Konterra project proceeds near Laurel

Friday, Aug. 1, 2008

Konterra project proceeds near Laurel

Board OKs preliminary site plan for $3 billion mixed-use development

by Anath Hartmann | Staff Writer

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Konterra Town Center East, a proposed $3 billion mixed-use development just outside the Laurel city limits, is one step closer to reality after the Prince George’s County Planning Board approved its preliminary site plan last week.

The retail, office and housing development is to be built on a former gravel-mining site.

The planning board voted to allow the project to move forward with recommendations from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission staff. No major changes have been made since the board adopted the conceptual site plan for Konterra in June, said Whitney Chellis, a staff reviewer with the commission.

‘‘The conclusion staff has [reached] is we agree that we are finding an adequate level of service,” Chellis said of the preliminary plan.

Staff recommendations include a tree conservation plan, the designation of 41 acres of open space for a park, and multiple changes to area roadways, including construction of an interchange that would link Interstate 95 and Contee Road.

The Gould family, which is developing the site with Forest City Enterprises of Cleveland, has owned 2,200 acres on the eastern side of I-95 for 27 years. Caleb Gould told the Beltsville Civic Association in March that his company, Konterra Realty, has spent the past two-plus decades reclaiming the property, formerly the Contee Sand and Gravel site.

The town center site, just southwest of municipal Laurel and within 4 miles of Beltsville, is to include high-end retailers, a hotel, single-family homes and apartment complexes. Gould said the entire project, which will span more than 740 acres, could take up to 20 years to complete.

‘‘We’re on track and we’re pleased with the outcome,” Gould said after the planning board hearing.

The next step is the planning board’s review of the detailed site plan, possibly by early December, he said.

If approved, the plan will go before the Prince George’s County Council for final approval. Gould said the project is still set to open sometime in 2012.

The Intercounty Connector, an 18-mile toll highway that will link I-270 in Montgomery County to Route 1 and I-95 in Prince George’s, will lie directly south of Konterra. Construction on the westernmost portion of the $2.4 billion road is under way.