Jason Brostoff RDEV 350 12/5/2018
SITE: 8307 MAIN ST ELLICOTT CITY
Development Company: JnJ Twins INC. Development and Design
The JNJ Twins INC started in the early 2000’s as a creative think-tank and would develop into one of the best known design and development firms in the NorthEast region of North America. The group started with two best friends and their passion for the beautiful. The two would start as two young architects looking to change the built envirnment. Jason, one of the two partners, would eveuntally see the benefits of developing and designing a space while in school and would get a Masters in Real Estate Development and Architecture. This would lead the group to start to develop land and then design the structure that would be used on the development. Their firm would be rated in Arch Daily as the #1 Firm to watch in 2019. This project will be one of the biggest developments yet for the company.
The Break: Ellicott City has suffered from numerous devistating floods in recent years, destroying much of the main street and demorilizing the residents. The Break will be the newest civic building to the area. Creating a space that explores the history of the flooding in Ellicott, while creating a community space for all to use. The name The Break referes to the symbolic breaks in the building, to show the damage of flooding, while also describing a place for the cimmunity to come and take a break from their daily lives.
Anyalsis for the development was done by Field Survey of the site and surrounding area, community meetings, historic documents found on site and online. Thank you to the University of Maryland for its vast resources used fof this project.
Site Overview:
8307 Main Street in Ellicott City is in the process of redevelopment, from a retail and restaurant space to a new light retail and civic building. The current building on this site contains the Mexican Cantina, La Palapa Grill, an antique rug shop and gathering space in the basement. The current building will be demolished, in order, to allow for the creation of the new light retail and civic building. The surrounding area behind our site is a county owned parking lot. This lot, through a public/private partnership with Howard County, will be redeveloped into a plaza for community gathering and become an extension of the new building.
Ellicott City is an unincorporated territory in Howard County, which was first founded as a mill site for the Ellicott Brothers. The territory was built along the Patapsco River, with a few branches of streams meeting at our site and continuing down to the Patapsco. Ellicott City has rich history of brick and granite stone buildings, many of whom are along one of the streams mentioned above. The site of the development was one of the first buildings to bring retail business to the area. In 1940 the Miller brothers opened up the Miller Chevrolet Dealership, which sped up the development of Main Street. Next to the site, there is the historic post office and Tonge Row, where many of the mill workers in the 1800’s lived. The redevelopment hopes to use the vast history of the area to create a building that not only fits its environment but will also create community bonding.
One of the major issues of Ellicott City is the massive exposure to flooding that residence and its buildings struggle to deal with. One of the major goals of the development is to not only create a space for community building and light retail but also use new technology and ideas for flood water management of the site and surrounding area. This is being done with interactions with the building stream that runs through the site. There is also an increased amount of permeable surfaces and retention ponds being added to the plaza and exterior spaces. This will create a safer and more enjoyable experience for the territory and site together.
While the exterior spaces work to help flood water management, the main purpose of this new development will be to create spaces for the community to come together, hold events, create art, eat and hang out in. This space will be multi-purpose and useable by everyone in the community. This is key for Ellicott which lacks many spaces for community bonding. This development will use the history of the area and the needs of the community to create a safe and comfortable space for all.
Balitimore
I-70
I-270
I-90
D.C.
Map 1: REGIONAL MAP
BWI
Dulles Airport
This map shows the Regional Area around Ellicott City and the Development Site. Washington DC and Baltimore are both shown above, along with the three main highways in the area (I-90, I-270, I-70). Also shown above is Columbia and the Howard County Boundary.
Site Distance from D.C.: 38 Miles Site Distance from D.C Airport.: 42 Miles Site Distance from Baltimore.: 14 Miles Site Distance from BWI.: 12 Miles
I-70
Rt. 40
Site
Rt. 100
Map 2: Ellicott City Boundary Above is a Map of the boundary of unincorporated territory of Ellicott City, with the red dot being where the site is for development. The blue lines on the map are the many streams that run through the area and cause flooding. The map also shows main roads like Route 100 and 40 that run through the area and are close to the development. The Development is also off Main Street and Old Columbia Pike, two major roads for Ellicott.
1. The highlighted area within the boundary is the Site and surrounding plazas 2. Waterways marked in blue, which helps highlight the flooding issues in the site. 3. This map also shows the major routes within the region of the site
Main Street Site Old Columbia Pike Train Station .25 Miles
MAP 3: LOCAL SCALE
This Map shows the local scale of my site and development. The site will also use parts of the parking lots nearby in the development. This is with a partnership with the County of Howard. The different types of buildings are shown above, with the major roads nearby the site. The Train is about .25 miles down Main Street.
1. This map shows the local scale of the site 2. The site has two main roads, a parking lot in the rear and access to trains 3. Trains, Buses are down the road from site 4. Building uses are described above `
Axon Sketchup Model of Site
Photo from Google of Lot D
Picture of current building (to be demolished)
Back of building, with stream running through. Google.com
Birds eye view of site; google.com
Prospective User:
Figure 1: This graph shows the number of common jobs in Ellicott City and wage difference between Female and Male. There is about a 20 thousand dollar difference per year between genders.
Figure 2: This graph shows the average wages in Ellicott City, with the vast majority of wages from 10 to 60 thousand dollars a year. This shows the common income of residence of the territory.
Figure 3: This graph shows the average household income of Ellicott City, Howard County, DMV area and the whole United States. It can clearly be seen that Ellicott City has the highest average of the five areas included in the study.
Figure 4: The median age of Ellicott City is 38.8 years old. This will be the target audience for the redevelopment, with that of younger age also being considered.
The prospective user of the development will be the average community member of the age 18-40 years old. This is due to the demographics of the area, which is largely in their early 30s and are in the Middle Class economic factor. This will allow for a large variety of ethnicities, ages and socio economic standards. The trends that are current in Ellicott City seem to be for the future also, with an increase of young people with large range of income.
Market Competition:
4
SITE
1 2 1
3
The site is going to be redeveloped into a light retail and civic center for the area. The site is along the main street of Ellicott city, which will allow for a larger population of the site.
1. Howard County Welcome Center: This is the old granite stone post-office that was converted into the welcome center. This building is another civic building in the area. It will allow for the expansion of community activity spaces and gathering. This space is not competition to our space but is actually somewhat of an extension of the development. 2. The Ellicott: Upscale entertainment and food venue. This space will be an alternative space to go for entertainment in the area. Our development will host many entertainment events but is not constantly an entertainment spot. This is why the Ellicott will only have direct impact on the development on occasion, not allowing for much damage to either spaces business. 3. Tonge Row: Currently mix-use building with residential and retail spaces. This site has cafes, food, and ice cream shops within it, the redevelopment site will be in direct completion for the cafĂŠ spaces. However, the location of the cafĂŠ in the new building will allow for great site views, which will help draw people to this cafĂŠ and not the one in Tonge row. 4. Ellicott Brewing Company: Across the street from the development, this brewery and restaurant will not take much business away from this civic space. This shop can actually help draw people to the development. Grab a beer across the street then go to the civic space and join community activities.
Supply:
Ellicott City has many civic spaces along the main corridor of the territory, however, the area lacks space for community building activities and events. There is a nearby Welcome Center, which is cramped in the old post office building. There is the Court House nearby and a new entertainment hub called the Ellicott down the street. This will be one of the only main competition in the area, but will not have a major effect on our development due to the vast amount of activities that can occur in the civic spaces of the development. The nearby cafes are also a threat to my development, however, as mentioned above the site views of the cafĂŠ in the development should pull people to come to our cafĂŠ instead of the other ones. The view of the whole city from the cafĂŠ level of the building is a major draw for patrons of the development and city.
There is a need for spaces that can have a large number of activities taking place within it. Since the city is somewhat cramp and limited by the water flow in the city, this larger, open space interior and exterior is something needed and new for the area. This development will not damage the business around It but will likely increase foot traffic of the area, which can lead to increase number of patrons in stores around the redevelopment site. However, there is limited space in the area, which will lead to highly efficient interior and exterior spaces.
Zoning Narrative: The site is located in the Historic Commercial District (HC) of Ellicott City, an unincorporated township in Howard County. This site is located at the top of the historic Main Street of Ellicott City. This building was the destination of the Miller Chevrolet Dealership, built in the early 1940’s. This Dealership would help jumpstart this corridor of economic success. Ellicott City’s historic buildings line Main Street and help narrate the history of this wonderful township. The zoning of this area is structured to allow a large pool of possibilities for the site while making sure that the historic and cultural aesthetic is preserved.
The site allows for many different types of buildings on the site, ranging from single-family homes to retail shops. The site is currently being used as a restaurant called La Palapa Grill, Rug shop, Su Casa Furniture and event hall. This is a great example of how the building on the site is able to have many functions under the zoning allowed. As seen in Map 3 above, the vast numbers of buildings around the site are commercial buildings, with a few civic buildings also along Main Street. There are also many mix-use buildings around the site that also provide housing for residence.
The permitted uses for this site help define the future of a development. Since this site is in the Historic district, there needs to be a focus on Ellicott City’s past while also acknowledging future of the city when designing and developing. The uses however, can be vast, with only industrial complexes being barred. The zoning does allow though for single-family housing, apartment buildings, civic buildings, schools,
specialty shops, restaurants, religious buildings and hotels. These are just some of the allowed uses for this area, which has a large impact on the main street corridor. The density of the site is defined by Main Street, which is one of the densest points of the township, and the Code. The FAR for this site is 3 to 1 in this zoning area, which will affect the design. This is the commercial and civic center of Ellicott, which creates a dense area of business and activity in the area. The site is inline with the Main street corridor of buildings, contributing to the defined path of Main Street and the dense business of the area. With this infrastructure already existing, this will allow for a better understanding of the needs of the area and how to contribute to the economic benefits of being in a high density location. Howard County’s zoning codes allow for a lot of freedom of what can be placed within the site, while prioritizing the historic nature of the area and of Main Street. Since the site is located in a historic location, it will have to be widely considered in the development phase of the project. The county makes sure that developers and designers are able to bring economic benefits to the area while helping protect the legacy left behind of the founders of the historic downtown of Ellicott.
Site
Zoning Map
Site
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT): The site has many strength and opportunities to its location but has just as many weaknesses and threats: Strength: The strength of site starts with its location and proximity to the civic hub of the township. The site faces Main Street and sits on the main parking lot of the Historic
district of Ellicott, which allows for great foot traffic, is walking distance to trains, buses and other motor transport. This will allow for increase business for commercial building, etc. The site also has great proximity to transportation and infrastructure for users of the site. The site is along a main path of transport, is also .25 miles from the train station, and has numerous bus stops nearby and vast parking. Another strength of this site is that there is infrastructure in existence that will reduce some overhead of the project. The site has running water, electricity, roads, other forms of transport nearby, parking and storm water management system existing already. This will reduce the amount of civic infrastructure that needs to be designed, paid for and implemented.
Due to the amount of parking lots in the vicinity of the site, there are many opportunities to redevelop part of the large parking lot behind the site. Part of the Tiber River runs through the site and the parking lot behind the site. This stream and parking lot have the potential to become a civic park, with more interaction with the channel running through the lot and site. Since the parking lot is owned by Howard County, a partnership has been established. The County is giving up some of the lot they own to be transformed into a park area and plaza. This will allow for Howard County to increase traffic in the area with this new civic building. This area is lacking much green space and could benefit from this possible redevelopment of the site and adjacent lot. While the stream has some opportunities connected to it, it also creates many problems for the site and area. Ellicott City is known for it’s flooding, especially in the main street area. This is largely due to the topography that main street follows, which creates a channel for overflowing water to flow down to the main river at the base of
Main Street. Since there is large amount of access to the building, it will have a strong base of visitors from Ellicott and the surrounding area. The bus routes that run on Main Street, the train station that is .25 miles away that can be converted into commuter use, walkability of the site and vast amount of parking, also heighten this. Weakness: One of the main weaknesses of the site is lack of green space around it. This is why there needs to be an increase in green space in the design. This will allow for the hardscape that is currently around the site will become more environmentally friendly and user friendly. Opportunities: There are many opportunities to create a space that will be used for community bonding. This will include the increase green space, inside and outside the building. The open plan and moveable furniture allows for this space to really be changed for any event and every event that a community could need. Threats: A stream, that is known to overflow, runs through the site meeting up with other streams in the parking lot. This can be a major problem and threat for the site, which can flood up to 8 feet with water. This causes major damage to the site and the surrounding area. This needs to be taken into account when developing the site, there needs to be better storm water management, and flooding protections. The question will be if the strengths of the site outweigh the weaknesses of the site and its water problems.
Proposal:
The development will be transformed into a light retail and civic space building. This will create a major meeting and activity space for the community. This who will be the main people using the spaces. While there will be an attraction for people who do not live in Ellicott City, like history of the area, art exhibitions, cafĂŠ spaces and other open to the public activities and events, the main target audience is those who currently live in the area. The hills and spaced out areas of Ellicott do not have a true community space for events, get together, art shows, movies, retail pop up shops and many other things.
One of these target people are artists from the area, which will have access to gallery spaces, studio spaces and maker spaces. These spaces will entourage creativity, self-expression and community outreach. The maker spaces and studios will be open to all, unless reserved in advance through the county. The same idea will go for gallery spaces and other open planned spaces. There will be moveable walls and other features that will define the space depending on what is occurring in the development.
Those who use the space will be able to better understand the area, the importance of water to the site and to Ellicott, and be immersed in community outreach and community bonding.
The building will also be very assesable, with enterances on Main Street and facing Lot D. There will also be vast parking in Lot D, with only minimal decrease in parking spaces in the lot, and three lots across Main Street that can be used. Deliveries will be able to pull up through the plaza in Lot D to make Deliveries. The location makes this development very assesable for all.
Conclusion:
Ellicott City has a vast history, starting with the milling of wheat leading to a vibrant township. The area however, has been plagued with flooding and influx of damage from recent storms. That is why having a civic place for community gathering and activities is vital to the area. There is a sense of community after a devastation, like that of the floods but there is somewhat a lack of space for civic expression and events. This what the redevelopment is looking to add to the community, a place for all to come and spend time with the community.
This redevelopment of a five story, light retail and civic building will be sublimated by a private/public partnership with Howard county and Ellicott City. This will allow for public land to be developed into a space that can be connected to the building and increase the space for place making in the development. The hope is to create a space that will be used year round by all types of people, young to old, rich to poor, educated to uneducated. This development will be for all, any and everyone in the community and people visiting the area.
Vision Perpectives:
CafĂŠ
Atrium
Green Space along Main Street
Gallery Space
LOT D Enterance
Atrium from Above
Appendix:
Marketing Flyer: