Cafritz Conundrum

Well, the Cafritz family will be updating our community next Saturday on the status of their project. Whether our much sought “input” has been considered as they revised the project is debatable. Apparently, the number of residential housing units has been roughly halved, while the commercial space remains the same (or slightly expanded).
Mmm, those traffic [...]

Updating the Route 1 Sector Plan

Planner Chad Williams of M-NCPPC will make a presentation on the Central US 1 Corridor Sector Plan and Sectional Map Amendment on Monday for the University Park Town Council (event details here). The public is invited and Mayor John Tabori hopes residents of neighboring communities will attend as well.
Williams will discuss the possibility of extending [...]

Send Your Cafritz Input!

Well, what did you think? Let the Cafritz team and Eric Olson know. Send your questions and concerns to info@cafritzpop.com and send a cc to Eric Olson (this is a request from Olson’s office). Just click the Email Lady! Live outside District 3? Check here for addresses.

Is the density right for this [...]

Cafritz: Doing the Math

The next meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 18 from 7-9 pm and we urge you to attend. Questions you may wish to consider in forming an opinion are here. Here’s a summary of the Cafritz presentation, mostly by the numbers:

40-50,000 sq. feet, medium-sized grocery near Route 1 (no brand commitment)
150-225,000 sq. feet of retail
15-20 stores
3 parking [...]

Meet Mac Alpine, or Past Lives of the Cafritz Property, Part 1

You can still see the old gate posts at the corner, hidden by a holly bush and a stand of bamboo. One post says Calvert, while the other reads Mac Alpine. They mark the entrance to Mac Alpine, the mansion once located at Route 1 and Albion Road.
I spent time in the University of Maryland [...]

Our Fortunes & the Cafritz Family

This weekend the Cafritz Property development team will unveil their concept plan for the 35.8 acre site.
Sat., Sept. 15 10-12 am
Tues., Sept. 18 7-9 pm
Riverdale Elementary School, 5006 Riverdale Road, Riverdale Park, MD.
Expect it to be heavy on retail and very dense. This site is just a couple acres smaller than East [...]

Landy: Not Ready for Prime Time

As you very likely know, the Landy Property would be a luxury development in a fenced, gated community with security on 34 acres off of Belcrest Rd. between Northwestern High School and Toledo Terrace. Originally approved in 2001, the plan has undergone a number of revisions. The revamped plans required a lot of work and [...]

Calvert Hills: Not Just Another Link in the Chain

Calvert Hills is a small section of College Park situated between the famed Cafritz property and the Old Town of College Park. In 2003, the neighborhood was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood’s defining feature is the old trolley trail, a raised berm that was recently upgraded with a $90,000 grant [...]

Traffic & Whole Foods

Let’s examine the possibility of the Cafritz Property development including a Whole Foods. Many area residents might enjoy having a Whole Foods nearby—especially for rushed weeknight dinners. But are we ready for all the additional traffic?
If we give Whole Foods the benefit of the doubt and assume that their store will be at the small [...]

The Cafritz Candy Store’s Closed

Well, temporarily at least. The Landy and Cafritz developments have been approached very differently. But both are adjacent to communities of single family homes and will have large impacts on their neighbors. The Cafritzes invited us to dream a bit, perhaps because they wish to change their zoning. At Thursday’s summation meeting, community input [...]

Questions to Ponder

A guest blogger joins us today to pose some excellent questions. We share former Hyattsville council member Chris Currie’s thoughts on the Cafritz property and other area developments below (previously posted to HOPE list).
My views on urban planning were largely formed as a child witnessing the growth of suburban Detroit. It was a clinic [...]

Doughnuts & the 1st Cafritz Community Input Meeting

I attended the Cafritz development community input meeting last Saturday and wanted to post an overview for other community members.
Jane and Calvin Cafritz, two members of the Cafritz family, opened with a welcome. The team members running the workshop portion were friendly and appeared interested to hear public comments. As an added bonus, [...]

Shopping List for the Cafritz Property

The following are my thoughts and some background on the Cafritz property that I’ve put together and may or may not represent the situation. We will learn more on Saturday but this will give those interested a little briefing on the property and some of the issues before the meeting.
Background
The original property was a [...]

A Big Week for Rt. 1 Communities

Mark your calendars. This week brings us two important opportunities to be heard:
Wed., May 30 7-10 pm College Park Route 1 Corridor Transportation Study (click for pdf)
Sat., June 2 10 am-2 pm Cafritz Property Community Input Meetings Please encourage your friends and neighbors to come out and voice their opinions. Spread the word [...]