Merriweather Ownership Change Proposed in Downtown Columbia Plan

County Executive Ken Ulman is asking the Howard County Planning Board to amend parts of the Downtown Columbia Plan he says will bring progress to Merriweather Post Pavilion, affordable housing and the Banneker Fire Station. 

The Downtown Columbia Plan was adopted in 2010 and needed revision because of changes in more recent years, Ulman said.

"We always knew the Downtown Columbia Plan would need to be revisited periodically," Ulman said in a prepared statement. "The time is right to make some sensible and careful adjustments to ensure that the amenities and community enhancements envisioned in the plan are delivered as intended."

One concern was the "continuing deterioration" of Merriweather Post Pavilion, and he cited a 2014 study of the facility calling for "immediate intervention."

According to Ulman's proposal, the pavilion would be transferred from the Howard Hughes Corporation to the newly formed Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission for cultural programs and revenue purposes. The transfer would cost $0. This change of ownership was already planned, but not until the Howard Hughes Corporation developed 4 million square feet of space downtown. The amendment calls for the transfer to happen when the company has built 500,000 square feet.

Ulman told the Howard County Times that by the time Howard Hughes finishes its next project, slated for the Warfield neighborhood, it will have passed the 500,000 square feet mark.

While Howard Hughes would lose money that comes in from Merriweather in the transfer, the company would be freed from its obligation to contribute to Merriweather Park, according to the Baltimore Business Journal. That project, an initiative to turn property next to the concert pavilion into a regional park, has a total price tag of $30 million.

In addition to Merriweather, Ulman said the issue of affordable housing needed to be amended in the Downtown Columbia Plan. The Columbia Downtown Housing Corporation is seeking more affordable housing resources, he said.

Currently, developers pay a $2,000 fee per unit that goes into a fund for affordable housing. Payment per unit increases at various milestones after 1,500 units are built.

The new proposal calls for "front-loading the fee structure" after 1,000 units are built and also requiring Howard Hughes Corporation to provide evidence that moderate income housing units have been built, the Howard County Times reported.

Finally, Ulman's proposal adds language to a portion of the Downtown Columbia Plan that says that General Growth Properties (which used to own Howard Hughes, until the Howard Hughes Corporation spun off in 2010) will make a location available to Howard County at no cost for the temporary relocation of Banneker Fire Station for 30 months as the station is rebuilt or identify a site for a new fire station in downtown Columbia.

The amendment clarifies that the property must be free of liens, easements, covenants or any other restriction that limits the mixed-use possibilities.

"I am very excited about how much progress we are seeing in Downtown Columbia," Ulman said in a prepared statement. "However, there is a real risk that community enhancements which we long envisioned are lagging. We simply can’t allow that to happen."

Ulman's proposal will go before the Howard County Planning Board at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, at the George Howard Building, 3430 Courthouse Drive, in Ellicott City.

Related:

• Merriweather Park 'Merriground' and Soundscapes Get Go-Ahead
• 10 Years Later, Merriweather Thrives After Nearly Shutting Down