Beans Last Days

Thirteen years ago, at The Rouse Company annual shareholders meeting, Tony Deering announced that catalog retailer LL Bean would be opening its first ever retail (non-outlet) store at The Mall. The story goes that this announcement upstaged the retailers own plans to break the news. To show their displeasure at this preemptive PR strike by a real estate developer, LL Bean went ahead and opened their Tysons Corner store first.

Despite this corporate silliness, LL Bean opened its Columbia store in May of 2001, a few months after Tysons Corner. This Sunday, after twelve years selling khakis and canoes to HoCo locos, the Columbia store will close. By midsummer the 30,000 square foot building that housed them will be gone, replaced by a new plaza and a reopening of the old main entrance.

In This Months Business Monthly

When my family moved into the Bryant Woods neighborhood in Columbia in the summer of 1968 there were model homes on our cul de sac making it a regular stop for the Columbia tour buses. There was 7-11 store nearby with a snack bar but the real action was up at the Wilde Lake Village Center where, in addition to a grocery store, there was a butcher, a bookstore, a cheese shop, a pharmacy with a soda fountain, a women’s clothing store and a record store. The village center was the social and commercial hub of the community. One of the highlights of the holiday season was when the village center would host an open house. As Columbia residents visited the different stores, each merchant provided some type of holiday fare. The punch that Columbia Bank and Trust ladled out was particularly popular.

For some residents of Columbia, this was the embodiment of the Jim Rouse vision.

Only it wasn't.

In the late sixties, Columbia was still a small town with a population of less than 10,000. A forlorn silo stood where The Mall is today.

It didn't last long. The true Rouse vision was to build a city ten times that size. By the beginning of the seventies residents of the new city began to get new places to gather. Oakland Mills village center came online in 1969 and Harper's Choice got their own village center in 1971. Wilde Lake was no longer something unique, it was simply one of three.

The biggest change for Wilde Lake though came in 1972 when that lonely silo was replaced with a regional mall. The bookstore and clothing store moved out of Wilde Lake and into The Mall. The slow decline of the centers fortunes had begun. By the mid seventies memories of those early year holiday open house nights had already begun to fade.

You can read this months column here.

Kimco QR Fail

This afternoon I spotted this QR code stuck to one of the windows of the former Produce Galore space in the Wilde Lake Village Center. I was curious to see if it would enlighten me about the progress that Kimco is making on the redevelopment of the center. I whipped my i5 and gave it a quick scan.

The following message immediately appeared on my phone:

The Marketing Package for the selected site was not found. Possible reasons include:

• The site reference ID is incorrect, invalid or no longer in use
• The site has been sold or removed
• Documentation is not available

I scanned it again just to make sure. Same message.

It’s obvious that something is about to get cooking besides fast food at the old village center. There is now a stockade construction fence surrounding the former KFC building and there's an asbestos removal notice taped to another storefront window.

Maybe I should have asked Siri what was going on.

On A Roll

When the Howard Hughes Corporation purchased the former Ryland Headquarters building last August, it was more than half empty. Yesterday, with the announcement that GP Strategies had leased three floors in the nine story office building, it’s now 94% leased. In the commercial real estate game this is a home run.

Howard Hughes is beginning to make home runs look easy. In his remarks at yesterday’s ceremony, John DeWolf, Senior Vice President of Howard Hughes told the guests that downtown Columbia was one of the top three projects for the company. The other two were in Hawaii and New York City.  

There is more exciting news to come in Columbia too, including the pending announcement of the new restaurant for the former Red Pearl space. The company has actually found itself in the enviable position of having to manage announcements so that each new development gets its own time in the spotlight.

And speaking of spotlights, Ken Ulman was also on hand yesterday to help celebrate this latest downtown development and I took the opportunity to chat briefly with him. I asked the exec what he thought about the talk of Dutch Ruppersberger getting into the 2014 gubernatorial race. Ken did not betray any concern about this development. He suggested that it may already too late for Dutch in terms of both grassroots organization and fundraising. Apparently any monies Dutch has raised for his congressional races cannot be used for a statewide race.

In the meantime, Ken can look forward to more opportunities to stand in the spotlight in the coming months as downtown Columbia continues on a roll.

More Food for Turf Valley

When I visited the new Turf Valley Town Square last weekend, I noticed two more restaurants were joining Facci and Petite Cellars in the new shopping center, a sports grill and Xitomate.

 It would be fun if one of these new watering holes dedicated a special drink to Marc Norman, the Turf Valley activist who fought hard to keep this shopping center from being built.

I’m thinking something with sour grapes would be fitting.

Good Neighbors

I am unaccustomed to running into my neighbors at HoCo politico events. It just doesn't happen. Over the six years we've lived in our current neighborhood, it’s only happened three times. The third time occurred last week at Courtney Watson's event in Columbia when I ran into my next door neighbors, the good ones.

Seven years ago, as our side by side homes were being built, I first met Hatem. Later we would become introduced to his wife and two children. Maha now brings her homemade baklava to our 3^rd of July parties. When they traveled back to visit family in Egypt, we kept an eye on their house.

At the party, Hatem told me that he was on the board of the Howard County Muslim Council and explained some of the work that the council is doing in the community. He made a point to mention that Courtney regularly attends their functions and has been supportive of their efforts.

I loved this moment. I often lament about the sad state of loco civic engagement and awareness. When I suddenly discovered that, right next door, another neighbor was quietly doing his part to make HoCo a better place to live, it made me happy.

In contrast, on the other side of my house is a family that has also moved in at the same time. They have two daughters and after seven years I don’t even know their names.

We spoke a little about the plans for a Muslim school and worship center in western HoCo. I told Hatem that a friend of mine is on the executive board of Residents for the Responsible Development of Woodmont, which “opposes the project currently proposed by Dar-Us-Salaam of College Park because it’s size and intensity are far in excess of what RRDW believes is reasonable for the Rural Conservation district and the rural west of Howard County”

I sincerely hope that the Dar-Us-Salaam community and the greater Cooksville community can reach some sort of mutual accommodation on this. There are good people on both sides of this zoning debate so there is good reason to be hopeful.

Moving Day

The Rouse Company building ends its original purpose today. The Howard Hughes Corporation is moving out and over to new offices above Clyde’s restaurant and the building will now essentially shut down until the massive redevelopment effort begins in May. Monday morning, for the first time since 1974, no one will report to work in the building.

Before they turned out the lights one last time, I took the opportunity to capture a few final images of its former life, while it still had a third floor. That 33,000 square foot chunk of internal space goes away with the buildings restoration and reincarnation.

Then again, it won't really eliminate the third floor because what is now the fourth floor will become the new third floor. Suffice it to say that the ceiling height on the street level floor will be dramatically higher and this staircase would lead to nowhere.

When this building opened in the mid-seventies it broke the mold for suburban office buildings, particularly in the more conservative Baltimore business community. Frank Gehry created a corporate headquarters that mimicked the ambiance of its malls with clerestory glass and ficus trees. Gehry once described it as an "elegant warehouse."

I just recall that it was a very cool place to work, especially in those heady days of the Malling of America. From the mid seventies to the late eighties the company was opening five or six new malls across the country every year as if it would never end. 

And then it did.

To see more of the pictures from yesterday, go here.

Parking and Adaptive Reuse

Two buildings in Columbia are adapting to new uses and dealing with resultant parking challenges. On Dobbin Road, the building that now houses the Frisco Grille and two other retail uses was originally constructed for industrial use. In downtown Columbia, a former office building is being converted to retail. They both have different parking lot issues to deal with as a result of these changes.

On Dobbin Road, the owners of 6695 Dobbin Road want to reduce the setback from Dobbin from the existing 25 feet to the county minimum of 7 feet in order to accommodate 20 new parking spaces. Anyone who has ever tried to get a parking space at the Frisco Grille can attest to the need for more spaces. This is indicative of the changing nature of the Dobbin Road corridor, originally conceived for more industrial type uses which generally required fewer parking spaces.

In downtown Columbia, Howard Hughes is seeking to reduce the number of parking spaces at the former Rouse Company headquarters building. As part of the buildings redevelopment the developer proposes to reconfigure the existing parking lots which will result in a reduction of 98 parking spaces. Part of this reduction is due to mitigation of storm water runoff. The reconfigured parking lot will treat “50% of the existing impervious area for water quality within Micro-bioretention facilities within the parking islands.”

This is a huge improvement over existing conditions that offers no storm water mitigation.

In both instances the parking ratios will remain in compliance with county zoning regulations for the new uses.

Merriweather Neighborhood Taking Form

This year the Howard Hughes Corporation intends to submit a Final Development Plan for 35 acres surrounding Merriweather Post Pavilion and Symphony Woods in downtown Columbia. The company's  annual report, filed last week, included the following statement about downtown Columbia:

“We also own approximately 35 acres, net of road and related infrastructure improvements, on the land around Merriweather Post Pavilion, which is south of the Mall. The acreage currently consists of raw land and subdivided land parcels readily available for new development. We intend to propose an initial Final Development Plan to the Howard County Planning department in 2013. Preliminary plans call for at least four million square feet of development activity, with high-rise buildings surrounding the Central Park-like setting afforded by the Pavilion and its surrounding property.”

Meanwhile on Route 40…

Since Safeway left in the summer of 2009, the once venerable Normandy Shopping Center has been a bit of a ghost town while the owners embarked on a four year process to redevelop the property. Next Tuesday night the developer will unveil their latest plans at public meeting in one of the vacant storefronts in the center.

It’s a major makeover that includes about 200 new apartments on a previously undeveloped parcel of land in the center.

Predictably, there are concerns from some neighbors, particularly those whose homes currently back up to the loading area of the former grocery store. It seems to me that they are actually getting an improvement over current conditions. Instead of facing the unfinished backside of an aging strip center, the new plan opens the space up with separate buildings and includes a new pedestrian plaza.

In any event, this development will be a huge improvement and will help reshape this portion of the highway that in recent years has more notably gained notoriety as the location of the only pornographic video store in HoCo.

Merrill Lynch Facelift

I've always considered the Merrill Lynch office building in downtown Columbia to be a bad building in a great location. With its close proximity to The Mall and commanding views of downtown Columbia and the lakefront, this should be the best office building in town.

It isn't.  From the day it first opened in 1982 the building has been plagued with an undersized heating and air conditioning system that, on any given day, left half the building tenants cold and the other half hot.

It also had a split lobby that often left visitors confused. Crossing the pedestrian footbridge from the lakefront, you entered the building on the ground level. Parking in the top level of the garage you entered on the second floor. Parking on the lower level of the garage, you entered a side door on the bridge level.

The upper floor elevator lobbies were a mishmash of finishes as various owners over the years tried to put lipstick on the pig.

The newest owner, First Potomac Realty Trust, is finally doing justice to the buildings great location. The most visible improvement is the opening up of the first two floors creating an impressive two story lobby. They are also upgrading the buildings mechanical systems, elevator cabs, upper floor lobbies and restrooms.

The work is scheduled to be completed in April.

Stifling Dissent

Alan Klein showed his true colors today when he circulated this survey to his supposed supporters. It may be the best example ever of HoCo loco political hubris.

Thank you Alan, for demonstrating so clearly how you really feel about dissenting opinions from your own "so-called" supporters.  I could not have done better if I tried.

Stand Up and Shout

When you get right down to it, the number of people who are actively involved in HoCo loco politics is relatively small in proportion to the population. Most villages in Columbia struggle to reach a simple quorum in their village elections. Even when there is a hotly contested issue such as growth tier legislation or intermodal terminals, it’s usually the same core of a hundred or so people who turn out to testify at public hearings, a pretty small number from a total population of almost three hundred thousand.

This could easily be interpreted as evidence that, for the most part, people are relatively happy with the way things are. This is one of the best places to live in the country after all.

The problem with this laissez-faire attitude is that the vocal minority can often dominate and frame debates, often twisting the facts. Fortunately in HoCo, when the issue is important enough, some folks in the bleachers stop sitting on their hands and let the players on the front lines know they are with them.

This is one of those times when those cheers need to be heard. The Columbia Association has stepped out their customary comfort zone to put forward a bold vision for Columbia’s central park, Symphony Woods. Instead of taking baby steps towards the future, they've laid out a vision that matches the dynamism that will soon take form all around the edges of the long dormant woods. The Inner Arbor plan embraces those changes, instead of turning its back on them.

Naturally, this dynamism is upsetting to some older residents who've grown accustomed to the status quo. They prefer the baby step approach because, in truth, they’d rather just leave things as they are. Opponents of CA’s plan argue that it’s too much too soon and too expensive.

I happen to think they are wrong as do several other people who care deeply about Columbia and Howard County but we need more people to let their voices be heard. It doesn't take much to show your support  either. Just watch this little one minute clip and if you like what you see, go to the website and add your name to the list and raise a cheer for the future of Columbia

That would be awesome.

Communication Breakdown

Paul Skalny made an observation at lunch today that older folks (my people) tend to use letters to the editor to publicly share their thoughts and opinions while younger folks (his people) use social media such as Facebook and blogs.

Of course there are no absolutes. There are plenty of older voices on Facebook and the blogs…including yours truly.

That being said, I think in general terms he’s right, particularly if you consider this letter to editor in Explore Howard, the online successor the Columbia Flier. Cy Paumier, a former planner for The Rouse Company in the late 60’s and early 70’s tells the community that the plan he worked on for Symphony Woods “was approved by the Columbia Association and the Howard County Planning Board in July of 2012.”

CA has now scrapped his plan in favor of a plan devised by Michael McCall, another planner who was influenced by Jim Rouse.

Over in the social media world, Tom Coale, who serves on the Columbia Association Board of Directors representing the Village of Dorsey’s Search, shared his own view of what was actually approved, writing on his blog this morning that “the Paumier Plan, as conceived in the public, is not what was accepted by the Planning Board.  The revised Plan would require meandering paths and better connectivity with Merriweather Post pavilion.  The Planning Board also expressed a lack of excitement or draw by the Paumier Plan, which is a conceptual defect that cannot be cured by redirected paths.”

I wonder which published view is reaching the larger audience.

Coalition of the Unwilling

Alan Klein is energized. The proposal to transform Symphony Woods into an Arts Village has awakened his anti downtown Columbia redevelopment activism. Once again he is attaching “Coalition for Downtown Columbia” to his byline, insinuating that he represents something real and vital to the interests of the citizens when he mounts his soapbox in opposition.

In a bellicose email sent out yesterday, purportedly on behalf of this coalition, Alan claims the proposed "Inner Arbor" plan would destroy “the serene, park-like environment which we all supported and which was brought to fruition by Cy Paumier's design and which was already approved by the Planning Board.”

This is intentionally misleading. The Cy Paumier plan he refers to may have been approved by the CA board but the Design Advisory Panel, charged with overseeing the cohesion of the downtown redevelopment process, found it inadequate. They directed CA to go back to the drawing board.

It really wasn't much of a plan, particularly when compared to what is now being considered. The key elements were a fountain and a café. There weren't even any restrooms in the plan. The whole café concept was somewhat suspect too. Cy told me that initially it likely would be a  mobile café, something that would be wheeled into the park during the warmer months and then parked away during winter. In any other place this would be known as a food truck.

The fountain was a nice design element but it’s not a destination, even if it is interactive. How many times would a family spend an afternoon there?

So who exactly is this coalition that Alan claims to speak for?

He claims that CoFoCoDo is made up over 400 members yet it has no regularly elected board of directors or officers. The membership (or supporters) list is at least five years old. Many of those who initially signed on are no longer supporters. County executive Ken Ulman is listed as a member yet he has wholeheartedly endorsed the new plan for Symphony Woods.  I doubt he would have ever signed up if he knew doing so would mean committing to a lifetime of having Alan claim to represent him on issues pertaining to Columbia's downtown.

Alan and his small but vocal band of aging activists are predictably opposed to anything that disturbs their own belief of what Columbia should be. They are truly the coalition of the unwilling. 

Plaza Tower Redux

Five years ago I wrote this post lamenting the demise of the Plaza Residences condominium project in downtown Columbia. The 23 story luxury high rise fell victim to the housing recession and delays caused by lawsuits seeking stop it. WCI Communities had started the project in 2006 but two years of legal challenges cost the company dearly. WCI declared bankruptcy in 2008 and put the project, including a building permit, on the market. The hope was that someone else would be willing to take that permit and  finish the project.

In August of 2011, Jessica Anderson reported in The Sun that WCI “lost its legal bid to keep plans for the tower alive.”

Or did it?

Last year David Costello and a group of investors purchased the property, along with the completed construction drawings for the Plaza Residences tower. It turns out that he also acquired a valid building permit, a permit that was originally issued over five years ago.

Last week, at the wall breaking ceremony for The Mall expansion, I asked Marsha McLaughlin if that permit was still valid. “Yes,” she replied.

In other words, it’s not dead yet. Costello may ultimately decide not to build the Plaza Residences building. If he felt the market could not support a luxury condo project in downtown Columbia, he could always take a different direction with the property. On the other hand, if he wants to build the 23 story tower it looks like he could.

No Little Plan

Click to enlarge

Columbia founder Jim Rouse often cited Chicago architect Daniel Burnham for one of his favorite quotes: “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized.”

This quotation was called to mind as CA Board member Tom Coale and Michael McCall from Strategic Leisure laid out the new vision for Symphony Woods last week in Phil Nelsons office. After putting their fountain in the park plan on hold last August, the Columbia Association has come back with a bold vision for Columbia’s central park. This is much more than a café in the woods or an interactive fountain, it is a strategic plan that leverages an assortment of existing community assets to benefit the whole.

The key elements of the plan are the CA headquarters building and Toby’s Theater.  CA, which has been engaged in a headquarters search for the past year, would build a new 30,000 square foot office building on top of a subterranean theater for Toby’s . Additionally, the Columbia Centerfor Theatrical Arts will finally have a permanent home for its children’s theater and the community will get a new function space to replace the now shuttered Spear Center.

To make it all work, a new trust with an independent board will be established to oversee Symphony Woods. That is probably the biggest idea of all. The trust will operate outside of the sometimes dysfunctional politics of the CA board and will be able to apply for grants from outside organizations for programs and installations.

The plan, which is being called the Inner Arbor, is long range and will take years before being fully realized but certain elements such as the CA headquarters and Toby’s theater will likely come sooner rather than later. CA is facing a lease expiration on its current space and right now Toby’s is in a position to leverage its present building and land as part of the overall Columbia downtown redevelopment plan.

Nicely done CA. This plan stirred my blood.

The Transformation (Gentrification?) of Route 1

It is most evident in the stretch of Route 1 between Route 175 and Route 100. Icons of the past have been replaced with shiny new projects. The Copper Stallion Motel has been demolished to make way for a medical office building and the former Aladdin Mobile Home Park is now a mixed use development called Howard Square. The workingman’s roadhouse, Three Nines Tavern has been razed and is now a development opportunity. Next to what once was a thriving flea market, the 85 acre Blue Stream development (pictured above) is well underway.

After eleven years of preparation, the Route 1 Revitalization effort has finally begun, changing the face and character of one of HoCo’s more colorful corridors.

There’s much more to come too.

In this two mile section of Route 1 alone there are at least twenty pink signs marking proposed changes for the comprehensive zoning process, making it one the highest concentrations of  zoning amendments in the county. In all, there are over 40 proposed changes within the HoCo borders of the 2,377 mile highway that begins at the Canadian border in Fort Kent and ends in Key West.

“Tear Down This Wall”

Instead of a groundbreaking, this morning GGP held a wall bashing ceremony for the newest addition to the The Mall in Columbia.  Participants were invited to sling a sledgehammer at a drywall partition inside the former J. Crew store just off the center court to mark the beginning of the malls next phase. As the first sledgehammers hit the wall, Joan Lancos quipped “tear down this wall,” recalling Ronald Reagan's famous line from his speech at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987.

 In a matter of days work will commence in earnest to reopen what was originally the main entrance.

Just outside the entrance GGP will construct 70,000 square feet of new retail space along a promenade leading out to the existing fountain. Though no tenant announcements were made this morning it was disclosed that there are leases out on some of the spaces. It's never a good idea to announce a deal until everyone has signed along the dotted line.

Most of the construction will not be visible until May when the existing LL Bean store is demolished. Katie Essing, the mall manager, told me that the demolition will begin in May, shortly after the store closes.

Pink Sign Marks the Spot

The applications for changes to the current zoning regulations are in and the comprehensive zoning process is now well underway in HoCo. Properties that have applied for zoning map and regulation changes are sporting these snappy pink and black signs.

Am I the only one that finds the placement of these signs problematic?

In most cases the signs are planted along the road where there is no place to pull over and read them. The same is true with most zoning notice signs. You would not be faulted for thinking that this is at least somewhat intentional.

In any event, this countywide land use makeover is likely to dominate the councils agenda this spring. This isn't comp lite. This is comp heavy and some property owners are likely to test the limits of the spirit and intent of Plan Howard 2030. According to the county website it is expected “to be complete prior to the Council’s 2013 summer recess.”