Which Choice Makes Sense?

In his column “Shaping the City” in today’s Washington Post, Roger Lewis poses the following question about the future of Columbia’s downtown:

“Thus, which choice makes the most sense: preserving the form and function of Columbia Town Center as originally envisioned in the 1960’s or embracing a vision to create a vital downtown for the 21st century?”

My vote goes to the latter.

Wegmans Saga Part Nine

I ran into Richard Talkin at the Roger Lewis talk this past Wednesday. Richard is the local counsel for Wegmans. Whenever I’ve wanted to find out what’s going with Wegmans I’ve turned to Richard.

In my last post on Wegmans (Wegmans Saga Part Eight) I speculated that, with their most recent court victory, they would likely be on track for a late 2009, early 2010 opening. Local food blogger HowChow pointed out that on the list of upcoming store openings on their website; the opening for the Columbia Wegmans is listed as “to be determined.”

I asked Richard if Wegmans was postponing their expansion plans due to the economy.

“We’re still working to resolve the legal challenges.”

Apparently, the latest Board of Appeals victory was not the end of the legal battles. “We have three separate court cases going on,” he told me, “It’s ridiculous.”

Indeed.

The Wegmans opponents continue to appeal every loss despite not having won a single ruling so far. It seems that the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union has determined that even though they may not stop Wegmans from eventually opening in Columbia they can at least delay the inevitable.

Not suprisingly, this same union has also allied itself with a very vocal minority who are trying to keep Harris Teeter out of Turf Valley. They seem determine to pud a lid on anymore non union grocers in Howard County.

400,000 New Jobs in the Next 15 Years

The Fort Meade Regional Growth Management Committee (“RGMC”) predicts that our area will see a growth of 400,000 new jobs over the next 15 years. This committee was established to facilitate collaboration on major issues that are regional in scope. The region covered by this committee is highlighted in blue.

According to the RGMC, “The growth stimulated by Fort Meade will almost certainly be the largest single source of new jobs for the region during this period.” 

The RGMC also estimates that this new job growth will result in 85 million square feet of new commercial space and more than 265,000 new housing units. 

Columbia and Ellicott City are particularly well positioned to benefit from this extraordinary job growth.

Fatburger Ravens Connection

According to this article from Citybiz, the new Fatburger in Gateway Overlook is the first of ten planned for Maryland by former Ravens offensive lineman, Orlando Brown. 

“Orlando Brown is so certain his fellow residents will love Fatburger as much as he does that he is planning to open a total of 10 locations throughout D.C. and its surrounding suburbs over the next six years.” 

Football fans may recall that Orlando Brown was the player who suffered an eye injury after being accidently hit by a referee’s flag in 1999 while playing for the Cleveland Browns. As a result of the eye injury he had to sit out three seasons before returning to play in Baltimore. He last played for the Ravens in the 2005 season.

Altieri Begins Fade to Black

According to the Howard/Arundel Report, Altieri Homes has reduced its stake in the Hebron Manor development in Ellicott City to nine homes in “various stages of construction.” The builder recently sold off the remaining 60 undeveloped lots to Columbia based Williamsburg Homes for $6.92 million.

Presumably the troubled Altieri will attempt to finish and market those nine homes that it still holds but that could prove challenging given that two different banks, K Bank and Bradford Bank hold the construction loans on them. Couple that with the fact that they will be selling against Williamsburg in the same community. Williamsburg has a much better record of customer satisfaction.

Of course, at the right price, anything will sell.

Becoming a City: Lessons for Downtown Columbia

As I noted in a previous post, Bring Back the Vision is hosting a talk by Roger K. Lewis entitled “Becoming a City: Lessons for Downtown Columbia” this Wednesday evening from at The Vantage House auditorium in Town Center.

So who is this guy?

Roger is a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland School Architecture. He also writes a column called Shaping the City for the Washington Post. He knows a little bit about Columbia. Twenty years ago he was part of study group put together by The Rouse Company to chart a future for Columbia’s downtown.

The Sun ran this story about him on Sunday. Among his Columbia observations were the following:

"Columbia is a distinct settlement with the identity, population and geography of a city - it just doesn't look or behave like one,"

"There is a clear advantage to having a downtown that is more than a central business district,"

"The Lakefront is a lost opportunity in a culture that has rediscovered [the benefits of living and playing near] water,"

"Columbia is a patchwork of disparate elements, and it's not greater than the sum of its parts. "But it could be."

Roger will not get into the specifics of GGP’s town center plans but he will “offer generic observations and suggestions gleaned from lessons learned by other cities and from Columbia's own mistakes and successes.”

I like the fact that BBV is doing this. Instead of constantly hearing from what I refer to as weekend or armchair planners, BBV is raising the dialogue by hosting an independent view of the opportunity and challenges facing Columbia.

The meeting will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Vantage House, 5400 Vantage Point Road. It is open to the public but reservations are requested by e-mail to emilylincoln@realtor.com.

The Best Offense is a Good Defense

Much to Mama Wordbones chagrin, I spent the better part of the past weekend watching football. As a Ravens fan I am thoroughly enjoying their improbable run towards the Super Bowl. It just doesn’t get much better than this for a football fan.

While I was watching the action on the gridiron, a local developer took a lesson from the Ravens playbook and made an impressive defensive move. The developer of the proposed shopping center in Turf Valley has launched a website to counter the efforts of those would like to derail the project by putting the size of the grocery store in the center up for referendum. It was fellow blogger Freemarket who first made me aware of this.

I like this move. Rather than sit back and let the anti-growth activists define the issues, Greenberg Gibbons has responded with an informative website that even provides instructions on how to remove your name from the petition if you believe you were misled by the petition gatherers.

On another small note, the developer’s website informs us that the proposed grocery store for the new center will in fact be a Harris Teeter. I believe I called it here first.

GO RAVENS!

In This Months Business Monthly

It is hard for a writer to resist doing one of those “year end” retrospective pieces in January or December. This year I succumbed to the urge as I cast about for something to write about in the second week of December that would still seem relevant in January. The Business Monthly had an earlier than usual deadline last month because of the holidays.

What really inspired me though was one of the newest retail centers in Howard County, The Shoppes at Shipleys Grant. This 24,000 square foot strip center, developed by Bavar Properties, is arguably the best designed small retail center in the county. Projects like this raise the bar for all that follow and that is a very good thing.

The contrast of that center and Gateway Overlook is startling. Gateway Overlook with its prime location at the I-95 and MD Route 175 interchange is about as unimaginative as a retail center can be. Even though it has a great lineup of retailers it’s layout is a throwback to retail planning of two decades ago. General Growth Properties inherited a project that was already well underway when they acquired it along with the The Rouse Company in 2004. Much of the blame for the poor design can be laid at the feet of the former Rouse Company executives.

I also couldn’t resist taking a couple of year end pot shots at the dysfunctional Columbia Association board and the anti-growth activists.

You can find my January column here.

Speed Bump

About a year ago, I wrote a post in another blog that featured a panel from Dave Coverly, the creator of “Speed Bump.”

Speed Bump is one of my favorite comics. I make sure to check it out everyday (except Sunday) in the Washington Post. Some days he makes me laugh out loud.

He did just that yesterday. It particularly struck home given that we have been discussing healthcare here (and here) lately.

In all discussions it is healthy to maintain a certain degree of levity.

I emailed him and asked if I could share it here. He once again graciously complied. Thanks Dave.

Stinky Starbucks

Yesterday I stopped into the Starbucks in the Mall in Columbia. After grabbing my drink I slid into the restroom.

Ugh!

I’ve seen cleaner restrooms in a gas station. It stunk too.

The thing is, this isn’t the first time I’ve found these facilities to be sub par. What’s up with that Starbucks?

C’mon, Man Part Two

In a previous post I came down hard on Charter Internal Medicine for the way they handled their decision to reverse course on transforming to a concierge type medical practice. In early December Charter announced that it was bowing to pressure from state regulators and reversing course. Patients of Charter first learned of this change of course by reading about it in the paper. As a Charter patient I did not receive any communication from them about this change until January 2nd.

Last week I had an appointment with my Charter doctor. I told him I thought it was handled poorly from their end and he apologized. He told me that they were faced with a quick decision to challenge the state or to comply. The potential for a large legal expense to fight it discouraged them from the challenge.

I have worked with other doctors in Howard County who have transitioned their practices from the insurance reimbursement model to the retainer model without any interference from the government. The difference between those practices and Charter is that they were small. With over 9,000 patients on its rolls, Charter was big enough to attract the regulators and politicians attention.

Of course this isn’t right. The government is effectively forcing the doctors to work with the insurance companies. The insurance companies have a very powerful lobby.

The result of all this is that the consumer (patient) is disconnected from the actual cost of healthcare. This is one of the fundamental problems with the cost of healthcare in this country as Dr. Mark Perry points out in this post on his Carpe Diem blog.

I still say “c’mon, man” but now I direct the comment to the Maryland Insurance Administration and politicians who are trying to stifle real healthcare reform.

C’mon, man!

Going Green in Oakland Mills

This past Monday I convinced my colleagues to check out the Second Chance Saloon in Oakland Mills for lunch. When I mentioned to the boys that they have sliders on the menu it was a done deal.

Driving down Kilimanjaro Road, we started talking about the unique single family homes that the former county housing director, Leonard Vaughan once described as looking “like mobile homes.” Some of these homes have aged quite well, some others not so much.

As we were passing Torrent Row we noticed some new construction. I drove by for a closer look.

Much to my surprise, someone was building a LEED for Homes house where one of these smaller houses once sat. The architect is an Ellicott City firm, DW Taylor and Associates.

This is an encouraging sign in an older neighborhood.

Fatburger, Finally

There has been much discussion around here about when and, for that matter, if Fatburger was going to open its store in Gateway Overlook near Trader Joes’s. HowChow had the latest update that I am aware of.

Until today that is.

You heard it here first. The Fatburger in Gateway Overlook will open next Monday, January 12th. At least that’s what the big guy in the Fatburger shirt told me this afternoon. He even yelled inside to his colleagues for confirmation.

“Yup, it’s definitely January 12th.”

So there you have it, Fatburger will open just in time for your New Years resolution to lose that extra ten pounds.

Armed Robbery in Columbicott City

According to this Howard County Police Daily Crime Bulletin, the Howard Bank branch located in the Columbia Corporate Park 100 office park was held up last Friday by two men, “one armed with a handgun and one armed with a shotgun.”

“Customers were ordered to the floor and two bank employees were ordered to open the vault where cash was taken.”

Sheesh! That had to have been pretty scary.

Off The Market

In October, General Growth Properties put 50 and 60 Columbia Corporate Center (AKA Parkside and Park Square) on the market to raise cash. As I wrote back then, the only current shoppers for these types of commercial assets are bargain hunting. I doubted that GGP would let these prime Town Center office buildings go for a “fire sale” price.

It looks like I was right.

According to the Howard/Arundel Report, GGP has taken the two office properties off the market.

It may be that the pressure from Chicago to sell local assets was eased some by the recent land sales by the company in the planned community of Emerson. In December GGP sold all of the remaining lots in the Emerson Corporate Commons to the James F. Knott Realty Group for just over $13 million and all the remaining single family lots in Stone Lake to Craftmark Homes for $4.2 million.

These prices were a discount of approximately 40% over what was being paid for the same land this time last year.

Scene This Week In...

Normally I like to have a story to run with the pictures I post for Scene This Week. This time I don’t. Since we took down and put away all of our holiday décor at home I figured it was time to do the same here. The picture of the Christmas carolers in Ellicott City needed to be put to the curb with the Christmas trees.

With snow and ice in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow it seemed appropriate to post scenes of water…and ice.

Scene this Week in Columbia is a shot of a lightly frozen over Lake Elkhorn in Owen Brown. It was taken this morning.
Scene This Week in Ellicott City is a small waterfall off Bonnie Branch just off Bonnie Branch Road in Ellicott City. There are actually a series of small waterfalls along this stretch road making it one of the most beautiful roads in the county anytime of the year. This photo was taken yesterday.

Roger That

“Columbia’s master plan and zoning should be revisited primarily to retrofit and infill the town center, adding new streets and buildings with a rich mixture of uses, including housing.”

Though that statement sounds like it could have come from General Growth Properties as they seek zoning changes to transform Columbia’s downtown it actually came from Roger K. Lewis, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Architecture. It was written twenty years ago.

In the fall of 1989, Roger wrote an article in the Columbia Magazine entitled “Are We a City Yet?” in which he lamented that “Columbia is really not that different from much of the rest of suburbia, not that different from the patchwork quilt of subdivisions ringing metropolitan Washington or Richmond, Boston or Philadelphia, Dallas or Los Angeles.”

So what does Roger think of GGP’s proposed plans for Town Center?

You can ask him yourself. Bring Back the Vision has invited Roger to share his views at a community meeting on Wednesday, January 14th from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at the Vantage House Retirement Community in Town Center.

This should be interesting.

Uncle Jay and the Year in Review

My sister Bobbi (aka Sandgas) just sent me the link to this video. It’s very well done and a pretty good chuckle. A wag of the tail to Sandgas.

What Day Is It?

For that matter, what time is it?

Things are a little out of kilter at our home. Both Mama Wordbones and I took off today. The girls slept in this morning. It felt like Sunday. Around 11:00 or so this morning Mama Wordbones whipped up some breakfast which meant that lunch would screw up dinner. When we get a holiday in the middle of a week it really throws off the normal ebb and flow of our household.

The ebb and flow of the Columbia lakefront restaurant scene was the topic of conversation while watching the Trojans maul the Nittany Lions in the Rose Bowl with some neighbors last night. We were mostly talking about the recent demise of Jesse Wong’s Hong Kong. One of my neighbors contended that it is just a lousy spot for a restaurant.

I could understand why he would think that. There has been a progression of failed restaurants in that spot. The first was a salad concept called Fresh Choice. They were followed by a Brazilian steakhouse concept. I can’t recall what that place was called.

And now Jesse Wong’s, a dim sum concept, closes.

So is it the operator, the concept, or the real estate?

Jesse Wong’s Hong Kong was run by an experienced successful restaurateur. That tells me there is nothing wrong with the operator.

The lakefront location is flanked by Sushi Sono on one side and Tomato Palace on the other. Both of these restaurants are doing fine, even in this current recession. That tells me that there is nothing wrong with the real estate.

So it must be the concept.

Starting Off Behind

I had fully intended to write a New Years Day post. If, as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then yesterday I was a paving stone.

On New Years Eve, Mama Wordbones and I attended a neighborhood party that was also a wedding reception. The bride and groom have a great sense of humor which was reflected in their wedding cake.

After bringing in the New Year with the new couple and our neighbors, we walked home. There is something to be said for attending a New Years Eve party that you can walk to. By 1 AM we were snug in our own bed where we remained until 11:00 the next morning.

When I came downstairs and looked at the Christmas tree I decided that would be my priority task for the day. Once Christmas Day is over, the Christmas tree loses most of its luster. In place of nicely wrapped gifts dressing up the base of the tree there are a scattering of pine needles and the odd opened gift. All a Christmas tree represents to me after Christmas is an unfinished chore so I tackled that chore yesterday and today my tree sits at curbside waiting to be recycled into mulch for our county parks.

This morning when I got up, I resolved to do my first post of 2009.

I want to begin this New Year by thanking the readers of Tales of Two Cities. It is extremely gratifying to see how the readership here has grown over the past year. In December 2007 this blog recorded a little over 2,000 visits. One year later that number was just over 3,500.

I attribute some of this growth to the fact that I am posting more regularly now. In 2007 I wrote 107 posts. In 2008 I wrote 258 posts. My goal for 2009 is 365 posts.

I’m already one day behind.