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In Hyattsville, a Creative Impulse
Hyattsville is "a very quaint small town that just happens to be next to a big city," says planner Amy Neugebauer, indicating a house she bought.
(By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post)
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The changes along Route 1 are welcome news to Mike Franklin, owner of Franklin's, an amalgam of brew pub, restaurant, grocer and general store.
"This sends a subliminal message to people driving through on Route 1 that Hyattsville is not down and out," he said.
Franklin opened his Route 1 business 12 years ago and has lived in Hyattsville for 17 years. In that time, not a lot has changed, he said. And he doesn't expect development to alter much of Hyattsville's historic district of Victorians, Sears bungalows and Arts and Crafts houses located away from the roar of Route 1 traffic.
"My feeling is, the people [in the new developments] really won't feel like they live in Hyattsville. Their center of gravity will be different," he said.
Even more new residents are expected at developments near the Prince George's Plaza Metro station on East West Highway, less than a mile from the arts district. A dormitory serving local universities opened in August, with room for 910 students, in a project still primarily under construction called University Town Center.
Within that development, a 112-unit condominium building called One Independence Plaza, with units selling from the $200s to the $490s, is scheduled to open in May. Lofts 22, consisting of 22 luxury two-story condos from the low $400s to more than $700,000, is expected to open next fall. A third condo building is also planned.
Nearby, a new 260-unit apartment building called Mosaic at Metro is also scheduled to open next fall. Most apartments will have two bedrooms, and there will be some live-work spaces.
The City of Hyattsville's community development manager, Amy Neugebauer, who currently lives in the Van Ness area of the District, recently purchased one of EYA's rowhouses with her husband.
"We liked the fact that it wasn't a cookie-cutter development. It feels like a place we can be part of a community," said Neugebauer, whose first day on the job in February coincided with the beginning of work on the Arts District Hyattsville project. "I felt it was a sign of things to come," she said.
Neugebauer wrote her master's thesis on the topic of arts districts, asking whether the designation in a growing number of communities around the country was just hype. For some, she said it seemed to be just a marketing tool. But not in Hyattsville, she maintains.
"The impetus for this arts district was driven by the citizens and artists themselves and has generated excitement and momentum," she said. "People are very dedicated to Hyattsville. They perceive it to be a very quaint small town that just happens to be next to a big city."
