Businesses in College Park, Md. have experienced quite a few closures and openings, leaving both students and residents curious as to why this is happening. Recent business closures include Target, Nando’s PERi-PERi, Papa John’s, College Park Liquors and more. However, several new businesses have already opened their doors: Greene Turtle, Rally House Stores, Iron Rooster, Dog Haus Biergarten and GrillMarx Steakhouse & Raw Bar.Â
There are also plenty of businesses in the works that are expected to open within the next couple of years: Shake Shack, Chopt Creative Salad Company, Honeypig Korean BBQ and Taqueria Habanero. Duck Donuts will also be opening underneath the Union on Knox.
Economic Development Director Michael Williams attributed the increase in new businesses to the growing population of the city.
“When the university is open, you have, on average, about 45,000 people moving around in a six square mile area,” Williams said. “There are a lot of municipalities that just don’t have the traffic, vehicular or foot traffic, moving around on such a daily basis.”
Council Member Susan Whitney, on the other hand, cited another possible reason for the increased number of businesses opening in College Park.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the increase in the number of apartment units we have in the city,” Whitney said. “So we have more residents here, and also to an extent, more retail spaces.”
The Standard, Union on Knox and The Alloy are among the new housing developments in the city.
“The cityscape of College Park has completely changed in the span of about 10 years,” Whitney said. “So really, that is driving all of this, and most of that housing was to address a shortage in housing for students.”
The city aims to do more than just add apartment complexes around the university, but part of the revitalization effort is to renovate existing buildings. Developers from Landmark Properties were given the go-ahead to purchase College Park Towers on Hartwick Road in September to redevelop it into a newer apartment building with retail space called The Mark. Whitney said she hopes these new changes will boost the city’s economy.
“I just want to have a diverse economy in this city where residents who live here, whether it be all year long or for the school year, can spend their money in College Park,” Whitney said.Â
But running a business in a city like College Park is not always easy, given that the population of the city fluctuates based on the University of Maryland’s calendar year.Â
“It’s kind of like an eight-month economy,” Whitney said. “You have the one month that a lot of our population is gone around the holidays, the winter break and then you have the summer break.”
This kind of economy, along with other factors, can cause businesses to close.Â
“So many of the retailers have decided to move on expense,” Williams said. “You have so many of the new concepts and the new buildings that have been erected are charging a far more expensive rate to lease.”Â
In fact, Campus Village Shoppes, a plaza along Route One, was recently closed as it was purchased for redevelopment.The plaza was purchased by LV Collective, a company based in Texas. The company’s current plan is to build an apartment complex while also incorporating some retail space into the project.Â
This forced the businesses that were in the plaza to close their doors, which include College Park Liquors, Mr. Fries Man, Laser Essentials and others. However, the Office of Economic Development came up with a plan to retain some business.Â
“My office went about and created what we call a Business Retention and Attraction Plan so we can retain businesses that want to be here, but also attract some businesses that we wanted to bring to College Park,” Williams said.Â
Despite these closures, students are excited about what the new businesses will bring to their college experience. Rally House, a sports apparel shop, opened up on Route 1 in October for people to purchase merchandise representing their favorite Maryland and Washington D.C. teams.
Sophia Pliner, a junior finance major, said she was excited about having another option to shop for Maryland apparel aside from the University Book Center.
“It’s also kind of in an area where a lot of people, a lot of students live, so I think it’ll be a great location and just a great use of space,” Pliner said.
Lillian Joubert, a sophomore business information systems major, is also looking forward to a new restaurant coming to the city: Raising Cane’s.Raising Cane’s, created and owned by Todd Graves, will be located at 7400 Baltimore Ave, replacing Nando’s PERi-PERi.
“I think that the Cane’s will be cool,” Joubert said. “I think I’m most excited for the Cane’s because I’m from Towson so we have one there that I really like, and it’ll be fun to have it where I go to school too.”
Students are also intrigued when it comes to how the businesses will perform with their new customers.
“I’m kind of excited to see how the Greene Turtle plays out over a long period of time just because it has a lot of attention right now,” Pliner said.Â
Despite some people’s favorite businesses facing closures throughout these changes, new storefronts will give students and residents alike to submerge themselves into a different retail and leisure environment in College Park. Within the next few years, Route 1 will not look the same it does today.