Council has issues with new housing
Brady Holt
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News
The exterior design of a new Route 1 housing complex slated to go up next to the College Park Car Wash has sparked the latest debate over the long-embattled project.
Tuesday, developer Mukesh Majmudar and two of his architects showed renderings of the proposed StarView Plaza, an angular glass-covered five-story building set close to the road and equipped with a three-level underground parking garage.
Majmudar said the unique design is intended to be environmentally friendly, but his plans are clashing with some tastes on the College Park City Council and a city ordinance that mandates extensive use of brick in Route 1 facades.
The disagreement is once more putting the project's schedule in doubt, six years after development on the site was first proposed and in the midst of a severe on-campus housing shortage.
The design team is asking the city to waive the brick requirement so it can keep on schedule to open by fall 2009.
"There's a mandate for 75 percent brick. But that mandate was to create a colonial, Georgian-style building that would mesh with the university's architecture," architect Jon Grant said. "But this building has to be somewhat iconic, and brick isn't exactly a green material."
Some council members are uncomfortable with that approach.
"I want to be blunt. I think [the renderings] are ugly," District 3 Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich said. "When we say we want brick, I think it's reflecting a value of traditional design. Sometimes, what architects like and what people who live there like aren't the same thing."
Council members also voiced reservations about the architects' overarching plan for the building's street-front retail strip eventually meeting other new buildings along Route 1.
"My concern is changing the tone of either the sector plan or what we've seen so far coming to the Route 1 corridor," College Park Mayor Stephen Brayman said. "I'm not sure a corridor of these buildings is what people are expecting."
Tuesday, developer Mukesh Majmudar and two of his architects showed renderings of the proposed StarView Plaza, an angular glass-covered five-story building set close to the road and equipped with a three-level underground parking garage.
Majmudar said the unique design is intended to be environmentally friendly, but his plans are clashing with some tastes on the College Park City Council and a city ordinance that mandates extensive use of brick in Route 1 facades.
The disagreement is once more putting the project's schedule in doubt, six years after development on the site was first proposed and in the midst of a severe on-campus housing shortage.
The design team is asking the city to waive the brick requirement so it can keep on schedule to open by fall 2009.
"There's a mandate for 75 percent brick. But that mandate was to create a colonial, Georgian-style building that would mesh with the university's architecture," architect Jon Grant said. "But this building has to be somewhat iconic, and brick isn't exactly a green material."
Some council members are uncomfortable with that approach.
"I want to be blunt. I think [the renderings] are ugly," District 3 Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich said. "When we say we want brick, I think it's reflecting a value of traditional design. Sometimes, what architects like and what people who live there like aren't the same thing."
Council members also voiced reservations about the architects' overarching plan for the building's street-front retail strip eventually meeting other new buildings along Route 1.
"My concern is changing the tone of either the sector plan or what we've seen so far coming to the Route 1 corridor," College Park Mayor Stephen Brayman said. "I'm not sure a corridor of these buildings is what people are expecting."
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Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Cathy
posted 3/06/08 @ 9:35 AM EST
While many governing bodies tend to place emphasis on architectural style, they should be more concerned with the building form and massing and how it interacts with the neighboring areas. (Continued…)
Spiro
posted 3/06/08 @ 11:47 AM EST
I think the issue of the 75% Brick facade is mute. The building that is being proposed is not close enough to the University where it should have to resemble the buildings there. (Continued…)
CB
posted 3/06/08 @ 3:23 PM EST
The reason for 75% brick facade, is so there is a uniform arcitectural style along RT 1. Not a hogpog of diferent buildings. This is from 495 past the UM along RT1. (Continued…)
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