Suitland, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C., has been designated as the new hot spot for development in Prince George’s County, according to Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker III.
Baker helped break ground on Town Square at the Suitland Federal Center on Nov. 16 in a groundbreaking attended by a large number of elected official and business leaders from the county.
Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, along with other dignitaries from the county, broke ground on a town center in Suitland, Md. on Nov. 16.
“I have been telling people for a long time to buy Suitland,” Baker told the crowd at the groundbreaking. “Over the last 20 years, there have been many attempts to create the right development for Suitland and we are finally making it happen.”
The new Town Square, located at 4730 Homer Avenue across from the U.S. Census Bureau, will be a 1 million-square foot, mixed use development including 900 apartments and energy efficient single-family homes, a senior citizens home, and a 50,000 square foot performing arts center. It is expected to be a major economic boon for a street and neighborhood plagued by homelessness, loitering, drug use, and crime.
Baker said this is the largest redevelopment project in the county’s history, costing more than $400 million. The project is expected to create 1,200 new construction jobs.
Shown in this graphic are digital depictions of what the town center will look like once it is completed.
Town Square at Suitland recently won an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects for master planning and landscaping. Phase One of the project will include construction of townhouses by Reston, Va. homebuilder NVR and a senior apartment building by developer Mission First. Construction is set to begin in early 2018. Phase two, scheduled for 2020, will include the addition of 540 apartments. The final phase will include retail space and the performing arts center. A date has not been scheduled for phase 3 construction.
“The new Town Square at Suitland Federal Center will be the spark that will ignite the Suitland community that residents have been longing for,” Baker said in a statement. “This project will be the foundation of what we hope will be the rebirth of Suitland.”
As part of the redevelopment, Baker also launched a new food truck hub at 4719 Silver Hill Road. In addition, the county has provided more than $4 million from its Economic Development Incentive Fund to modernize redevelopment at the Iverson Mall in nearby Temple Hills which will be called The Shops at Iverson