Whole Foods Could Be First Tenant at Cafritz Project Near UMD

Top: The view from the Cafritz property looking into Calvert Hills. Below: An aerial image outlining the Cafritz property in Riverdale Park. The University of Maryland is located to the north. (Newsline photo by Steven Mendoza, image courtesy of Cafritz)

Related Slideshow: Views of the property and nearby town center Related Link: The Cafritz Property Web Site Background Story from Newsline: Development Plan for Cafritz Property on Route 1 Corridor Raises Concerns

By Steven Mendoza
Maryland Newsline
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009

RIVERDALE PARK, Md. - Whole Foods Market has signed a letter of intent that would make it the first tenant on the proposed 36-acre Cafritz development near the University of Maryland, said the principal attorney for the project.

“Obviously, retail right now is going through an interesting time with the current economy, but frankly, we figure by the time we get a shovel in the ground things should certainly be in full recovery mode and we foresee a market, ” said attorney Michele La Rocca. “There is a whole list of people [who] want that opportunity” to shop there.

Fred Shank, a spokesman for Whole Foods, declined to comment on the letter.

Getting Whole Foods to participate in the project is an important step in a process that developers hope will ultimately bring a mix of residential, commercial and office buildings to the now-wooded property fronting U.S. Route 1. The tract is currently zoned for single-family detached housing and must be rezoned to accommodate the planned mixed-use development.

The rezoning application is expected to be submitted this winter, La Rocca said.

The proposal has been scaled back in recent years, in response to objections from residents of Riverdale Park and surrounding communities who raised concerns about the impact the project could have on area traffic and schools.

The original proposal called for 2,000 townhomes and condos, some reserved for senior housing. The current plan calls for 983 residential units, said La Rocca, including 224 senior units, 30 residences for international students, 710 condominiums and 19 townhomes.

Retail space was reduced by 30,000 square feet to 220,000 square feet.  In addition, the maximum building height was reduced from 12 stories to seven stories, and the Whole Foods space was reduced by 20,000 square feet, to 45,000 square feet, La Rocca said.

Developers still propose a 120-room hotel and 36,000 square feet of office space.

The project also calls for a five-acre park to the east of the property along the CSX and Metro rail lines. It would funnel storm water runoff into a pond.

Scaling back the original design, however, does not eliminate all concerns.

“The biggest concern is, of course … how it’s going to impact the surrounding infrastructure and, in particular, traffic along Route 1,” said Vernon Archer, the mayor of Riverdale Park.  Archer said he supports the project as long as it “takes into consideration the impact on people [who] already live there.”

He sees the development potentially offering “goods and services … that we currently drive a long way to get.”

According to the most recent plans from Project Manager Ralph Bennett, three entrances and exits from the development are proposed:

• At Van Buren Street and Route 1, where a traffic light will be installed;
• At Route 1 and Underwood Street, where a right turn in and right turn out will be allowed;
• At the southeast corner of the property, where a street called Maryland Avenue will be built within the development and linked to Rhode Island Avenue.
  

The mayor and City Council of University Park, a town that sits across Route 1 from Riverdale Park, see the intersection of Route 1 and Underwood Street as a potential problem area. Underwood is the primary route for school buses shuttling children to and from University Park Elementary School.

At a Feb. 2 town meeting University Park officials agreed to draft a letter to Prince George’s County Council member Eric Olsen outlining the town’s reservations about the traffic design.

Bennett said a median will be built in the middle of Route 1 at Underwood Street to prevent traffic from crossing directly into the town from the development.  

Calvert Hills is expected to be the only community sharing a border with the development that will not have street access, but there will be a pedestrian trail that links the two, La Rocca said.

When asked to comment on the plan, Roger K. Lewis, professor emeritus of architecture at University of Maryland College Park and a practicing architect, planner and journalist said, “The plan, the layout, the deployment of buildings and open space and parking appear to be reasonable.”

But, Lewis said, he is concerned that Van Buren is the sole entrance into the development from the north.

Olsen said that before he can support the project, all three communities affected by it need to come to a consensus.

“Transportation is definitely a challenge,” he said.

Copyright © 2009 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism

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