Long Reach Reinvestment

Although I'm calling for a lot of redevelopment in Long Reach there are developments here that need not hit the wrecking ball. At the same time their exterior facades could use a lot of updating so that's when I put out a "compromise" post that involves reinvesting into the Communities in question and modernizing the exterior to give equity to Home Owners so they can do the same on the inside. So, after a month of completely bulldozing Long Reach lets end it on a happier note that doesn't involve displacement.

First we start in Locust Park, believe it or not some of Locust Park will still be standing after the demolition crews have done their jobs. The Wooded Ridge Town Homes on Lambskin Lane have escaped the difficulties that the rest of Locust Park hasn't been able to. The Homes are rather small but that alone isn't reason to redevelop them. Also if you're looking to buy you can get a good price here.

The rehabbed Wooded Ridge will feature brand new bricks, trim, roofs, shutters, and windows. New grass will be planted as will shrubs and flowers. If there are sick trees that hinder the growth of new grass then that tree will be cut down and a new baby tree will go in its place.

Next we go to Phelps Luck to the Town Homes at the intersection of Phelps Luck Drive and Lightspun Lane. These feature brick and stucco exteriors that lets face it are just plain ugly. Maintenance has been so so as a whole but even good maintenance can't cure ugly.

As these Homes are fixed up, the brick homes will get new bricks and the stucco homes will get vinyl siding. Newer more modern looking windows will be installed as well.

Here's a look at what the new backs of the Homes will look like if you're driving down Tamar Drive. If you didn't know any better you'd think these Homes were redeveloped.

Now Bladegreen Lane holds a secret, it would appear that in passing it's just single family homes but guess again! At the end of the road lies the King Charles Town Homes. They're just a little dated and offer some very large end units. Currently their fronts are a mixture of brick and siding, their new facades will be all brick.
Now King Charles Town Homes will be fit for a King.

Now we come to Wood Creek Town Homes. These homes are almost indentical to Bryant Square in Wilde Lake which I'm suggesting to have redeveloped. Bryant Square is in a much worse Neighborhood and the Homes have suffered as a result. Wood Creek just has dated homes and it's located in a much better area.

The newly modernized Wood Creek will also feature brick front Homes with new windows, doors, trim, shutters, and siding on the back.

Here's a look at what one will see from the back of Wood Creek. Just like the Lightspun Lane development, the Homes will appear to be brand new without a single demolition crew.

Finally we come to the small Single Family Home Development at High Tor Hill and Phelps Luck Drive. They lack any sort of front windows whether it's from a Courtyard or simply an absence of windows. These Homes, which are mixture of brick and wood siding will get updated siding and additional full length front windows. Though small in size they're located in a great area and even with new siding and windows, they will be a good deal.

That's it for the reinvestment of Long Reach, how much did you expect me to have? After all, I want so much of it to hit the wrecking ball!

Long Reach: Out of the Hole and into the Mix

Now I just put forth a bold redevelopment plan for Long Reach Village Center that includes new upscale Merchants. Now, when one looks around at the Village Center I'm sure you're thinking, "this guy's crazy! how can the surrounding demographics support this?" Well, they can't and as I've hinted in the previous post, I was discussing Long Reach as a whole Village and the Village Center was part 1 and the residential is part 2. So without further ado, I give you part 2! That will put Long Reach into the mix.

Redevelopment will completely makeover Tamar Drive and make Long Reach a worthy contender to all of the new development along Route 108 and Route 103. It will start in Jeffers Hill at Tamar Drive and Old Montgomery Road and extend through the Village to Old Dobbin Lane, past Old Dobbin Lane is Kendall Ridge which is much newer than the rest of the Village. New housing will transform the entire Locust Park Neighborhood and a few select developments in Jeffers Hill and Phelps Luck that border Tamar Drive will all be transformed into mixed income Communities hence the name; into the mix.

Now, lets start at the beginning of our redevelopment journey and take a pictoral stroll down Tamar Drive. Actually this development (Jeffers Glen Town Homes) doesn't have Tamar Drive frontage, it's off of Majors Lane but redevelopment is needed. There have been reports of gang activity here and lots of burglary and petty theft. In its place will be garage Town Homes with all the modern conveniences that Jeffers Glen currently lacks. The mix will consist of 90% Market Rate Home Ownership, 5% Market Rate Rentals, and 5% Affordable Home Ownership.











Now on to Treover Condos built in 1973 as Apartments and converted into Condos in the early 1980s, Treover also suffers from low Home Ownership, Car Thefts, Burglarys, Petty Theft, and Vandalism (tire slashing) and the like. Also a big problem with older Condo and Apartment developments (besides more bathrooms and walk in closets) is the insecure entrances to the buildings. Once redeveloped, Treover will have all these things and more! What more you ask? Those who don't live on the bottom floor will have an elevator to take from your doorstep to your car without climbing a single stair. The mix in Treover will be 55% Market Rate Home Ownership, 25% Market Rate Rentals, 15% Affordable, and 5% Affordable Rentals.

Now we're going to cross Route 175 into Locust Park which will land us at Columbia Landing west (formerly Bentana) These are Long Reach's oldest Apartments. Unlike Treover, the entrances to the buildings are more secure but for very good reason. Crime here is much more vioent than in Jeffers Hill. The drug trade has lured its ugly head all across Tamar Drive in Locust Park and Columbia Landing West is no exception. These Apartments aren't exclusively Section 8 but there are lots of residents on Section 8 assistance. When redeveloped instead of just two flag lots off of Tamar Drive there will be three. The third one will be directly across from Phelps Luck drive and a Traffic Signal will be installed. The last flag lot will be even with Sweet Wind Place. Three story Elevator Condos/Apartments will replace the dated and blighted Buildings. The mix will be 45% Market Rate Home Ownership 40% Market Rate Rentals 10% Affordable Home Ownership and 5% Affordable Rentals.

Now we cross Tamar Drive into Phelps Luck, we're on Sweet Wind Place in the Heritage Walk Town Home Development. It faces many of the same struggling developments along Tamar Drive including sprawling parking lots. It will be redeveloped with two car garage Town Homes that will make for a denser Community. Although most of the new Homes will have their garages in front the ones that abut to Tamar Drive and High Tor Hill (currently no homes do) will have garages in the back. The mix here will be 65% Market Rate Home Ownerhsip and 35% Market Rate Rentals.

On the other side of High Tor Hill is Yellow Rose Court. The Town Homes are a little smaller and more run down than those in Heritage Walk. Yellow Rose Court was featured in an article back in 2001 as "Inner Columbia" where Kids walk the streets at all hours of the night and the drug trade was flourishing. Despite being Owner Occupied there are lots of rentals some of which are Section 8. Residents have complained about slum lords in the past. I'm quoting the article these aren't my words. The redeveloped Yellow Rose Court will feature three story two car garage Town Homes. As development approaches the Village Center the Homes both Apartments and Town Homes will gradually be taller and denser. The new development will actually be larger because there ia a plot of land off of Yellow Rose Court that has eluded developers for the past 36 years. Also just off of Tamar Drive on High Tor Hill will be a driveway to allow for Homes to be built along Tamar Drive with their garages in the back. The mix for Yellow Rose Court will be 70% Market Rate Home Ownership and 30% Affordable Home Ownership.

Now we cross Tamar Drive again to the developments of Long Reach Knolls and Sierra Woods West. Long Reach Knolls is a Home Ownership development in a sea of Rentals so there are a lot of spill over problems. Sierra Woods is a Section 8 development. The two developments will be redeveloped as one large development. It will contain four story elevator Apartments/Condos. Spiral Cut Lane will be relocated to be even with the Columbia Landing East Entrance and Flowerstock Row will be even with Hayshed Lane. A study will be conducted to see if it warrants a traffic signal. The new development mix will be 65% Market Rate Home Ownership 30% Market Rate Rentals and 5% Affordable Rentals.

Once again we cross Tamar Drive where Columbia Landing East will be redeveloped as three story two car Town Homes. This will effect both the Tamar Drive Units and the Hayshed Lane Units. Like Yellow Rose Court there will be Homes that have Tamar Drive frontage that have their garages in the back. New Homes will also have Hayshed Lane frontage but their garages will be in the front. The mix here will be 50% Market Rate Home Ownership 5% Market Rate Rentals 40% Affordable Home Ownership and 5% Affordable Rentals.

Now we cross Hayshed Lane into Long Reach Condos. These will be redeveloped as one car garage Town Homes which will cover more ground than their predecessors with Homes covering its entire flag lot including some with Hayshed Lane frontage. These Town Homes will be 100% Market Rate Rentals.














Further down Hayshed Lane closer to Tamar Drive is Heatherstone, there is also a Tamar Drive entrance to Heatherstone. Like Long Reach Knolls there is a lot of spill over problems from adjacent Rental properties. On Tamar Drive the entrance will be relocated to be even with Cloudleap Court, the existing traffic signal will have to be modified. Like the adjacent Long Reach Condos the new Heatherstone development will be one car garage Town Homes only these will be 100% Affordable Home Ownership.

Next we come to Sierra Woods East. If one were to catch a bullet in Long Reach, this would be the place. I've spoken of spill over into other developments in this post, this is where they're spilling over from, I'm not just saying this because it's 100% section 8 I'm saying because it's the awful. There may be an effort to draw in Market Rate Residents because Sierra Woods was renovated earlier this year. To quote our President renovating Sierra Woods is like putting lipstick on a pig. It will be redeveloped as two on two stacked Town Homes. Each Town Homes will be two stories with a one car garage making a "stack" four stories. The mix will be 100% Market Rate Home Ownership, a symbol for the change to come in Long Reach by putting the ony 100% Market Rate Home Ownership development located on one that was 100% Section 8. Part of the redevelopment will include making Airy Brink Lane even with Foreland Garth.

For the last time we cross Tamar Drive into Lazy Hollow Apartments which abuts to the Village Center. Lazy Hollow, for a rental complex in Locust Park is relatively quiet. However, the biggest complaint has been the upkeep of the Apartments and Village Center spill over. Lazy Hollow will be redeveloped as 5 story Condos with below ground parking. This goes along with the mentality that the closer one gets to the Village Center, the taller the Buildings. The mix will be 45% Market Rate Homeownership, 35% Market Rate Rentals, 15% Affordable Home Ownership, and 5% Affordable Rentals.

On Foreland Garth, Longwood Apartments will be redveloped as Senior Apartments with more units which allow qualified Seniors living in Locust Park who will be relocated to live there. The new Longwood Apartments will be 100% Affordable Senior rentals.















Seniors looking for an affordable Villa for purchase can move to the new Shalom Square. Between Longwood Apartments and Shalom Square, I think the Howard County Office on Aging will be very happy that I have made every unit below market rate to allow for affordable Senior Housing.

Now that I've put forth a plan to redevelop Long Reach as a whole as well as the Village Center Long Reach is truly out of the Hole this time it's in the Mix not just the income mix but the mix of surrounding new construction.

Long Reach Redevelopment

Just like Oakland Mills, Long Reach is ready for some massive redevelopment. The two villages were built at exactly the same time by the same builders in the same style. One difference between the two is the distribution of open space. Long Reach's open space is in one section of the village rather than spread out like Oakland Mills every other village in Columbia. That plan was flawed because in 1976 route 175 cut through Long Reach's open space.
The past decade in a half was not kind to Long Reach. As River Hill came up middle and upper income families fled for Columbia's newest village as Long Reach saw an increase and in crime, blight and drugs. A big saving grace was the expansion of the Safeway in the Village Center which involved relocating the doors to face the parking lot. Another addition to the Village Center was a Howard County Police Satellite Office. Eventually Harpers Choice, North Laurel, and Oakland Mills received these offices. Owen Brown and Wilde Lake are the last two Columbia Villages that would need one.
Now back to the redevelopment of Long Reach. The two effected neighborhoods would be Locust Park and Jeffers Hill. The most would occur in Locust Park, in fact I'm guessing 90% of the neighborhood would be rebuilt from the ground up. In Jeffers Hill, there would only be two effected developments but they would give the neighborhood a face lift and provoke more investment. Going along with Rouse's 10% low income rule the income breakdown for the new Long Reach would 65% Market Rate Homeownership and 25% Market Rate Rentals spread out through the new developments. Now with the 10% low income rule who says it has to mean rentals? Why not make them subsidized homeownership? Why not put equity in these people's pockets instead of helping "buy time" as is the case with renting. Also additional home owners means a bigger stake in the community and would translate into more long term residents.
The developments to hit the wrecking ball are (drum roll please) Columbia Landing (formerly Bentana east and west) Sierra Woods (Flowerstcok Row and Airy Brink Lane) Long Reach Knolls, Long Reach Condos, Heatherstone (Tamar Drive and Hayshed Lane), Lazy Hollow, Jeffers Glen, and Treover.The Columbia Landing West site will contain low rise elevator condos and will be renamed Locust Grove. With 65% Market Rate Home Ownership and 35% Market Rate Rentals.The Long Reach Knolls/Sierra Woods Flowerstock Row Site will contain 4 story elevator garage condos and will be renamed the Crescent at Locust Park. It will contain 45% Market Rate Home Ownership 30% Market Rate Rentals, 20% Below Market Rate Homeownership and 5% Below Market Rate Rentals.The Lazy Hollow site will contain 5 story elevator condos with and will be renamed Long Reach Town Center. It will be 30% Below Market Rate Home Ownership and 70% Market Rate Rentals.The Columbia Landing East site will contain two car garage town homes and will be renamed The Townes at Locust Park. They will be 90% Market Rate Home Ownership and 10% Below Market Rate Rentals.The Heatherstone sites will contain non garage town homes and will be renamed Tamar Overlook. They will be 100% Market Rate Home Ownerhip.
Long Reach House Condos will contain one car garage villa town homes for seniors and will be named Hearthstone at Locust Park. They will be 100% Market Rate Home Ownership for Seniors.The Sierra Woods Airy Brink Lane site will contain two on two town homes stacked above each other with one car garage per unit and will be renamed Locust Woods. They will be 50% Market Rate Home Ownership and 50% Market Rate Rentals.
Longwood House Apartments will be redeveloped into low income senior condos and will not be taken from the pool of affordable housing units. They will be 100% Below Market Rate Home Ownership.
Shalom Square will be redeveloped into rental senior villa town homes for low income residents. It will resemble what is replacing Long Reach House Condos. They will be 100% Below Market Rate Rentals.
The site on Old Dobbin Lane across from Long Reach High School will be developed with high rise elevator condoes with underground parking and will be part of the Long Reach Town Center development. The relocated Exxon station from the Village Center redevelopment will be here too.
In Jeffers Hill the site of Jeffers Glen will be one car garage town homes renamed Majors Overlook. This will be 75% Market Rate Home Ownership 20% Market Rate Rentals and 5% Below Market Rate Home Ownership.
The Treover site will contain low rise elevator condos and will be renamed the Pointe at Jeffers Hill. These will be 100% Market Rate Home Ownership.

Last of all, the Fire Station will be redeveloped with a brand new 21st century state of the art facility.

Well that's it for Long Reach's redevelopment.