A Welcome Start

College Park Redevelopment Expands With New Southern Gateway

A new town center project anchored by a high-end grocery store will revive the southern gateway to downtown College Park.

The project, slated to break ground in 2018, will feature 300 luxury apartments and 100,000 square feet of retail space on the Baltimore Avenue site now occupied by the Quality Inn and Plato’s Diner.

The University of Maryland College Park Foundation will acquire the 4.5-acre property next year as part of a partnership with the Bozzuto Group and Willard Retail Group.

The $110 million mixed-use community is a signature piece of the university’s Greater College Park initiative, an ongoing effort to rapidly revitalize the Baltimore Avenue corridor and UMD campus.

Nearly 30 projects are under way or planned, including the 297-room Hotel at the University of Maryland, scheduled to open in the spring with a conference center, spa and several restaurants; and the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center of 22 classrooms and labs, which will also be completed next year.