Why You Should Pay Attention to Howard County
Howard County sits directly between Baltimore and Washington, but for years it’s been overlooked as not quite part of either. However, two master planned communities—Downtown Columbia and Maple Lawn—are giving the county a place of its own. That’s why we’re excited to host the developers of both at our Howard County Boom event in Downtown Columbia on Nov. 17 at 3pm.
Columbia itself is a planned community, founded by visionary James W. Rouse in 1967 (just a few years after Bob Simon founded his own community in Northern Virginia). Five years ago, the Howard County Board approved the downtown’s rezoning, creating an opportunity for Howard Hughes Corp—which owns all of the land in Downtown Columbia as master developer—to transform the area into a walkable, mixed-use district. And it has. Our event will be held at the former Rouse building (above), designed by Frank Gehry, which now is home to a brand-new Whole Foods. It’s also walking distance to Columbia Mall and close to Merriweather Post Pavilion.
Next door, Kettler, Howard Hughes and Orchard Development have JV'd on Phase 1 of the Metropolitan, a 380-unit apartment complex with 14k SF of ground-floor retail that’s ahead of pro forma pace on lease-up, Kettler principal Andrew Buchanan tells Bisnow (that’s him and his wife, Laurie, at Falling Water). Phase 2, another JV with HHC and Kettler, will be two buildings, 437 units and 29k SF of retail. “There is a shortage of great development land in Downtown Columbia,” Andrew says. "Howard Hughes controls the remaining great sites and will develop as the market dictates.”
Orchard Development CEO Earl Armiger (with wife Mary and Allan and Robin Kittleman), who’s run his business in the county for 36 years, says the widespread control of developable land is an indication of the county’s potency. “As far as developers go, I hope they don’t come to Howard County,” he told Bisnow with a laugh yesterday. “It’s becoming more and more competitive. There are fewer and fewer sites to develop.” Why has it been so competitive? Because Howard County’s schools are among the best in the country—even the community college is highly ranked, it’s one of the wealthiest counties in America, and local amenities like parks and libraries are already sterling. “It’s a great place to live,” Earl says. And, it’s a great place to develop. Down in Ellicott City, Earl developed a 240-unit garden apartment complex and sold it a year after delivery. “The REITs love that market,” he says.
And while Andrew and Earl have recently bought into the mixed-use development potential in Howard County, Greenebaum Enterprises saw the potential more than a decade ago, when it started planning Maple Lawn. Michael Greenebaum, who will join Earl and Andrew as panelists later this month, says his family’s “traditional neighborhood design” concept is equidistant between DC and Baltimore. It’s planned for 1.8M SF of office and retail and 1,400 units. Thirty-five percent of the 600 acres is active recreation space. Michael says they’re about 70% finished with the residential development and 65% complete with the commercial side, with a new retail phase opening next year. “There’s a sense of place,” Michael says. “There’s a whole fabric of interaction between the residents, offices and retailers.” We’re excited to hear more from Michael, Andrew, Earl and the rest of our distinguished panelists on Nov. 17 at our Howard County Boom event at the former Rouse Co building (10275 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia, MD) at 3pm. Sign up here!
