Former neighbors at the Glenarden Apartment complex Shamone Henry, left, who had lived there for 32 years, and Sharon Peoples, who had lived there 10, reminisce before demolition begins. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
On Tuesday, crews worked on demolishing 49 run-down apartment buildings off Landover Road in Glenarden, just down the road from FedEx Field, while dignitaries and former tenants looked on. The old low-income housing complex is slated to become a new mixed-use community, with housing for seniors and low- and moderate-income residents, along with market-value townhouses, retail and commercial space.
The 573 units of what were once garden-style subsidized apartments on 27 acres have been empty since 2012, when hundreds of families were displaced after decades in which the complex was poorly managed, failed to meet housing and safety codes and became a haven for crime and drug activity.
“It had really been a bad place and a nuisance,” said Eric C. Brown, director of housing and community development for Prince George’s County. “The community is really excited about seeing this troubled property being demolished, and something new and exciting coming out of it.”
Reclaiming the property, owned by the county’s Redevelopment Authority, is also part of the county’s larger vision for the greater Landover area, which includes the transformation of the old Landover Mall, across the street from the Glenarden Apartments. The site of the former mall, which closed in 2002, is one of three finalists for a new FBI headquarters.
Some county leaders say a new mixed-use community would bring not only needed affordable housing, but also retail space in an area with limited shopping options. If successful, the new development could help reshape the Route 202 corridor, they say.
Kingsley Smith, reflected in the mirror, waits for a co-worker to get out of the way before continuing the demolition of the Glenarden Apartments on Tuesday. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) Glenarden Mayor Dennis Smith said the complex’s history cast a pall over the city and that the redevelopment will help Glenarden move forward.
“I am glad for this day because it signifies the end of an era and a housing project where drug addiction was rampant, an era where a housing project had an intolerable crime rate, an era where children of the housing project were not advancing academically [along with] the other kids because of intolerable living conditions,” Smith said Tuesday.
But for some former residents, seeing the buildings come down was bittersweet. Tamiesha Reynolds-Lawrence, 31, grew up in Building 8407. She remembers good and rough times at the complex.
“There was a time when they were really taking care of the neighborhood. They had a GED program. They had an after-school program. They had summer camps,” said Reynolds-Lawrence, who lives in Largo. Then came the rodents, drugs, shootings.
Children — at some point, numbering as many as 1,000 living on the premises — played on basketball courts without hoops and near playgrounds that remained closed for years, she said.
“They weren’t doing anything to fix it. They could have done better,” she said, visiting the site one last time Tuesday. “Why was the only option to tear it down?”
Housing officials said starting over was the best solution to ending the cycle of federal aid, followed by mismanagement, deterioration and disrepair.
Kingsley Smith exits one of the apartments where nothing had been removed on Tuesday in Glenarden. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) Built in two phases beginning in the 1960s, the complex was home to hundreds of low-income families over the years. Officials say signs of dilapidation and other concerns began to surface in the early 1980s. Tenants complained about poor upkeep and worried about their safety. Just a few months before tenants were forced to vacate, a 2-year-old was struck in the face by a stray bullet while being held in his mother’s arms.
Homeowners across the street couldn’t keep their lawn mowers in their yards because they would be stolen, recalled state Sen. Joanne C. Benson (D-Prince George’s), who represents the area.
“We did everything we possibly could in providing services for the people in this complex . . . but still it didn’t seem to work,” she said. “It is kind of sad for me that we have to resort to tearing down these apartments, because I remember when they were built. They were first-class. We have to make a stand and we have to move forward.”
In spring 2011, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ended its Section 8 contract with the property’s owner.
After years of negotiations with HUD, the Redevelopment Authority acquired the foreclosed property last month for $5.9 million.
Two developers are bidding for the project and are expected to file their proposals in December, officials said. The county is slated to select a developer in February. Construction could begin in early 2016.
Federal and county rules require the new development to have at least 100 units for low-and moderate-income seniors; 140 apartments for other low- to moderate-income residents; and 65 townhouses that will be sold to low- and moderate-income residents.
As part of the deal, a developer also must provide at least 2,500 square feet of retail and commercial space for uses such as doctors’ offices, a pharmacy and food establishments. And finally, the developer must provide market-rate homes for rent and sale, and three acres of open space.
The city of about 6,000 people and 1.2 square miles in central Prince George’s has a mix of housing options, with about 30 percent of it in the form of multifamily housing.
Smith said the city favored a development with only townhouses for ownership to limit density at the site, adjacent to other apartment buildings.
“We need to make sure that the project is not overwhelmed by the density of affordable housing without adequate social-service support,” Smith said. “This project should not be another blemish, but should reflect lessons that we have learned. Let’s look at affordable housing that incorporates . . . services and support delivered directly to youth and to their families.”
County leaders say having options for low- and moderate-income residents, including some who had to be relocated from the old apartments, also meets growing demand in a metropolitan region with limited affordable housing.
“This will be a pretty big investment in a community that has struggled for years,” said Thomas M. Himler, a top aide to County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D). “It will uplift this community.”