The Washington Post, 9/23/09

“Nearly 10 years ago, a group of Prince George’s County, MD, residents teamed up with hopes of transforming four areas of vacant storefronts, used-car lots, and seedy warehouses into a funky, eclectic community along Route 1. The group coalesced around the artists who lived in Hyattsville, Mount Rainier, North Brentwood, and Brentwood, believing that interest in the arts could revitalize the area. ‘We wanted to create a sense of place…to change the perception of the corridor,’ said Peter A. Shapiro, a former county council member, who worked with the group…But the two-mile stretch from Eastern Avenue to Madison Avenue, which the state designated as the Gateway Arts District in 2003, has been slow to change…Mounds of dirt and overgrown weeds sit behind a sign announcing that stores, lofts, and restaurants are ‘coming soon’ as part of a $150 million project being developed by the Bethesda-based firm EYA. The sign has sat by the side of the road for almost two years. The Gateway Arts District has been slow to draw investors, in part, because of the county’s long-standing difficulties in attracting development, said Kwasi Holman, chief executive officer of the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corp. And the economic downturn delayed the EYA project, the largest in the district, said Aakash Thakkar, the company’s vice president of development. The EYA project plan includes 600 homes and 50,000 square feet of retail, but only 100 homes have been built.”

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