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Approval of a 25-acre mixed-use complex in the Hyattsville area has been postponed until next month after developers asked for more time to work out planning staff concerns such as building height and park space.

The postponement came after a nearly eight-hour county planning board hearing Dec. 10 on the Belcrest Plaza development, planned for just outside of Hyattsville city limits near the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station.

Silver Spring-based Percontee, the property owner, has proposed the possible $600 million development meant to take advantage of the nearby metro station and featuring 2,618 multifamily housing units, 57 town homes, 62,100 square feet of retail space and 216,000 square feet of office space.

The site, which currently consists of 566 apartments and 27 low-rise apartment buildings, was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s.

The planning staff report recommended denying the proposed plan, citing problems with building height, parking garages and a proposed park, among others.

The tallest proposed building is 31 stories, which exceeds the maximum 16 stories allowed for the area by the zoning development plan for the area, and parking would primarily be in multi-story garages that take up the first levels of some buildings.

The staff also recommended using the first floors for retail, residential or commercial space — so that "there are eyes on the streets," staff reviewer Susan Lareuse said — and building a 2.8-acre park on the complex where a building is currently planned rather than going with the developer's offer of 3.5 acres adjacent to the site to for a park.

Jonathan Genn, executive vice president and general counsel for Percontee, said building a park on the complex would be detrimental to the project, adding the project's tall buildings and parking garages are models of "smart growth."

"When we go ahead and have such a narrow-minded adherence to standards, what it's actually doing is, it would encourage us to probably go with a redevelopment of our existing plan," Genn said at the hearing.

The current apartment buildings will be demolished in phases; portions that are scheduled sooner for demolition will take no new tenants, and many of the current tenants will likely move out before the buildings are torn down because of natural attrition, Genn said.

"We anticipate very few, if any, [residents] will have to be relocated," he said. "If they do, at our cost we will relocate any residents to another apartment within our complex."

During the Dec. 10 public hearing, about 10 residents of apartments on or very close to the site wore stickers proclaiming support for the plan, but all declined to comment to The Gazette as to why they supported the redevelopment.

Genn also said during the hearing that current residents would be offered below-market rates for new apartments if they wish to stay.

The multifamily units in the proposed plan could be a mix of condominiums and luxury apartments that cost about $1,200 to $1,500 per month.

The developers have met with community groups and local municipalities. During an August meeting with University Park residents, many voiced concern over the buildings' heights and potential traffic, pollution and noise problems.

During a Dec. 7 Hyattsville City Council meeting, the council voted to send to the planning board its recommendations, which included using buildings' first floors for residential or retail rather than parking.

The planning board will vote on the plan Jan. 21. If approved, it will then go to the District Council and then the County Council for final approval.

The plan also requests rezoning the area from multifamily residential zoning to one that also allows for office and retail space.

Genn said he hopes to have full approval within two years and to begin the first project phase in three years. He said the development could take 12 years to fully build out.

E-mail Elahe Izadi at eizadi@gazette.net.