Royal Farms – Anderson’s Corners

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Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:  Royal Farms
Location:  Laurel, Maryland
Market: Commercial/Retail
Size: 2.03 acres
Zoning: M-X-T (Mixed Use – Transportation) – Special Exception
Density: 0.06 FAR

Recent Projects

The Challenges

Royal Farms builds and manages over 150 convenience/gas stores throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.  Royal Farms – Anderson’s Corners is located in a developing area in west Laurel off I-95 adjacent to over 900 newly constructed apartments, townhouses and the proposed Konterra Town Center with over 2,000 homes, hotels and over 2 million square feet of commercial, entertainment and office uses.  Providing gas service to customers required special pollution prevention measures to capture any accidental fuel spills.  The project location required development plans to be reviewed and permitted by multiple city, county, state  agencies that often conflicted with each other.  The site had significant grade change from front to back and consisted of mostly wet, non-compactable soils.

The Solution

GLW was tasked with providing planning, engineering, landscaping and forest conservation services for the project.  Our engineers designed an on-site stormwater management system that included a trench drain around the fuel dispenser pad and a clay liner in the micro-bio facility to prevent any accidental fuel overflow from leaving the site.  Soil borings and earthwork calculations were performed at an early stage to allow budgeting for the cost of removing poor soils and importing gravel and other compactable soils.  Careful coordination between site designers and ongoing grading operations of the adjacent apartment development allowed both projects to achieve more balanced sites.  Additionally, GLW’s site design created a plan that met Royal Farms’ required site specifications while still minimizing earthwork and retaining wall costs.

 

One Merriweather and Two Merriweather

Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:   Howard Hughes Corporation
Location:  Columbia, Howard County, MD
Market: Mixed-Use Office, Retail, Restaurant
Size:  6.3 acres
Zoning: Downtown Columbia, Crescent Neighborhood
Density:  322,036 Square Feet Office, 24,722 Square Feet Retail and Restaurant

The Challenges

One and Two Merriweather is a mixed use development located in the southeast quadrant of the Broken Land Parkway and Little Patuxent Parkway intersection in Downtown Columbia. GLW was charged with providing engineering and minor surveying services that would assist in establishing the guiding Final Development Plan, create the urban road grid network and necessary infrastructure as well as ultimately developing and processing the Site Development Plans through the County’s new Downtown Columbia review process. Although the project is part of the redevelopment of Columbia, the site was not fully developed and had only been partially mass graded previously. The site was developed as two mixed-use, retail/restaurant and office buildings, each on its’ own parcel. A standalone precast parking structure was constructed on yet another separate parcel to serve development. Challenges for GLW engineers included navigating the Downtown Columbia review process, mitigating impacts the adjacent sloping streets had on the proposed urban buildings and streetscapes, and providing required stormwater management on such a dense site.

The Solution

GLW was brought in to provide, engineering, surveying and Howard County processing knowledge from the initial planning, Final Development Plan, stage through the Site Development Plan stage and construction coordination. The incorporation of an extensive stormwater management program was designed to be integral within the landscape/hardscape. The stormwater management system was comprised of a cistern or vault that was dewatered through a pipe connection to a micro bio-retention facility located in the adjacent open space east of the project, a green roof on the Two Merriweather Building, pervious paving elements connecting all structures, and a series of cascading micro bio-retention facilities between the parking structure and Two Merriweather that also included a pedestrian plaza. A boardwalk was placed over the cascading micro bio-retention facilities to be able to provide handicap accessibility between the parking structure main level exit down to the proposed retail/restaurants located in the lower floor of the Two Merriweather building. The grading for the site was coordinated with the adjacent finished floor elevations as determined by the Architect and the grades of the adjacent roadways. All the while, maintaining handicap accessibility between the parking structure exit and the retail/restaurant entrances of both buildings.

The Metropolitan

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Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:   Kettler
Location:  Columbia, Howard County, MD
Market: Mixed-Use Residential, Retail, Restaurant
Size:  4.6 acres
Zoning: Downtown Columbia, Warfield Neighborhood
Density:  380 Residential Units, 13.500 Square Feet Retail and Restaurant

The Challenges

The Metropolitan is a mixed-use project located in Downtown Columbia, just south of the Columbia Mall. It includes a 6-story residential building with retail and restaurants at street level. The entire building wraps around a precast parking structure. Although the project is part of the Columbia redevelopment, the site was not fully developed and only partially graded. GLW was charged with providing surveying, engineering and planning services to create an urban road grid network and other required infrastructure. GLW also developed and processed the Site Development Plans using Howard County’s new Downtown Columbia review system. The challenges for GLW planners included following the recently enacted Downtown Columbia legislation that created new site development requirements. The challenges for our engineers included addressing the relationship of steeply sloped streets to a large urban building and its impact to pedestrian and vehicular access, and streetscape frontage design.

The Solution

GLW was brought in to provide engineering, surveying and plan processing knowledge to guide the initial planning, develop Final Development Plans and Site Development Plans, as well as construction coordination. The extensive stormwater management design integrated seamlessly within the design of the project’s hardscape and landscape. The stormwater management design met all regulatory requirements but also created an educational opportunity for Howard County officials to observe how storm water flows and can be managed. GLW coordinated detailed site grading with the project’s architects to align finished floor elevations to the exterior grades, adjacent sidewalks and roadways. GLW’s site grading also successfully created pedestrian connectivity and handicap accessibility between the parking structures and nearby retail restaurants.

Shipley’s Grant

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Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:  Bozzuto Group, Inc.
Location:  Ellicott City, Howard County, MD
Market: Mixed Use – Residential and Retail
Size: 58.6 Acres
Zoning: R-A-15 & B-1
Density: 474 Town homes, 32,446 Square Foot Restaurant & Retail Center

Recent Projects

The Challenges

Shipley’s Grant is a mixed-use development located adjacent to major highways; MD Route 100, Snowden River Parkway, and Waterloo Road (MD Route 108).  The site was developed as a multi-phase, Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND zone) townhouse community with a 3.4-acre shopping center and two recreation/community centers.  Challenges for GLW planners and engineers included traffic noise from vehicles on Route 100, a stream and associated buffers that run through the center of the property, sensitive preservation of the exiting farm house and cemetery, and extensive  road improvements required for Waterloo Road and Snowden River Parkway.

The Solution

GLW’s role was brought in to provide environmental, engineering, surveying and landscape design services from the initial planning stage through construction phases.  The property was planned as a high density development that required careful site design and engineering to ensure the closely connected neighborhoods could be coordinated and constructed in overlapping phases required for the various builders and market demands.

During the entitlement process, GLW assisted in two separate rezoning petitions and construction permits which were obtained from multiple agencies including Howard County, Maryland State Highway Administration, and Maryland Department of the Environment.  During the 15-year lifespan of the project, GLW was able to successfully adapt the overall plan as market conditions dictated, allowing our client/developer flexibility to change land uses and multiple builder and unit types. These changes were navigated through the regulatory agencies with no negative impacts to our client’s original vision for the project.

Olney Town Center

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Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:  Carl Freeman Retail
Location:  Olney, Montgomery County, MD
Market: Retail – Shopping Center
Size: 12.96 acres
Zoning: M-X-T
Density: 0.19 Floor Area Ratio, 109,924 Square Feet retail

Recent Projects

The Challenges

Olney Town Center was a redevelopment of a declining commercial shopping center with vacant stores and outdated architecture. A complete renovation of the center’s architecture, vehicular and pedestrian circulation and tenant mix was needed for our client to achieve a successful turnaround.  Additionally, as recommended by the Olney Master Plan an area had to be set aside for a community gathering space.

The Solution

GLW planners first obtained a parking waiver to take advantage of differences in parking demand based on various uses within the center. This allowed a more sustainable, marketable retail square footage that ultimately improved the tenant mix.

A driveway was constructed in coordination with an adjacent shopping center to provide inter-connectivity as a solution to mitigate traffic on adjacent public roads.

The center’s redesign incorporated Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements for a center that was built before the ADA law, and was not fully compliant.  This led to walkway design solutions including using landscape planters to separate accessible from non-accessible sidewalks. Ultimately, the center was brought into full ADA compliance.

GLW designed a community gathering place by adding special paving, site furniture, outdoor dining and public fountain. This space has become a community gathering node over the years including band concerts and art sales.

GLW, provided engineering, surveying and landscape architecture and worked on a team that included a well known local artist and architect to conceptually design the building façade and community gathering places that reflect the agricultural history of Olney.  As a result, Olney Town Center is a thriving retail asset which incorporates a variety of restaurants and retail services as well as a community node that is popular with shoppers especially during the summer months.

GLW also solved a long term flood mapping issue by removing the property from FEMA flood maps, through FEMA Letter of Map Revisions (LOMR) when it was previously a stream valley.

Modera Westside

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Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:  Mill Creek Residential
Location:  Westside Boulevard, Laurel, Maryland
Market: Multi-family
Size:  26.80 Acres
Zoning: M-X-T
Density:  18 DU/Acre

Recent Projects

The Challenge

The Modera Westside multi-family development is part of a larger 56.63 acre mixed-use development that also includes townhouses, hotel and a retail center.  The property, which enjoys a prime location minutes from I-95 and adjacent to the future Konterra mixed use town center, was annexed into the City of Laurel in 2012. The project is built on reclaimed land that had been previously mined for sand and gravel. An existing stream and two major water lines define the boundaries on two sides of the property.  A large sediment control pond needed for the mining operation had to be converted to a sediment control pond then stormwater management pond for the multi-family development. Before the apartments could be constructed, GLW designed a 1,700’ long public street which had to be built and dedicated to the City of Laurel to provide access to the land-locked multi-family property.  

The Solution

GLW provided full entitlement processing services from rezoning to site plan approval.  Site grading and engineering focused on designing a submerged gravel wetland in the stormwater management pond that could handle both water quality and 100 year flooding events for most of the larger 56 acre property.  A single sanitary sewer location required all site grading and sewer design to accommodate future on-site development. To allow construction of the apartments over the former sand and gravel mine, GLW provided detailed settlement monitoring of soil compaction during the backfilling operation.  The entrance road was designed and located to allow for a large berm and landscaping to buffer views of the development from the adjacent residential neighborhood.

Clarksburg Square Road Extension

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Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:  Elm Street Development
Location:  Frederick Road, Clarksburg, Maryland
Market: Commercial, Historic District
Size:  1.04 Acres
Zoning: C-1, R-200, RMX-2
Density:  N/A

The Challenges

Clarksburg Square Road Extension is a mandatory referral project requiring Montgomery County Department of Transportation to construct an extension to Clarksburg Square Road to complete the connection between Clarksburg Town Center and the historic district of Clarksburg.  The 0.83 acre property has a convenience store, storage building, and parking area and is zoned C-1 (Commercial), and R-200 (Residential). An adjacent vacant parcel, 0.21 acres in size, zoned RMX-2 (Residential Mixed Use), owned by the developer of Clarksburg Town Center will be added to the existing property to provide the additional land area needed for the parking area, gas pumps and tanks, landscaping and stormwater management associated with the relocated historic house and existing convenience store.

To allow construction of the road connection, a historic structure, the Horace Wilson House, had to be moved to a temporary location on-site and then moved again to a permanent location on the same property after the road connection was complete.

The Solution

GLW performed planning, landscape architecture and engineering services that addressed the three zoning category requirements and approvals from the Historic Preservation Commission.  Engineering design to extend Clarksburg Square Road also provided sewer service to several homes and businesses across Frederick Road. The end result showed the convenience store and historic house fronting the main street – Frederick Road (MD Rte 355) with gas pumps, parking and stormwater management located behind the buildings out of sight from the Clarksburg Historic District.   

Steeplechase

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Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:  Atapco Ritchie Interchange, Inc.
Location:  Ritchie Marlboro Road, Prince George’s County, Maryland
Market: Industrial
Size:  110.26 Acres
Zoning: I-1, Light Industrial, Retail
Density:  N/A

Recent Projects

The Challenge

Steeplechase is a 110-acre mixed-use (flex-office/warehouse and retail) development located on the Capital Beltway at the Ritchie Marlboro interchange. Prince George’s County awarded Steeplechase a Foreign Trade Zone status because of its excellent visibility along I-495 and because it offers 28 individual retail spaces of 50,000 to 500,000 square feet. Initial plan approvals permitted a retail component in the Industrial Zone provided that 10 retail parcels would be subject to Site Plan approval by the Planning Board. This would ensure design compatibility in architecture, building materials, signage, entry walls and landscaping between the various retail uses. The remaining industrial/warehouse parcels have owners/tenants with their own needs and specifications. The parcels are located around a stream and associated wooded areas, floodplains, steep slopes and wetlands.

The Solution

GLW was responsible for site planning, landscape architecture, civil engineering (site layout, site grading, storm drain/SWM design) and construction permitting for each of the parcels. Design requirements ranged from siting massive power requirements for a medical cannabis grower to stormwater storage in large underground pipes to allow siting our client’s building. On another parcel, GLW recommended a wetland consultant review an outdated wetland delineation. The updated wetland allowed for an improved site design that protected wetlands and increased the development envelope for our client. Throughout the development, parking areas and buildings were located to avoid sensitive environmental features and minimize the amount of earth moving required.

Westphalia Row

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Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:  Haverford Homes, Inc.
Location:  Ritchie Marlboro Road, Upper Marlboro, Prince George’s County, MD 20772
Market: Mixed Use – Townhouse and retail
Size:  20.67 Acres
Zoning: M-X-T
Density:  0.61 Floor Area Ratio overall, 275 townhouses, 10,000 Square Feet retail

Recent Projects

The Challenges

Westphalia Row is a GLW designed mixed-use residential and retail development that is located near the Capital Beltway and Ritchie Marlboro Road. Important design considerations were to reduce vehicular noise from the Beltway and a nearby exit ramp, provide road improvements along the adjacent Sansbury Road, maximize retail and housing density by adjusting the existing Fernwood Drive, and address “Gateway Entrance” requirements of the Westphalia Sector Plan. Further, our client wanted to develop the project in three phases to allow townhouse sales to stay even with land development construction.

The Solution

GLW provided planning, landscape architecture, engineering and surveying services throughout the entitlement, permit and construction processes.  The project layout is a high density, compact, urban design with a centrally located recreation center and numerous landscaped activity areas interconnected by sidewalks throughout the development.  A safe and efficient realignment of Fernwood Drive through the center of the property provided greater flexibility to lay out the residential, recreational and commercial blocks. Along the common property line to the Capital Beltway exit ramp a concrete noise wall was designed and constructed.  The noise wall was designed to look like brick and extensive landscaping was used to reduce the impact of the wall seen by homeowners and motorists. A special gateway sign and landscaping was designed to announce entry into the Westphalia Town Center area and to compliment the Westphalia Row project.

GLW created added value to the project by proposing to use an adjacent off-site surplus property owned by Maryland State Highway for a stormwater management pond.  A negotiated land swap between our client, an adjacent property owner and the Maryland State Highway Administration allowed a stormwater management pond to be built off-site but adjacent to the property resulting in a higher unit yield.  

Bowie Marketplace

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Project Description

Client/Builder/Developer:  Berman Enterprises
Location:  3206 Superior Lane, Bowie, Prince George’s County, Maryland 20715
Market: Mixed Use – Retail Shopping Center & Multi-family Apartments
Size:  20.29 Acres
Zoning: C-S-C
Density:  0.47 Floor Area Ratio, 275 multi-family units, 134,992 Square Feet of retail

Recent Projects

The Challenge

Bowie Marketplace was a redevelopment of a nearly vacant indoor mall. Situated in a highly visible location on a major arterial road, both residents and officials from the City of Bowie wanted the mall repurposed or torn down. The City of Bowie was an active proponent in bringing a development team together to create a new vision for the property. GLW was charged with providing design and construction services that would ultimately combine retail stores alongside residential apartments.

The Solution

Through a public-private partnership with the City of Bowie the mall was torn down and replaced with a phased mixed use development that included retail and residential components.  GLW provided planning and engineering services on the first phase, which was a 100,050 sf shopping center constructed on the northern portion of the property in 2016. Numerous outparcels located along Annapolis Road (MD Rte. 450) take advantage of high visibility by motorists.

The second phase will be a 3-4 story, 225 unit, apartment building built on the southern portion of the property behind the shopping center. The shopping center was designed with a driveway running through the middle of the parking lot between the stores and terminating at the future entrance of the apartment building.  GLW designed living walls and planters and easy pedestrian access between the two uses allowing them to coexist and complement each other. The apartment building is served by a multi-story parking garage and site amenities that include a pool, paved activity and sitting areas and landscaping.