Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The path will connect the hospital with Blandair Park.
Designs for a path that will connect Blandair Park in east Columbia with Howard County General Hospital in west Columbia were unveiled this week, according to an article in Explore Howard. Construction on the first segment is expected to begin early next year, according to the article. The Howard Hughes Corp. is responsible for building the path, which is expected to be built in three phases. When completed, the pathway will stretch all the way from Little Patuxent Parkway in front of the hospital, across Route 29, through Oakland Mills Village Center, around Oakland Mills High School and connect with Blandair Park, according to a map of the path. The pathway will be another piece of the downtown development plan that has already …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The Final Development Plans for the development of the Mall in Columbia and Symphony Woods come before the board on Thursday.
Update 1:30 p.m. - This article was updated to reflect new information on what will happen with the parking at the mall near the development. The Final Development Plans for projects to alter the Mall in Columbia and Symphony Woods are scheduled to be voted on by the Howard County Planning Board on Thursday evening. The plan for the mall calls for the removal of 31,500 square feet of existing retail in the area of Nordstrom, L.L. Bean, Sears and J.C. Penny. The space would then undergo an addition of 75,000 square feet of proposed retail and restaurant space, according to the plan. General Growth Properties, the mall developer, gave a public presentation on its plans to develop the mall back in February. Representatives said the proposed …
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Advocates disagreed with language that made the Housing Commission the administrators of the affordable housing funds.
Housing advocates voiced disagreement and surprise over County Executive Ken Ulman's decision to make the Housing Commission the administrator of affordable housing funds in the Downtown Columbia Partnership legislation at Monday's Howard County Council meeting. The partnership is charged with marketing and collecting affordable housing and transportation funds for Downtown Columbia. Previous legislation approved by the county council had asked that an independent nonprofit entity be established to administer the housing funds, which advocates said would total around $43 million. The funds would come from unit fees applied to new residences built in the downtown area. "Granting this to the Housing Commission suggests business as usual," …
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
This plot of land that borders the Sears parking lot at the Mall in Columbia and Broken Land Parkway is the proposed site of a $100 million apartment and retail building.
This is the site where a $100 million apartment and retail building is being proposed for downtown Columbia. A pre-submission meeting to discuss the "Metropolitan Downtown Columbia" building takes place on May 22 at 6:30 p.m. Read more about the planned building here - $100 Million Luxury Building Unveiled for Downtown Columbia.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Ten acres of undeveloped land adjacent to the Columbia Mall in downtown Columbia are slated to be developed into 817 residences and 76,000 square feet of retail space.
Big changes for Town Center may be coming soon to Columbia. Howard County's Planning Board has approved the inital plan for the Warfield neighborhood adjacent to the Mall in Columbia. The Howard Hughes Corp. plans on building 817 residences and 76,000 square feet of retail space on 10 acres of undeveloped land, according to the final development plan submitted to the board. What do you think of the Howard Hughes proposal? Tell us in comments. Explore Howard reported the plan also includes a 6,000-square-foot-playground and 28,500 square feet of promenade in the southeast that would connect to the Symphony Overlook neighborhood and Symphony Woods Park. The plan to develop the large area adjacent to the mall represents Columbia's plans to …
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The Design Advisory Panel meets Wednesday to hear more about changes to the mall neighborhood.
Members of a panel responsible for reviewing design and architecture in Howard County will meet Wednesday to see more details on the proposed redevelopment of the Mall in Columbia, the vice chair said Tuesday. As of now, representatives of General Growth Properties, which owns the mall, have said the redevelopment would add a 75,000-square-feet “lifestyle center” and would get rid of 30,000 square feet of existing retail space, replacing the mall’s L.L. Bean store, according to Explore Howard. The Howard County Design Panel will meet at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at 3430 Court House Drive in Ellicott City to see proposed design guidelines for the mall neighborhood, said design advisory panel vice chair Don Taylor. Those guidelines—which are …
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
A redeveloped Symphony Woods Park will include an interactive water feature, but the project is several years off.
There are many moving parts in the process and several years before the project comes to fruition, but the Columbia Association is considering designs for an interactive outdoor fountain that will ultimately be a centerpiece of Symphony Woods Park. The association has contracted with Wesco Fountains to design the park feature. Two "very preliminary plans" were presented to the association's board members at a meeting Jan. 26, according to landscape architect Jan Clark, who also serves as the Symphony Woods Park project manager. "There are a lot of moving parts in this situation," Clark said Friday. "We are a long, long way from building a fountain and we are not obligated to construct anything anytime soon." Blogger Dennis Lane said on his…
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Interactive fountain would go in Symphony Woods Park.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Howard Hughes Corp. officials are filing required documents regarding a mixed-use plan for two, 12-acres plots near the Mall in Columbia.
Howard Hughes Corp. representatives on Thursday were delivering required documents that spell out the scope of the proposed development in downtown Columbia to the Howard County Design Advisory Panel, according to a statement sent to Columbia Patch. The documents will include information on the number of units planned for the 12-acre lots known as parcels C and D, as well as the Final Development Plan and design guidelines for the Warfield neighborhood, according to Jean F. Moon of Jean Moon and Associates. The Hughes Corp. is proposing building up to 817 residences and 70,000 square feet of retail space, according to an article in today's Baltimore Sun. Hughes, the successor to General Growth Properties, now owns much of the land formerly…
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Kimco is expected to submit its application soon.
Residents had three weeks in which to give formal feedback on the proposed redevelopment of Wilde Lake Village Center, but the volume of comments hasn’t been as abundant as the village board chairman had hoped. “We’d like to have the broadest feedback from the community in order to reflect their opinions as we move forward in this process,” chairman Bill Santos said in an interview with Patch. “It’s an important component … in trying to determine whether or not to approve the plan.” Officials from Kimco Realty Corporation, which owns the village center, have heard from Wilde Lake residents in past meetings in which the developers presented plans for revamping the retail and office site, which is more than 40 years old. The latest …
Cola MD
1:58 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
Good research there Don - I believe a lot of the "advocates" for affordable housing are themselves out of touch with the realities of what it is like to live in a truly mixed income housing situation: The noise, the crime, the reduced overall quality of life. The fact is Howard County is one of the richest counties in the U.S., which means (SURPRISE!!!) it costs generally a bit more to live here… more ›