By Lori Aratani and William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 2, 2008

Developers formally proposed the most ambitious overhaul of downtown Columbia in its history yesterday, hoping to transform the four-decade-old planned community into a collection of modern, walkable, environmentally friendly neighborhoods with a new downtown.

General Growth Properties submitted a plan to Howard County officials that calls for 5,500 new townhouses and apartments and the construction of 1 million square feet of retail space over the next three decades in neighborhoods surrounding Columbia Town Center.

Columbia was created when malls were beginning to dominate U.S. development and shopping. The proposal would be patterned on the expansion of the open-air Merriweather Post Pavilion and the growing trend of developing pedestrian-friendly communities with the construction of tree-lined walkways. Plans also call for more than 600 new hotel rooms.

If approved, it "will bring great value to Columbia and Howard County," said Gregory F. Hamm, regional vice president and general manager of the Chicago-based developer. "The approach we took was really that of a community builder."

General Growth has spent the past three years preparing the proposal and presented it to residents and officials during hundreds of hours of public hearings. Still, the initial reaction from county officials was noncommittal. "We have a tremendous opportunity to shape the future of Columbia," County Executive Ken Ulman (D) said. "I look forward to working with members of the County Council and with the entire community as this public process moves forward."

Howard planners will review the proposal, and the county planning commission will hold hearings before deciding whether to approve necessary zoning changes. The County Council will have final approval, and the process is expected to take up to a year.

Although General Growth wants to begin construction in 2010, national economic problems could delay plans, Hamm said. He declined to put a price on the project but said it was critical to rejuvenating Columbia.

"Without a plan and a process that can shepherd growth in an intelligent way, the revitalization that's needed will not occur," he said.

Some residents told developers during the public hearings that they agree with the need to modernize Columbia, but many are concerned about the proposal's effects on traffic and schools. County Council members have expressed reservations about some parts, including the amount of housing proposed.

"We've seen a lot of attractive artwork and renderings, but the meat is in the zoning regulations, not in pictures of fountains," said Del. Elizabeth Bobo (D-Howard), a former County Council member and county executive. "I want to be very sure this is planned out and planned out well, and I just can't tell yet how it's going to work."

Some community leaders are optimistic about the proposal, though.

"Columbia's has had its first 40 years. What this represents is the beginning of the next 30 years," said Tom O'Connor, chairman of the Columbia Association board, which oversees much of the community's public land. "This plan is going to determine what our community looks like in the future. We've primarily been a bedroom community all these years, and now we would have a real downtown."

General Growth acquired the Columbia property in 2004 from the Rouse Co. and controls about 95 of the 110 acres scheduled to be redeveloped. About 40 percent of the county's population calls Columbia home.

Columbia, an unincorporated community of almost 100,000 between Washington and Baltimore, was built by James W. Rouse in the 1960s. At a time when some children still attended segregated schools, Rouse designed Columbia to be welcoming to all.

Rouse, who died in 1996, remains a revered figure among many residents. As the community debates its future, residents are divided over whether he would want such a major change to revitalize Columbia.

Under General Growth's proposal, downtown would be divided into five new neighborhoods. Warfield, northwest of the mall, would include housing, office space and stores. Developers envision a neighborhood that would feature housing above retail and tree-lined streets. General Growth said about 20 percent of the new units would be set aside as affordable housing.

The Lakefront neighborhood, east of the mall, could include as many as 2,000 new housing units as well as office space and stores, which Hamm said developers hoped would increase the vibrancy of an often-deserted area.

Other areas include the Crescent, the parcel behind Merriweather Post Pavilion, where the bulk of the office space would be concentrated, and Merriweather, which General Growth hopes to turn into a cultural and civic space that could include a children's theater area. Symphony Overlook would be "where downtown meets culture," Hamm said, and could be the first area in which construction might begin with office space, stores and hotel rooms.

General Growth's proposal cites a study by the Howard school system indicating that the effect on schools would probably be minimal because high-density housing could be expected to bring more singles and couples with no or few children than single-family communities would. But the developers recommend that the school system conduct another study to confirm that.