Trammell Crow to Build Medical Office Building

Trammell Crow Co. plans to build a 93,000-square-foot medical office building at National Harbor to be completed by the fall of 2018.

The company has about 1 acre under contract from National Harbor developer Peterson Cos., said Trammell Crow Senior Vice President Trevor Vietor. The Medical Pavilion at National Harbor will be located at the intersection of St. George and National Harbor boulevards, next to the The Esplanade apartment complex.

Click here to read the article.

Trail advocates push for bridge in Fort Washington

Walkers following the Piscataway Creek Trail to the Fort Washington Marina often get discouraged by a swath of wetlands that inhibits travel and trail use, residents say.

“It’s divided,” said Mark Holt, the co-founder of the coalition. “Without going all the way through it’s much less usable by the public. It doesn’t connect to anything.”

To boost interest in the trail, members of the coalition are pushing for the construction of a wetland bridge, a project that’s been funded since 2010, but has yet to get off the ground.

Read more “Trail advocates push for bridge in Fort Washington” →

Old Fort Road Casino Plan Raises Concern

A proposal to build an $800 million casino-hotel-entertainment complex next to Livingston Square shopping center in Fort Washington has sparked considerable concern among Piscataway Hills residents.

The Parx Casino Hotel & Spa, proposed by Greenwood Racing in May 2013, would be constructed on 22 acres of mostly wooded land at the intersection of Indian Head Highway (MD 210) and Old Fort Road North (across from the Giant supermarket). According to the developer, the facility, if approved, would include 4,750 slot machines, 170 table games, a 250 room hotel and a 5,000-space parking garage.

The Parx proposal is one of three that are competing for the right to build and operate one casino in Prince George’s County, as authorized by Maryland voters in 2012. The other two proposed casinos are at Rosecroft Raceway, sponsored by Penn National Gaming, and at National Harbor, sponsored by MGM Resorts.

At a community meeting held in Tantallon in response to the Parx plan, area residents, including several from Piscataway Hills, noted that the Old Fort Road location has the worst highway access of the three sites, with congested Indian Head Highway providing the primary access to the Beltway. Participants at the meeting also contended that the Parx casino would create unacceptable environmental damage, such as the destruction of woodland and heightened stormwater runoff in the Broad Creek Historic District.

Casino supporters cite jobs and tax benefits. “The proposed development is expected to create more than 5,000 jobs and $1 billion of annual economic benefit to the state upon completion, along with approximately 5,000 construction jobs and more than $600 million of economic benefit during the construction phase of the project,” according to a press release from Greenwood Racing. “In addition, the casino operation is projected to generate more than $400 million of gaming tax rev- enue for the state and local communities.”

A public hearing on the Parx proposal will be held Wednesday, October 23, at 6 p.m. at Friendly High School. (Hearings on the Rosecroft proposal will be October 21 and the MGM plan on October 25.) The hearings will be conducted by the Maryland Video Lottery Facility Location Commission (VLFLC), which will select the proposal to be constructed. Before each public hearing, the Commission will tour the proposed site at 2 p.m. and hear a presentation from the sponsor at 3:30 p.m.

“The purpose of each of the site visits and public hearings is for the Commissioners to view the proposed location, observe the surrounding community, get a sense of the size and scope of the proposed facilities, to hear directly from the applicants, and to listen to the public support and public concerns about the proposed project” said Commission Chairman Donald C. Fry.

For more information on the hearings and how to testify or submit a statement, see the Commission web site.

Long-Awaited Community Center Opens with Gym, Dance Studio, Computers

After years of construction delays, the Fort Washington Forest Community Center officially opened September 27.

The new community center includes a full-sized gymnasium, a weight room, a dance studio, a computer lab, an arts and crafts room, multipurpose rooms, and a teen lounge. Attached to Fort Washington Forest Elementary School, the community center is within easy walking distance of Piscataway Hills, directly across Indian Head Highway (MD 210) at 1200 Fillmore Road.

Classes currently being offered at the center include basketball, zumba, sewing, jewelry, computers, senior fitness, tae kwon do, spin, and a wide variety of dance.

The center is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Xtreme Teens only from 7-10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays) and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

For more information, call 301-292-4300 or see the center’s web site.

Piscataway Hills Among First Affected by Huge Sewer Project

As residents have undoubtedly noticed, Piscataway Hills was among the first neighborhoods to be affected by a huge sewer life extension project now being implemented by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.

Called the Piscataway Creek Basin Sanitary Sewer Repair, Replacement, and Rehabilitation Program (or “SR3” in WSSC jargon), the project started at the beginning of 2013 and is to be completed by the end of 2015. The first phase will replace or repair sewer lines along public streets, such as the work recent- ly completed on Piscataway Drive. Sewer work in environmentally sensi- tive areas, such as in Piscataway Park between Piscataway Drive and Fort Washington Marina, is now in the planning stages and is expected to start this fall.

Several Piscataway Hills residents attended a public meeting about the sewer project with WSSC officials and contractors at the Surratts-Clinton Memorial Library on February 27. WSSC told the meeting that the project would repair, rehabilitate, or replace 16.5 miles of sewer lines and 476 manholes at 88 sites throughout the 44,000 acre Piscataway Creek basin. About 85% of the work is expected to be carried out without trenching or other excavation, with liners installed within existing pipes, sealing of joints, and other repair methods.

The sewer refurbishment is required by a 2005 consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other organizations to prevent sewage from leaking into local waterways. Not only can sewage leak from broken pipes and manholes, but a leaky system allows rainwater to infiltrate and overwhelm the entire system, causing large overflows during storms. WSSC officials noted that parts of the current system are more than 90 years old and need refurbishment. The refurbishment project is intended to extend the life of the system by at least 50 years.

One issue raised by meeting participants was the repair of streets and driveways after sewer work is completed. WSSC officials said that temporary surface repairs would be in place until all work on a street was finished, which may include water line replacement and other projects. Once everything is done, permanent street repairs, including complete repaving of the affected area, is supposed to be finished within 60 to 90 days.

Residents who are not satisfied with work done on or near their property were urged to contact the WSSC Customer Advocate for southern Prince George’s County, Kevin Woolbright, at 240-205-3684, or kwoolbr@wsscwater.com. For dangerous situations, such as leaks or collapsing pavement, residents were told to call the WSSC 24-hour hotline at 301-206-4002.

Recent water and sewer rate increases of 7-9%, plus another planned increase next year, will pay for the sewer repair work, according to WSSC officials. Repair work is also underway on the water supply system, including water mains, meters, and water towers. However, water mains in Piscataway Hills were already completely replaced within the last seven years and so are not included in that project.