced a restructuring that we expect will enable us to lower our annual salary and benefit expenses by about $46 million."

Daniel Oppenheim, an analyst at Banc of America Securities in New York, wrote that WCI will have only about $210 million in liquidity, "which is expected to erode quickly."

The company reported 89 defaults, in which buyers walked away from their deposits of 18 percent to 20 percent, according to Oppenheim's report on WCI's third quarter.

Founded in 1946, WCI was named America's Best Builder in 2004 by the National Association of Home Builders and Builder magazine. The builder serves primary retirement and second-home buyers in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Virginia.

The company reports that it owns and controls land on which it plans to build more than 18,500 traditional and tower homes.

Some local people interested in the Columbia tower project are not surprised by WCI's financial troubles, given the overall housing market.

"It certainly has crossed my mind that WCI may not be able to build, simply by reading the market trends," said Del. Elizabeth Bobo, a Howard County Democrat. "I think it has occurred to people who want the tower and people who don't want the tower. Across the board, people have been asking, are they going to be able to pull this off in this market?"

Bobo's husband, Lloyd Knowles, is among four plaintiffs who filed a court action to stop the project. That case is pending.

Two bills that would have potentially blocked the tower died in the Howard County Council this month when there were not enough votes to get them passed.

County Executive Ken Ulman declined to comment on the recent developments with WCI and any potential impact on the tower project.

june.arney@baltsun.com

[hpal3]

Master plan team includes Olympic designer


11/16/07
By Andrei Blakely

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General Growth Properties Inc., has assembled a team of four nationally known planning firms -- including the company that designed the landscape for the main campus of the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- to work on its 30-year master plan for downtown Columbia.

The firms include Sasaki Associates Inc., a Watertown, Mass.-based firm specializing in landscape architecture that won a 2002 contest to design the landscape of the Olympic campus; and Cooper, Robertson and Partners Inc., a New York City-based firm specializing in urban planning.

General Growth also has hired Wells and Associates LLC, a McLean, Va.-based traffic engineering and transportation planning firm; and Biohabitats Inc., a Baltimore-based firm that restores wildlife areas, to work on the company's emerging master plan for downtown Columbia.

Charles McMahon, General Growth's vice president for Columbia development, calls Sasaki Associates, and Cooper Robertson world-renowned firms.

"They're our planning and technical experts that we have engaged in helping us develop our plan," he said.

Howard County officials first began designing the 30-year plan to guide downtown's redevelopment in 2005. In September, officials released what they called a "framework" to guide downtown's rebuilding.

The "framework" envisions a pedestrian-friendly Town Center with improved public transportation and a mix of housing, but contains no specific guidelines designed to reach those goals. Instead, officials have left the creation of a specific plan to General Growth, which owns much of downtown Columbia.

General Growth officials have not yet said when they will release a working draft of the plan. However, they will take public feedback on the draft before submitting a final version to the Planning Board and County Council, the latter of which must approve the plan for it to become law.

General Growth executives have begun to show a draft of the plan to certain community groups in an attempt to receive some preliminary feedback on it, said Jean Moon, a spokeswoman for the company.

Douglas Godine, General Growth's vice president and general manager for Columbia, discussed the plan in a Nov. 9 speech to Leadership Howard County, a organization dedicated to informing the community about the county's civic life.

"We've been listening carefully to the public dialogue and will continue to listen carefully as we work with community leaders and experts to develop the specifics of our plan," Godine said. "We want to make sure we get this right."

Balance sought for Columbia

The team General Growth has assembled will assist the company in creating a future downtown that balances art and culture, friendliness to the environment, and affordable housing with economic viability, according to Moon.

Sasaki Associates specializes in designs that work to reduce the negative effect of a project on the environment in a way that does not inhibit the project's economic and social goals, said James McCowan, director of communications.

In addition to its design of the landscape for 2008 Olympic campus, the firm worked on Reston Town Center in Reston, Va. and has completed designs for landscaping projects, parks, campus designs and buildings.

The firm is helping to create the pedestrian network, landscape and environmental features for General Growth's plan, McMahon said.

Cooper, Robertson has worked on a project to upgrade street networks around Baltimore's Inner Harbor area, which includes Harborplace, a mall owned by General Growth.

The firm is giving General Growth guidance on the layout of building layouts and the integration of parking with new development, McMahon said.

Wells and Associates has worked on transportation planning at several developments including Potomac Yards, a planned community in Alexandria, Va., and the National Harbor water resort and entertainment destination in Oxon Hill, according to the company's Web site.

Biohabitats has worked to restore the habitat on the Lower Kingman Island, in Washington, D.C., and on the master plan for Lower Creek Mill Valley, a connected green way in Cleveland, according to its Web site.

Plan has downtown districts

General Growth has discussed the plan with members of some community groups, including those of Bring Back the Vision, which supports a more urbanized future downtown.

The draft dissects downtown into districts, adding retail and residential development, though no apparent high-rise buildings, said Emily Lincoln, one of the group's founders.

The company also has extended an invitation to meet in private with Columbia's 10 village boards to discuss the draft plan.

However, the Columbia Association board of directors -- who are non-voting members of the village boards --has advised villages against attending the meetings because they fear they would violate the state Homeowner's Association Act, said Henry Dagenais, Long Reach's representative on the CA board.

The act requires homeowner's associations to publicize most meetings and make them open to the public. Although the villages are deciding what to do, Long Reach has turned down the invitation, Dagenais said.

In October, CA board chairwoman Barbara Russell, of Oakland Mills, turned down an invitation for the board to meet with General Growth to review a draft of the master plan, citing the provisions of the Homeowner's Act.

E-mail Andrei Blakely at Andrei Blakely@patuxent.com

[hpal3]

First buildings in Snowden development take shape

07/26/07
By Nate Sandstrom



Drive down Snowden River Parkway and you'll notice a few changes already.

At the Berger Road intersection, a new three-story, 36-office condominium building now stands above its Guilford Industrial Park neighbors. Meanwhile, a new restaurant park that offers diners everything from a cup of coffee to a slice of pizza is open for business behind Apple Ford.

And it's just the beginning.

The lot at the intersection of Snowden River Parkway and Minstrel Way is to become Minstrel Crossing, a 9-acre mixed-use development slated to include two new hotels, a bank branch and at least one new restaurant -- with the possibility of more office and retail space to come.

A few blocks up the road, plans for a Wegmans grocery store that will be more than triple the size of most village centers grocers, employ 650 people and have parking for 941 vehicles has been submitted to the county for review. It is slated to open in 2009.

Across the street, the owners of the Gateway Commerce Center, one of the largest warehouse and distribution centers in the region, is also looking to lease four spaces totaling more than 400,000 square feet in the coming months.

If that's not enough, you can continue northeast on Snowden, take the Route 175 exit, and you're less than a mile from Gateway Overlook, a 122-acre shopping center that features several "big box" national retailers, including a 142,000 square foot Costco department store and a 138,000 square foot Lowe's home improvement store.

The first stores in the center opened in June with others slated to open later this summer.

Developers cited the corridor's proximity to major highways and planned Fort Meade expansion as factors in their decision to develop along the parkway.

On the southern end of Snowden, relatively lower land prices also help, said Michael Meisel, principal of Meisel Capital, which developed the new Guilford Executive Center office building in Guilford Industrial Park.

"There's a finite supply of undeveloped land (in Howard County). Now what people are looking for is undervalued real estate," he said.

Jeff Kassman, president of the Columbia-based general contractor KasCon, which built the Guilford Executive Center, said his building could start a new trend in the area.

The new building was redeveloped on the former site of an Allied moving company facility, marking a shift from the low-density storage areas and warehouses that make up much of Guilford Industrial Park, he said.

Dick Story, president and CEO of Howard County's Economic Development Authority, also expects more developers to look to the Snowden River Parkway as a place to grow, noting the signs advertising commercial space along the roadway.

"The market will find opportunities and there were underutilized parcels over there," he said.

Hotel rooms hard to find

Bradd Caplan, project manager for Elkridge-based developer H & H Rock's Minstrel Crossing development, said the project is a good fit in the neighborhood because Owen Brown has few dining options and Howard County at large is short on hotels.

"You can't find a hotel room from Monday to Thursday anywhere in this area," he said.

South Carolina-based OTO Development plans to build a Hampton Inn and Suites and a Spring Hill Suites on the site, each with about 120 rooms. Chevy Chase Bank also plans to open a branch on the site, Caplan said.

H & H Rock will either develop two remaining lots into restaurants or a mix of office, retail and restaurant space, Caplan said, adding the company has discussed the property with officials from Arby's, Wendy's and Buffalo Wild Wings.

"I think our project is going to set the tone for this portion of Snowden," Caplan said.

E-mail Nate Sandstrom at Nate Sandstrom@patuxent.com

[hpal3]

http://www.co.ho.md.us/DPZ/DPZDocs/U...r-Summer05.pdf

[MasonsInquiries]

Originally Posted by hpal3

By June Arney | Sun reporter
November 14, 2007
Article tools
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Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback Text size: A controversial proposed 23-story condominium tower at the heart of redevelopment planned for downtown Columbia may be in jeopardy as its developer struggles in a challenging condo-building market.

i hope this tower gets built.

[hpal3]

Originally Posted by MasonsInquiries

i hope this tower gets built.

This, and many more to come!!!

[MasonsInquiries]

i live in the whitney (right across from columbia town center) and we were going to move into that tower. oh well, good thing we had a backup plan!

[hpal3]

Originally Posted by MasonsInquiries

i live in the whitney (right across from columbia town center) and we were going to move into that tower. oh well, good thing we had a backup plan!

I'm in the Huntington area, of King's Contrivance, off of Volmerhausen.

[hpal3]

Originally Posted by MasonsInquiries

i live in the whitney (right across from columbia town center) and we were going to move into that tower. oh well, good thing we had a backup plan!

Is there talk of expanding the Mall again? If so, where is there any room to
grow the Mall any further?

[jeremai]

Wow, lots happening in Columbia; you go away for a year and everything changes!

Where is this Gateway Overlook center? Is that what they were building along 175 between 95 and 108?

[hpal3]

Originally Posted by jeremai

Wow, lots happening in Columbia; you go away for a year and everything changes!

Where is this Gateway Overlook center? Is that what they were building along 175 between 95 and 108?

Yes, it's the new shopping ctr. on the left going east torwards 95. Also a new development of mixed use hotel, office & retail is coming to where Alladin Village currently sits @ Rt1 & 175.

[vivo]

Originally Posted by jeremai

Wow, lots happening in Columbia; you go away for a year and everything changes!

Where is this Gateway Overlook center? Is that what they were building along 175 between 95 and 108?

this center has a Trader Joe's now.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/maryl...-175-md-4.html

I know a Costco is going to be there. Lowe' sand Best buy according to the thread. one person mentioned a Wegman's in '09

hehe right now I'm in Super columbia out here in Orange co.

[TheGlobalizer]

Any residential will sell in Columbia if it's priced even remotely reasonably.

[hpal3]

Village board lays out its opposition


Letter to officials says planned development will increase traffic in Hickory Ridge
11/21/07
By Andrei Blakely


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The Hickory Ridge Village Board is trying to prevent a Columbia developer from building a 264-unit residential community next to their village on Cedar Lane.

Village board members, who are concerned about added traffic and possible environmental damage caused by the planned Riverdale development, sent county officials a letter in early September that details their opposition, said Gregg Schwind, village board chairman.

Dale Thompson Builders Inc. is proposing to build two apartment buildings for retirees and townhouses totaling 264 residential units on a 30-acre site located between Cedar Lane, Route 32 and the Middle Patuxent River, on the outskirts of west Columbia.

The Riverdale project also would include two parks, 677 parking spaces and 27 units reserved for moderate-income residents, according to a proposal submitted to the county's Department of Planning and Zoning in October.

However, Schwind is concerned that the Riverdale project, along with two other nearby planned developments by Dale Thompson Builders, will bring too much traffic to the area. The Thompson company also plans to build 128 townhouses for senior-aged residents on sites called Scot's Glen north and south, located on Cedar Lane.

"As far as traffic, we don't see that location being a viable location for 264 residential units," Schwind said of the Riverdale property. "It seems too compact."

Dale Thompson did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Concerns: layout, traffic

In a Sept. 4 letter to Marsha McLaughlin, director of the county's Department of Planning and Zoning, Schwind outlined village board members' concerns about the Riverdale proposal, including:

* the layout of narrow, private roads and alleys in the project's design would leave little space for fire trucks, garbage collection, moving vans and delivery trucks;

* adding an entrance to the Riverdale property from Cedar Lane would require alterations to other existing intersections, such as the one across from the Riverdale property, at Grace Drive;

* a traffic study for the project only considers the age-restricted housing and fails to consider traffic created by residents who would travel to work during normal business hours;

* the project's design does not connect sidewalks from Riverdale to the nearby Hickory Ridge Village Center, which includes a grocery store and other shops.

The project also could result in the cutting down of trees surrounding the project site, which is near the Robinson Nature Center and Simpsonville Mill, a remnant from the old mill town of Simpsonville, Schwind said.

"We feel that the density of the development and its proposed location next to the Middle Patuxent River and the historic Simpsonville Mill site could adversely affect both the environment and our residents," Schwind wrote in the Sept. 4 letter.

Planners seem persuaded

McLaughlin said the Riverdale proposal adheres to county zoning laws and is under review.

She added that she does not believe traffic from the Riverdale development would overwhelm nearby roads and that Cedar Lane would be able to handle the extra traffic.

Before the project is approved, the developer also must comply with county regulations for storm-water management, forest conservation, environmental protection and parking, she said.

The property's current zoning allows the county's staff to approve the project without a vote by the Planning Board, said Mike Antol, a county planner.

In reviewing the proposal, county planners could require the developer to reduce the number of residential units in the plan, plant trees or make other improvements to the site, he said.

Officials received a revised sketch plan of the Riverdale project on Oct. 22 showing details about the developer's intent to build roads, the project's impact on the environment and the developer's forest conservation plan, Antol said.

The developer would next submit a final plan with details about the development's storm-water management plan, followed by a site development plan with information about parking lots and buildings, he said.

The Thompson company's earlier proposals for the Riverdale site also angered some nearby residents. Those plans, which the company floated in 2004, included a mix of office buildings, townhouses and condominiums.

E-mail Andrei Blakely at Andrei Blakely@patuxent.com










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[hpal3]

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving!!!

[StevenW]

Yeah you all have a great ThanksGiving as well!

[Prince Victor]

Happy Thanksgiving to every1 !!!

[StevenW]

Had a great Thanks Giving. Didn't eat too much.

[DrzBrooklynChulo90]

Lol Steven,your crazy.As kool and positive as u always are,i dont think anyone wants to know about your thanksgiving.But you still kool to me