Konterra - News, Updates, Questions and Developments Etc. (Baltimore, Largo: townhome, neighborhood)

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by mikeyo321

The whole "Tysons" comparison...

...is about wanting to capture some of the Contee/Gudelsky magic and pretend that 1976 can be repeated.


Link to old WPost story

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by mikeyo321

Drove by there a few days ago. Nothing really seemed new. Looks like that project is dying on the vine. The whole "Tysons" comparison fails to take into account several of Tysons' built-in advantages: (1) location: less than 10 miles from DC approximately halfway between DC and its major international airport, Dulles, on the intersection of the Beltway and the Dulles Toll Road and fed by two major arterial roads, Route 7 and 123. (2.) business climate: Virginia has lower income and business taxes and a wider business base to draw from. (3.) better quality of life: Fairfax County (and the adjacent jurisdictions of Arlington County, City of Falls Church and Loudoun County) has some of the highest ranked public schools in the country as well as the lowest crime rate for a jurisdiction of its size (https://fcpdnews.wordpress.com/2018/...now-available/). PG County is making strides but a non TOD along I-95 is an old development model whose time has come and gone. Unless the Green Line makes its way up there sometime in the foreseeable future it's difficult to see where the spark for this development is going to come from. For the last generation at least Northern Virginia has really been where most of the economic action has been in the burbs.

Cities/neighborhoods like Tysons takes decades to be realized. While I get your points, Konterra is greenfield. So, it's kinda hard to compare the two when one isn't even built yet. Tysons may be booming, but they are having trouble transforming it from a car-centric shopping district to a vibrant livable urban district like Silver Spring.

It's not very pedestrian friendly. What Tysons got wrong in the auto-era, Konterra can get right as far as walkability and a more cohesive street-grid.

When that happens, we don't know. But I wouldn't call the project dead. These projects can lay dormant for years.

The plans for Viva White Oak across the line in Silver Spring are almost as large as the Konterra plans. And so far all they have to show for it is a hospital.

Both will have mass transit issues. I don't see any of them starting until housing demand pushes further out from DC. That may be another 10 years.

[Turnerbro]

Originally Posted by mikeyo321

Drove by there a few days ago. Nothing really seemed new. Looks like that project is dying on the vine. The whole "Tysons" comparison fails to take into account several of Tysons' built-in advantages: (1) location: less than 10 miles from DC approximately halfway between DC and its major international airport, Dulles, on the intersection of the Beltway and the Dulles Toll Road and fed by two major arterial roads, Route 7 and 123. (2.) business climate: Virginia has lower income and business taxes and a wider business base to draw from. (3.) better quality of life: Fairfax County (and the adjacent jurisdictions of Arlington County, City of Falls Church and Loudoun County) has some of the highest ranked public schools in the country as well as the lowest crime rate for a jurisdiction of its size (https://fcpdnews.wordpress.com/2018/...now-available/). PG County is making strides but a non TOD along I-95 is an old development model whose time has come and gone. Unless the Green Line makes its way up there sometime in the foreseeable future it's difficult to see where the spark for this development is going to come from. For the last generation at least Northern Virginia has really been where most of the economic action has been in the burbs.

Konterra is midway between D.C and BWI. That has to help somewhat right?

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by Turnerbro

Konterra is midway between D.C and BWI. That has to help somewhat right?

It is also between Rt 29, I-95, and Rt.1. People don't realize that without the promise of the Silver Line, Tysons would still be struggling with office vacancies and few residential projects.

One could easily foresee the Green Line eventually being extended from Greenbelt to BWI connecting job centers in Konterra, Laurel, and Columbia.

[Turnerbro]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

It is also between Rt 29, I-95, and Rt.1. People don't realize that without the promise of the Silver Line, Tysons would still be struggling with office vacancies and few residential projects.

One could easily foresee the Green Line eventually being extended from Greenbelt to BWI connecting job centers in Konterra, Laurel, and Columbia.

Realistically that wouldn't even be hard to do. There's already space for it.

[Turnerbro]

Update. Still not much happening as far as I can tell.

[Oranme]

Is Konterra mall project a scam to get people to buy Lennar new townhomes and homes on Brickyard blv!! I always wondered when I see that neatly manicured Konterra mall entrance with nothing beyond it...! I guess the question still stands, which comes first the egg or the chicken!?!

[Mista Jones]

Originally Posted by Oranme

Is Konterra mall project a scam to get people to buy Lennar new townhomes and homes on Brickyard blv!! I always wondered when I see that neatly manicured Konterra mall entrance with nothing beyond it...! I guess the question still stands, which comes first the egg or the chicken!?!

I wonder if it’ll turn into a scaled down project like Westphalia seems to have become.

[SpikeMilligan's Alter Ego]

Given that there has not exactly been a shortage of headlines over the past 10 years or so, that malls are failing, the US is overshopped etc, it should hardly be a surprise that Konterra is stalled.

Several years ago Forest City, the driving force behind the DC Southeast Waterfront redevelopment pulled out of the partnership and the Gould's (landowners) have not yet found a replacement, and I doubt they will anytime soon. Historians may say Amazon killed Konterra.

[Rufus Clay Banger]

Every one of you Konterra cheerleaders are missing the forest for the trees. Face it, brick and mortar retail is dying. Retail concepts are a huge gamble and investors know it. Also, millennials are not buying houses, and they are the people who (theoretically) demand these walkable, car free destinations. So if they don't buy, then who will? I can tell you that no one I know in Gen X is even remotely excited about or seeking a house in the middle of a fake town center. People my age with kids want an actual yard with a driveway and the ability to get away from their neighbors and a storefront. Walking to Walgreens couldn't be further from our desires. And here's the thing, we make good money, so we have options. Will Konterra sell houses? Of course, but the market for the crap they are proposing is limited.

The only thing going for Konterra is the location. Being on the I-95 corridor gives a pretty easy commute option for DC and Baltimore area workers. Howard County is a stone's throw away and I can damn near guarantee that anyone relocating to work for a Konterra-based corporate facility will choose HoCo and its high performing schools over a run-of-the-mill fake town center in PG County any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

There's no action there for a reason. It's an idea whose time has come and gone.