The Monument Village apartments on Route 1 near the Enclave are targeted at young professionals. The complex is expected to open in spring 2016.
An apartment complex targeting young professionals located on Route 1 near the Route 193 exit will open in spring 2016.
Monument Village at College Park will feature 235 apartments, 4,800 square feet of retail space and a 343-car parking garage for residents and retail patrons, Amy Phillips, the project manager and Monument Realty vice president, wrote in an email.
The apartment complex, which began construction last year, also will include a fitness center with spin and yoga rooms, an outdoor pool, a theater, a pet spa and a clubroom with a fireplace and pool table, among other amenities. It will offer studio and one- and two-bedroom units.
Terry Schum, the city’s planning director, said Monument Village will be a key part of attracting people to College Park.
“Monument is important because it will be the first market-rate non-student housing to be built on the Route 1 corridor,” she said. “The city would like to see more non-student housing of all types built. We need alternatives to the older, single-family detached housing found in most of our neighborhoods. We’d also like to attract more university faculty and staff to live in the city and graduates to live and work in the city.”
The city originally approved a plan for the apartment complex that included 200 apartments and 25,000 square feet of retail space, but based of other complexes nearby, the site plan was revised, Phillips wrote in an email.
“The plan was changed to ensure that the amount of retail on the site will be viable,” Phillips wrote. “Residential projects along Route 1 built after 2007, when this project was originally approved, have shown the difficulty of filling and sustaining large retail blocks. Successful Route 1 retail has historically been more of an organic development with smaller individual retailers.”
No retailers have been selected, but Phillips wrote that Monument is looking for smaller, community-serving stores such as bike or coffee shops.
Phillips believes the apartment complex will thrive because of other city and university development, she wrote.
“Monument Village complements and enhances the other current and planned development in College Park by expanding the housing options and population of young, working individuals,” Phillips wrote.
Junior Will Dengler said the apartments should attract people to the area.
“I generally think that if you build it, they will come,” the computer science and mathematics major said. “That is my mentality.”
Eric Olson, College Park City-University Partnership executive director, said Monument Village helps the city move closer to its Vision 2020 plan to create a well-rounded and engaged community.
“It is a very important development for College Park becoming a top-20 college town,” he said. “We want to have more diverse housing close to the campus so that people can walk and bike around the city.”
Phillips wrote that she was particularly excited about the opening of TargetExpress and finalization of The Hotel at the University of Maryland because both developments will help attract the young professionals they are targeting.
“The project is not student housing, but will serve as a more affordable alternate to living in the District for those who still want walkable and bikeable access to restaurants, recreation and Terp sports,” she wrote.