At tomorrow’s meeting, the Council will discuss the detailed site plan of the proposed Greystar development, located north of Knox Road, approximately 127 feet west of the intersection of Knox Road and US-1/Baltimore Avenue. The purpose of the DSP is to construct a mixed-use student housing project containing 341 units/788 beds, 23,847 square feet of retail space and an underground parking structure with 248 parking spaces. The subject site currently contains approximately 14,796 square feet of retail space and surface parking. As part of the application, the Applicant is requesting modifications to the US 1 Corridor Sector Plan Development District Standards and a Departure from parking and loading standards.
Additionally, the Council will discuss a request by the GreyStar developer for School Facility Surcharge Exemption. Prince George’s County currently applies a School Facilities Surcharge to new residential development inside the beltway of $9,035 per unit. This surcharge covers anticipated increases in public educational services required to accommodate the residents generated by this new development and is considered an impact fee. Waivers and reductions of the fee have been provided for certain types of residential development and to incentivize multi-family development in certain areas. The estimated School Facilities Surcharge for this project (341 units) is about $3 million. State legislation adopted in 2003 allowed private-sector student housing built near the University of Maryland to be exempt from this surcharge based on its limited or no impact on public schools. All eligible student housing projects built in College Park since this time have received the exemption. The legislation was amended several times over the years. In 2019, an exemption was made for undergraduate student housing built west of US Route 1, north of Knox Road, and south of Metzerott Road. The City Council considered a similar request for the Northgate student housing project in January 2020 and recommended a partial waiver.
