University Town Center Agility Enables Long Term Success

[ By Herschel Blumberg ]

Independence Plaza includes a regular schedule of events during the day and on weekends for everyone throughout the community to enjoy.

Large real estate projects and the communities they create need to be flexible in order to adapt to shifts in market conditions. University Town Center (UTC), one of the nation’s first planned town centers designed in the early 50’s, is agile in its platform and able to adapt with the future. UTC is a 56-acre mixed-use project in Hyattsville, Md., now in the middle of a major expansion. UTC’s first buildings were designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone. His design was considered to be at the forefront of the market with a flexible design allowing for a range of tenants and uses, ideally suited to expand into a town center environment and to accommodate growth and changes in market demand.

A Design Ahead of its Time In 1961, Stone conceived a town center campus anchored by commercial office, entertainment destinations and complementary retail and residential components. The Town Center Plan was ahead of its time. The project was also ahead of the market. Art, services and amenities were integrated throughout the UTC campus, providing appeal as an office location. Original services included a day care facility (ahead of its time when first introduced), and several cafeterias. The project also featured centers for the arts; a music school; many medical and dental offices; and the Business Technology Growth Center, an incubator created by UTC for startup companies.

Market influences, including a moratorium on utilities and the diverting of Interstate 95 at I-495, delayed the completion of the original town center plan in the mid 1970s. However, the market matured, and the community demanded better transportation, retail, and cultural venues. What resulted was a new metro station and aggressive growth in the region, which generated a need to reassess the project’s market positioning. A team of designers including RTKL - Master Project Architect, and Parker Rodriguez - Landscape Architects, was retained to revisit the original vision. The effort resulted in a revised master plan for a transit-oriented, mixed-use project with new uses introduced including rental and for sale housing, hotels, as well as retail and entertainment facilities.

The original phase of the development consists of three commercial office buildings built in the 1960s totaling 1.4 million square feet of space and 3,500 surface parking spaces. The office buildings at UTC are known for their large floor plates of 30,000 square feet, accommodating both large and small tenant requirements. UTC’s unique tenant mix from small start-up, technology-based and community/art oriented uses to world-renowned research and federal agencies like NASA, the FDA and the USDA, provides a critical mass to support additional uses and services.

A key element of the project’s design is the central thoroughfare, an avenue named America Boulevard, connecting a ribbon of retail and pedestrian-oriented activity, providing the essential link between the various uses. America Boulevard also provides a staging area for the main plaza, outdoor cafes, outdoor art displays, musical performances, and serves as the front door for the residential component. Once complete, the project will include up to three million square feet of office space, over 300 new residential units, and 250,000 square feet of new retail and entertainment including a 56,180-square-foot Lifestyle Safeway store, a state-of-the-art 14–screen Royale 14 Theatre, and an assortment of restaurants and pubs.

Towers at University Town Center, a 910-room student bed luxury rental property with upscale amenities, opened in August 2006 and houses students from 11 colleges and universities.

The Art of Repositioning
During the planning phase, the multi-family market was just taking off, yet pressure in the market for student housing dictated that rental housing was a priority. The development team extensively researched what elements were fundamental to meet the needs of future residents (and workers). Market research revealed a 2,500-bed shortage of student housing at the University of Maryland (UMD) campus. UMD was no longer guaranteeing housing for juniors, seniors, transfer or graduate students. The design team used student survey data and market research to determine the density of residential projects and whether they should be rental or for sale housing. Residential housing at UTC includes:

• The Towers at UTC - a 16-story, 910-bed student-housing double tower that attracts students from the University of Maryland, and 10 other colleges and universities in Maryland and the District of Columbia. The amenities and the design are well above market deliberately to meet the demands of this generation. The building is fully wired for cable and wireless Internet. Other amenities include 24-hour access control, parking, a full gym with two tanning beds, a roof top pool and sundeck, a sitting room that feels more like a private club in a five star hotel, and a game room with two 92-inch projection screen TVs.

• One Independence Plaza - the first upscale condominium building in the market, and first for UTC. One Independence Plaza appeals to the transient nature of the market, and lifestyle of the busy young professional. The eight-story building is located on the plaza.

• Lofts 22 - the second condo building, is a small, uniquely designed project that takes full advantage of its site while serving as an anchor and iconic image along the project’s primary retail corridor. The design is bold and eye-catching and has become the centerpiece of the project adjacent to the public plaza. Floor plans range from two stories or a one story with private patio and extra bedroom. The residential units feature stained concrete floors, concrete counters, lots of steel and glass. The building is made of zinc and has a green roof system. The system uses a combination of dominant species, subsidiary species and accent plants designed to cover the roof quickly while adding diversity to the roofscape. The ultimate heights expected from these plantings are four to six inches with the accent plants growing more vertically to 10 inches.

During the repositioning process, a variety of uses were integrated to create a more vibrant environment with a synergy that appeals to a blend of audiences. Building upon an existing employment base of 5,000, the new design and diversity of uses achieves just that. The residential and retail face a large public plaza that includes public art, seating areas, a moveable performance stage, water features and regularly scheduled activities. The student housing and the individual residential components, together with UTC’s strong retail and office, help create an exciting environment for the entire community.

Blending Uses, Facilities and Infrastructure
The integration of new buildings, uses and design is complicated. Fortunately, the original plan has a very clear vision, with built-in flexibility for future variables. The transformation of UTC from what some perceived as a government office park into a new town center has taken considerable care and thought. The designers found solutions utilizing existing structures, and phased components to best meet market demand. The floor plates of the office buildings are considerably larger than those being built today, and the ground floors feature ceiling heights, depth, and column placement that readily accommodates today’s retailers requirements. Some office buildings were retrofitted with ground floor retail that wraps the buildings, creating a critical mass of retail along the project’s primary corridors.

Phase I of the expansion includes a 200,000-square-foot office building, 222,000 square feet of retail and new residential units (910 student beds and 134 condominium units).Click here to enlarge

The project’s principal platform proved an ideal podium to build the residential and public plaza and entertainment areas. The integration of uses facilitates sharing of critical infrastructure and a blending of uses that creates an environment similar to old style towns. University Town Center is a live, work and play community with access to Metrorail, air and highway travel.

University Town Center is a true mixed-use town center aligned with the needs of Hyattsville and Prince George’s County and integrating all of the goals of smart growth development by bringing together first class office space, retail, residential and hotel components. “University Town Center is an urban development in a suburban setting and the common thread joining these elements is the new retail anchored by Safeway and Consolidated Theaters,” said Kwasi Holman, President, Prince George’s Economic Development Corporation. “The Plaza serves as the ‘town square’ and includes a large open area for community activities including public art, music performances, cafes and specialty retail stores,” said Holman, offering something for people of all ages – tenants, residents and the community. The project design incorporates pedestrian friendly streets complemented by dense landscaping, with a mix of uses.”

Project Financing and Management
University Town Center is privately financed, with no incentives or public subsidies except for a special taxing district created with the City of Hyattsville to help pay for some infrastructure. The project is also managed internally from development and construction management to property management. A team of expert leasing firms complements the UTC team’s core experience including EDGE Commercial Real Estate for office space and Roadside Development for retail.

The density of the project is fast becoming a catalyst attracting other investment to the market and generating significant returns to the community. The first phase of the expansion development, completed in the summer of 2007, will generate at least $24 million in tax revenue into the state, according to 2004 estimates. Prince George’s County will receive more than $7 million annually and the city of Hyattsville will receive an additional $1.5 million in tax revenue, according to the estimates.