Arts District gets OK for expansion

Board approves plan for 220 row houses, 246 condos, about 38,000 square feet of retail space, live-work units

The other part of the request stemmed from the potential purchase of two properties already surrounded by the development on three sides and railroad tracks on the fourth side.

‘‘It’s the only part that is not logically part of [the development] that should be,” Taub said. ‘‘And today we reached an agreement with the Browns [owners of one of the two properties being negotiated].”

Taub stressed that the 70 units would only be developed if EYA settles on both properties. If only one property is purchased, EYA will only build an additional 35, and if neither property can be purchased, EYA will only build the 14 additional units that were approved in the first part of the reconsideration request.

Arts District Hyattsville is being developed in two parts, West Village and East Village, where all of the newly approved units and retail space will be developed. East Village, on the east side of Route 1, will now include 220 row houses, 246 condos, about 38,000 square feet of retail space and four live-work units. Live-work units allow residents to buy the unit, work on the first floor and live above the retail or office space, said Aakash Thakkar, a development executive with EYA.

West Village, on the west side of Route 1, is expected to be completed in two years. It is made up of 132 units, many of which are row houses. There are also 13 live-works units in West Village.

At the request of the Hyattsville City Council, EYA will wait until it is ready to begin development of the new 70 units in East Village before deciding whether the units will be 70 condos or 73,500 square feet of commercial space, Thakkar said.

‘‘In two to three years when that parcel is being developed, we’ll make the decision [based on the market] of whether it should be built as condos or commercial space [or a combination of both],” he said.

Vivian and Geraldine Brown’s lawyer, Michael Nagy, said he was happy the Browns and EYA were able to reach an agreement on the property that was given to them by their mother.

‘‘They told me their mother told them that they would know when the proper time to sell was,” he said. ‘‘This is the proper time to sell.”

E-mail Maya T. Prabhu at mprabhu@gazette.net.