Although officials have talked about forging ahead with the East Campus development for nearly a dozen years, they are now taking steps to free up space in the city and make the project a reality.
Since the first phase of the project – a proposed 38-acre development that would revitalize College Park by bringing a 4-star hotel, graduate housing, upscale restaurants and other amenities – requires space between Route 1 and Paint Branch Parkway, officials have been moving buildings to allocate more space for construction. To ensure the project stays on track, officials plan to move several facilities from Route 1 and create more space for East Campus developments.
Officials’ latest project, which began last year and is slated to be completed in June, will move the shuttle bus building from its current location on the corner of Paint Branch Parkway and Route 1 to a new, $6.7 million building across the street from Comcast Center. The new building, which will take up about 11,000 square feet, will provide parking for about 70 buses.
“It’s one of the larger facilities that need to be relocated prior to East Campus development starting,” Capital Projects Director Bill Olen said. “It’s the third piece of the relocation effort to clear East Campus.”
While the project is costly, Vice President for Administrative Affairs Rob Specter, who is at the helm of the project, said the shuttle bus building is a large space that is crucial in ensuring construction crews have enough space to carry out the project’s proposed plans.
“We’ll need to move that in order to develop East Campus into the development that we want it to be,” Specter said.
Once officials free up the space, the land will be used to build a full service hotel and a parking garage. The hotel, which will have 23,000 square feet allocated for conference rooms, will also house 266 rooms. Additionally, a combined 88,000 square feet will be used for retail buildings and graduate student apartments.
“There’s a whole series of construction projects that are either finished or planned that will enable the East Campus area and its first phase,” Facilities Management Director Carlo Colella said.
Crews will also move the campus mail building, the motor transportation building, the Facilities Management warehouse and the heavy equipment restoration facility. The spaces will be used for additional restaurant and retail spaces and graduate housing.
Since tangible steps are being taken to break ground on East Campus, Specter said he expects to see construction begin in the coming year.
“The plans are progressing well,” Specter said. “We’re looking forward to a great project and breaking ground next spring.”
amenabar@umdbk.com
