It’s Prince George’s County’s turn to share in the flourishing economy of the Washington metro area, according to a State of the Economy address given by County Executive Jack Johnson last week.
“Our county, once a struggling suburb east of Washington, is now a power center setting the economic course for the region and the state,” Johnson said in the speech.
Johnson said the county’s desirability is obvious from various developments such as the M Square research park adjacent to the University of Maryland, the National Harbor site along the Potomac River with convention, hotel, retail and residential space, and the Konterra development in Laurel, which will incorporate 3 million square feet of commercial and retail space on 2,200 acres of land.
Yet a recent episode of ABC’s presidential drama “Commander in Chief” singled out Prince George’s County and Hyattsville as crime-ridden and downtrodden regions, showing the gulf between those who know the county and those who know of the county. A former County Council chairman said the secret to the county’s continued success lies in capitalizing on its diversity and making its communities destinations with distinct identities within the Washington region.
“There aren’t a whole lot of places in Prince George’s County where there’s a ‘there’ there,” said Peter Shapiro, who served on the County Council for six years and now is with the Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland. “We need to be much more active on the regional stage. We can’t have a go-it-alone mentality.”
Shapirosaid the county can still shape development within the Capital Beltway, especially near Metro stations, where dense communities with office, residential and retail should rise.
“We want our Metro stations to look more like Clarendon and Bethesda,” Shapiro said. “We are part of the Washington region. The more we think regionally, the more successful we’ll be.”
Developing projects
» Konterra: 2,200 acres in Laurel; about 3 million square feet of office and retail space as well as more than 1,100 single-family homes.
» National Harbor: 300 acres along the Potomac River; includes 4,000 hotel rooms as well as convention center, 2,500 residential units and 1.5 million square feet of dining, entertainment, office and retail.
» Woodmore Towne Centre at Glenarden: 245 acres in Glenarden along Capital Beltway; incorporates 1.7 million square feet of office and retail space as well as 240 hotel rooms and more than 1,900 residential units.
