According to the College Park City Council student liaison, Catherine McGrath, the downtown area of College Park on Baltimore Avenue has been a major College Park issue because it is not up to the standards of other college towns.
“Compared to other college towns, College Park is not really developed,” said McGrath. “Route 1 does not look the way that many other college towns look and [council] definitely thinks that we lose out on good students based on the way Route 1 looks.”
“When I visit schools one of the first things I notice is the town because we have to drive right through it,” said Sophia Muni, senior at Suffern High School in Suffern, New York. “Maryland’s town is nothing compared to Delaware’s or Michigan’s and it makes the school less attractive.”
Council’s goal is to promote development on Route 1 by creating an area called Terrapin Row in the place of the current Knox Box apartments as additional student housing.
“What the City of College Park is hoping for is that that project will inspire other developers to be more competitive, and then the Route 1 businesses will change their storefronts or new, more competitive businesses will come to Route 1 and it will spark development in downtown College Park,” said McGrath.
According to a slideshow presentation made by architect Robert Keane of WDG Architecture, Terrapin Row will be a similar style to the nearby Commons apartments and the buildings will be modeled after well-regarded buildings on campus. They will be a combination of the traditional brick buildings such as McKeldin Library and more modern buildings like Knight Hall or the Kim Engineering Building. The new development will create approximately 1500 beds.
The exterior of the village will also include a grand staircase modeled after the Spanish Steps in Rome and the stairs in front of McKeldin Library, as well as restaurants and retail at street level.
“We are not sure what kinds of retail and restaurants will be at Terrapin Row yet, but staff thinks it will be similar to that seen at the Varsity or at the Domain,” said Miriam Bader, senior planner for the City of College Park.
Some of the expected amenities include an outdoor beach volleyball court, an outdoor fire pit, an outdoor pool, and a huge projection screen by the pool, according to the slideshow. There will also be a two-level parking garage for resident, visitor and retail use.
“Aside from Commons, all of the other apartment complexes in the Knox and Hartwick area are gross,” said junior Nikki Kurtz. “It will be a nice change to see something so nice there, even if I’ll have graduated by the time it’s ready.”
Construction is expected to begin fall 2014.
*Images from Robert Keane at WDG Architecture