October 7th, 2010 | by David Daddio | published in Book Exchange Site, Housing, Old Town, Politics
In 2006, roughly 23% of the single-family homes in College Park were rental units. In Old Town (the area bounded by Route 1, Paint Branch Pkwy, Calvert Rd and the Metro tracks) about 3 in 4 houses are rented (red and blue dots above). This is according to a detailed GIS study conducted by Eric [...]
September 27th, 2010 | by Fazlul Kabir | published in Book Exchange Site, Housing, Old Town
[Update 9/30/2010: This post has been updated with comments from District 4 Council woman Denise Mitchell] The proposal to build a 6-story, 334-unit student housing on the current Book Exchange property may still be in its very primitive stage, yet some City Council members have already started to take sides on this development. Interestingly enough, not [...]
September 27th, 2010 | by David Daddio | published in Book Exchange Site, Downtown, Housing
Please mark your calendars for Monday, September 27th 7:30 PM City Hall Council Chambers A small committee of Old Town residents was set up to speak with the developer of the proposed Book Exchange Housing Project. That committee consists of Steve Brayman (former Mayor), Stephanie Stullich (city councilwoman for the area), Bob Schnabel (Stullich’s Husband), Chris [...]
September 16th, 2010 | by David Daddio | published in Book Exchange Site, Housing, Politics
A letter we got our hands on from UMD VP of Administrative Affairs to District 3 County Councilman Eric Olson indicates that UMD supports the Book Exchange Redevelopment Plan. In the past, UMD’s support has been a make or break for student housing projects in the city. The letter, dated August 25th, doesn’t specifically cite [...]
September 15th, 2010 | by David Daddio | published in Book Exchange Site, General College Park, Housing, Politics
“We need to create a housing balance and start attracting redevelopment that will help spur a greater variety of restaurants, stores and housing for professionals, graduate students, as well as undergraduates.” ~ Eric Olson, Dist. 3 County Councilman “When it comes to development, it’s important to have a balance. At this point, we’ve done so [...]
September 12th, 2010 | by David Daddio | published in Book Exchange Site, Downtown, Housing
“My initial reaction is that they’re not going to be able to build student housing at this site,” he said. “I think that the space could be better used.” ~ Eric Olson, Dist. 3 County Councilman Back in July, the Diamondback had an article talking about development plans to turn the Book Exchange lot into [...]
August 1st, 2010 | by Marcus Afzali | published in Bicycles, Businesses, Housing, Mazza Grandmarc, Projects, Transportation
The long awaited opening of the Mazza Grandmarc took place today as the first graduate students were allowed to move in. The primary move in date for non graduate students will be August 22nd. I spoke with the on site manager who told me the Mazza is now around 45% full (it was under 10% [...]
May 18th, 2010 | by David Daddio | published in Housing, Mazza Grandmarc
About 15 people turned out Monday for the RTCP-sponsored tour of the nearly complete 630-bed Mazza GrandMarc graduate student housing community in northern College Park. Half of the City Council was in attendance along with interested community members and the press. Each got the opportunity to tour the complex’s different unit configurations (1-4 bedrooms), check [...]
