Many new businesses and developments popping up across College Park share something in common: Terrapin Development Company was instrumental in their creations.

Here’s a look at the company’s history and projects.

How was the Terrapin Development Company created?

The University of Maryland and the University of Maryland College Park Foundation founded the Terrapin Development Company as a joint venture in 2017. The company grew out of an initiative from former university president Wallace Loh aiming to improve the university community, company president Ken Ulman told The Diamondback.

The UMCPF had acquired multiple properties that could be redeveloped, Ulman said, including the land that now houses College Park’s Aster apartment complex and Trader Joe’s, and the land where Union on Knox sits. The foundation and university decided to create the Terrapin Development Company to assist in redeveloping these properties, he explained.

What is the Terrapin Development Company?

The company’s mission is to transform the greater College Park community into a “vibrant, diverse and walkable community,” Ulman said.

Throughout its existence, the company has contributed to the development of multiple notable locations in the city, such as City Hall and The Hotel at the University of Maryland.

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“The university believes that the future of the University of Maryland is tied to the future of our surrounding community,” Ulman said.

According to its website, the company uses a four-pronged approach to carry out its mission that includes:

  • Building academic spaces,
  • Promoting a vibrant downtown,
  • Creating a public-private hub for research and innovation and
  • Enhancing connectedness and transportation.

“Together, we are attracting nearly $2 billion in academic and economic investments, launching startups, partnering with established companies, and offering stunning new housing and other in-demand amenities for their employees as well as other new and current residents,” university president Darryll Pines said in a statement on Terrapin Development Company’s website.

How does the Terrapin Development Company function?

The company functions through a board of nine members. Five of the members are appointed by UMCPF and four are appointed by the university president. The company takes direction from this board on what properties in College Park to acquire and redevelop.

When deciding on whether to invest in a property, the company, at this point, looks for real estate that will contribute to improving Baltimore Avenue and the path of the incoming Purple Line, Ulman said.

What is the Terrapin Development Company working on?

One large project the company is working on, called Aviation Landing, includes redeveloping the neighborhood across from the College Park Metro and adjacent to the Junior Tennis Champions Center and the College Park Airport, Terrapin Development Company vice president Tom Parker said.

The first phase of the project will turn an existing parking lot along Campus Drive into a mixed-use community consisting of residential, retail and commercial spaces. The area will also feature a public plaza with an open green space.

“You’re right at this critical node of Campus Drive and the metro station and then the future Purple Line,” Parker said. “We could do so much more there. It could be more dense, more walkable, more amenities, retail.”

Behind the Leonardtown Community, the company is also building a complex that will house up to 750 graduate students at below-market housing rates. This housing is expected to be available in fall 2026, Ulman said.

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“That is the first ground-up new graduate student housing that the University of Maryland has ever built, and it is a big, momentous event to build graduate housing at below-market rates,” Ulman said.

Ulman emphasized how the complex is a great location in terms of distance from both the Metro and main campus.

The city works closely with Terrapin Development Company and has really seen the results of the partnership in the last three to four years, Michael Williams, the city’s economic development director, said.

“I think just knowing that [the company] is the investment arm for the university, that gives us a lot of comfort,” Williams said.

The company is also adding multiple new retail entities to the Union on Knox development, Parker said. Duck Donuts and Pho Thom are expected to open this summer while a nail salon and Berries and Bowls — a Montgomery County-based smoothie restaurant — are building out their spaces and are set to open later this year, according to Parker.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misquoted Tom Parker. This story has been updated.