Prince George's Game Changers
In Prince George's County, a billion dollar resort is about to get started, and a major federal agency may be on the way. The county is set to soar over the next few years, and that's why we're excited to be holding our Future of Prince George's County event next week at National Harbor.
WMATA director of real estate Stan Wall is among our panelists, and he tells us Prince George's is a major focus. Partnering with private developers to build new transit-oriented projects near WMATA's 15 Metro stations in the county will create an uptick in ridership, he says, and help fund the agency. WMATA is working with Urban Atlantic and Forest City at New Carrollton, and the agency just accepted bids from developers at the College Park and Capitol Heights stations. WMATA's also eager to find partners to build at Largo Town Center, Prince George's Plaza, Branch Avenue, and Suitland. That's not to mention the site WMATA owns at the Greenbelt station, where it has a development agreement with Renard Development and the Related Cos to build the FBI's new HQ, if selected by GSA.
Greenbelt is one of two sites Prince George's has in the running for FBI HQ along with one the Lerners own in Landover (we snapped Rep. Donna Edwards, who will be keynoting our Prince George's event, with Maryland Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin the day those sites were named as finalists). If either Greenbelt or Landover is picked, the county would welcome 11,000 jobs from the FBI. And industry experts are leaning toward the Prince George's sites winning, thanks to ample transportation options at both and a large percentage of federal workers already living in the county.
The site of our event—the Sunset Room at bustling National Harbor—is also making big news, thanks to MGM's $925M resort and casino about to get underway. Scheduled for completion in 2016, the 1M SF facility will include a full array of gambling, 300 hotel rooms, and scores of new jobs. (If the FBI and casino both arrive in the county at the same time, it'll be the best and worst place for a heist.) Our event will get started next Tuesday at 3PM, with remarks from Donna as well as University of Maryland president Wallace Loh. Following the event, we'll also feature a post-game Schmoozarama. Sign up here!
