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theShield April / May 2010
Nearby Massive Development to Impact Local Scene
Konterra’s Town Center East Shopping Center Planned to Open in 2012
By Nikki Lust
Anticipated to be the
retail, business, and
residential focal point
of the Baltimore-Washington
area in the coming
years, the local
Konterra project is a multi-billion dollar
venture to construct one of the most ambitious
mega-complexes ever conceived
in the country. Laurelites anxiously
await the introduction of Konterra to a
community that will welcome the employment,
housing, and retail opportunities
and fl ourishing possibilities the
fi nished new development will bring.
According to the website for the endeavor,
dubbed the “Konterra Reality,”
this 2200-acre, multi-faceted development
is centered around “the most dynamic
economic and cultural area on the
Eastern Seaboard,” purposely straddling
Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties
to provide its inhabitants, patrons,
and business affi liates only a 30-minute
commute to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore
and a 40-minute one to Annapolis
and Frederick. Its vicinity to these
bustling metropolitans and location near
Interstate 95 and the Capitol Beltway
are expected to usher in extraordinary
prosperity and lucrative income to the
prospective “premier business and residential
community” of tomorrow.
Consisting of a town center, residential
neighborhoods, and a business campus,
this three-dimensioned virtual city
featuring innumerable amenities and
community staples including “upscale
retail and hospitality venues, technology
campuses, educational institutions,” and
homes nestled around “schools, daycare,
recreation, worship, employment, and
shopping.”
Furthermore, in their dedication to environmental
protection and commitment
to sustainability, Konterra’s developers
are helping to beautify and support the
Prince George’s County community and
reduce the detrimental effects this major
construction effort can reap on the Earth
by sponsoring projects ranging from the
Anacostia Watershed Society’s April 18,
2009 Earth Day Celebration, in which
over 75 volunteers and the Citizens to
Conserve and Restore Indian Creek
(CCRIC) cleaned trash and tires from
the riverbed.
Responding to the potential threat
of such substantial construction and the
Spring Pep Rallies Introduce
Students to the New Auditorium
By Karene Winfi eld
This wasn’t a Pep Rally; it was a
motivational presentation and introduction
of spring sports teams. The
spring pep rally was sponsored by the
SGA and Sponsor Tom Miller. The
softball, baseball, outdoor track and
tennis teams were recognized during
the assembly. Apart from introducing
the players of each team sport,
efforts taken by Konterra to shield the
environment from this imminent harm,
District 1 County Councilmember Tom
Dernoga expresses, as quoted in the summer
2009 issue of The Konterra Times,
“Konterra is going to be a great economic
benefi t to Prince George’s County, but
it could have a potential environmental
impact. It’s good to see Konterra working
to bring environmental awareness
about that potential impact, and organizing
the community to help clean up the
downstream areas.” The people behind
the Konterra establishment also held a
2010 River Party and Stream Clean-Up
on April 24 to further their eco-friendly
initiatives.
Acting as “the northern gateway to
Prince George’s County,” the Konterra
Town Center is presented as the welcome
end to a lack of available upscale
dining and shopping options in Laurel
and its outlying lands. Advertized as a
village of “tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly
streets with outdoor cafes, high-end
boutiques and exciting entertainment
options,” offi ces, residential spaces, and
parks are also planned to coexist amidst
the trendy shops and edgy restaurants of
the Town Center. With a civic framework
of police, fi re, and additional
community services fi nanced by surplus
revenues, Konterra strives to be a
self-sustaining powerhouse, generating
upwards of 12,000 new jobs to boost the
welfare of the local people.
Moreover, cutting-edge architectural
landscapes and scenery, functional transportation
networks, and open regions for
leisure, sport, or exercise activities such
as biking and running are key integrals
of the overall design plans. Greenways,
bicycle paths, pedestrian sidewalks and
trails, and overdue roadway improvements
are expected to offer easy accessibility
and comfortable qualities that
will enhance Konterra’s neighborhoods.
For instance, according to Laurel Today,
a supplement of Maryland Life, Old
Gunpowder Road, Contee Road, and
Kenilworth Avenue will be widened and
extended, several intersections north of
Powder Mill Road will be improved,
and the new Contee Road interchange
will reduce regional traffi c congestion
that will be expectedly aggravated by
the added infl ux of visitors to and from
Konterra.
Atop what was once a gravel and sand
mining site, the Konterra Town Center
will rest east of I-95 and south of the fu-
special guest Steve Fitzhugh, a former
Denver Broncos football player,
shared a few words of wisdom and
encouragement to the student body.
Fitzhugh involved students in his
speech and shed light on important
issues involved in teens’ daily lives.
“I had a great experience at Laurel
High School,” Fitzhugh exclaimed.
“The students had a lot of energy,
and they were receptive to what I
Volunteers listen attentively to Motivational Speaker Steve Fitzhugh. (photo by M. Quijada)
ture Contee Road interchange and consist
of an eastern and western sector. The
488-acre eastern division consists of 600
hotel rooms, 4,500 residential units comprised
of apartments, condominiums,
and townhouses, 3,800,000 square-feet
of offi ce space, and 1,500,000 squarefeet
of retail stores, while the 253-acre
western section is currently undergoing
planning to house a similar mix of establishments
conveniently in the same
premise.
The fi rst phase of Konterra Town
Center East is scheduled for completion
in 2012, yet the Forest City Washington
and Gould Property Company
dual developers, by “combining local
knowledge with national strength,” predict
that long-term commitment to the
community will be required to fulfi ll the
center’s creation in its entirety.
Under the roof of Konterra’s residential
neighborhoods, the 35-acres set aside
for Wilshire Estates will presumably be
fi lled by 61 homes, with costs beginning
in the high $500,000’s, featuring “executive
amenities,” elite architectural
styles, and fl owing green yards, and will
lie west of Contee Road at the corner of
Van Dusen Road. Additionally, presented
as a community praising togetherness
and functionality, the Villages at Wellington
will contain approximately 545
single-unit homes, with starting prices
in the low $500,000’s, within 240 acres
bounded by Van Dusen Road and Cherry
Lane on the north.
The campus-style business division
of Konterra encloses commercial, offi
ce, research and development, and fl ex
buildings at various locations connected
by communication and infrastructure
systems designed to promote cohesion
and productivity. This 135.6-acre
Konterra Business Campus, already offering
550,000 square-feet of space and
expanding to perhaps 1 million squarefeet,
can be reached directly by Route
1, a MARC train service line between
Baltimore and Washington, and numerous
bus routes. Further, the 37.231acre
Konterra at Sweitzer Lane features
250,000 square-feet of cost-effective
building space for both large and small
businesses near the Maryland Route 198
interchange with I-95. Phase I contributes
68,000 square-feet of offi ce space
and 50,000 rentable square-feet of fl ex
space leased by the national engineering
fi rm Greenhorne and O’Mara, whose
corporate headquarters have been within
had to say.”
“Fitzhugh was very intriguing, and
I liked how he involved the students
in his speech when he had volunteers
come up on stage. It wasn’t boring .
. . I actually gave him my undivided
attention,” states DeAndre Bennett.
Students were very much involved
with the assembly, and the baseball
team hyped up the crowd as they
stomped and tore up a poster of the
Suitland Rams in the fi rst assembly.
“Life is like a priceless violin. One
may draw harmony from it . . . but no
one blames the instrument. If played
correctly it will give forth beauty. If
played ignorantly, it produces ugliness,”
surmised Fitzhugh.
Apart from Fitzhugh’s inspirational
quotes, Ms. Martin’s Dance 3
students concluded the fi rst assembly,
while the Step Team concluded
the second assembly. Mr. Wright’s
choir performed the school song,
the “Alma Mater,” as the opening
for both assemblies. However, the
second assembly was shortened
due to a lack of time. Unlike the
fi rst assembly where individuals
on the teams were called onto the
stage, during the second assembly,
teams were announced as a whole
since there was not enough time.
This bird’s-eye view of the projected complex highlights its immensity. - konterra.com
Konterra since December 2005, and Since purchasing the Laurel Sand and
Phase II will add 132,000 more square- Gravel property in 1981 and partnering
feet for offi ces.
with the award-winning national real-es-
Konterra Headquarters Building is tate developer Forest City Washington,
a 128,000 square-feet, six-story offi ce the Gould Property Company wishes to
building that is 41 percent leased, and continue its successful streak of build-
added Konterra reality and Kingdon ing buzz-worthy establishments in the
Gould, Jr. as tenants in 2008. It is lo- Washington Metropolitan area with
cated to the west of I-95, across from the Konterra. Likewise, Forest City’s vice
future Konterra Town Center, or north president of development Tom Archer
of I-495, between the fi rst and second concurs in The Konterra Times, “We are
interchanges of I-95, and can be reached committed to the community and deliv-
via the Route 198 interchange. Also, ering a quality development that will
the Braygreen Development Projects, stand the test of time,” and fulfi ll the
found adjacent to the Laurel City limits Gould family’s longstanding “vision of
at Route 1, will supply 35,250 square- building ‘a new town on,” the purchased
feet of fl ex or offi ce space, ten loading construction grounds.
docks, and free parking for employees. Vice President of Konterra Caleb
“Konterra will provide two important Gould, who is continuing his father’s,
features that will be extremely impor- Kingdon Gould Jr.’s, legacy and dream
tant to the northern tier of the County,” of manufacturing from dust a thriving
Laurel Mayor Craig Moe describes, ex- urban powerhouse in the idea of Konplaining
the many benefi ts the Konterra terra. As a strong supporter of smart
community will purportedly reap once growth principles to maximize develop-
completed, especially through its dement and minimize infrastructure and
velopment and “revitalization efforts” land use to protect the Earth, as relayed
that are “‘raising the bar’ on standards in Laurel Today, Gould believes this
of quality,” according to The Konterra three-pronged approach of attracting lo-
Times. “The fi rst is the provision of a cals to live, work, and play in the same
large amount of fi rst class offi ce space, venue is golden. “The more things you
as well as a quality conference and con- bring together the better,” Gould devention
hotel. The second is the proviclares, in Laurel Today. “If you’re just
sion of higher quality retail, which has trying to make it a shopping district, it
been absent in our area. For too long, won’t work. The key is to have people
northern Prince Georgians, and Laure- live and work there and blend in cullites
in particular, have been spending tural and recreational uses. That is what
their money at stores outside Prince makes it work.”
George’s County, even though their in- The long and costly process to build
comes justify those facilities right here this mammoth mega-complex began
in Laurel,” Moe comments, gratefully many moons ago and will speculatively
welcoming the foreseen fortuitous inau- continue ten to twenty years into the
guration of the massive undertaking. future. After an undisclosed period of
However, LHS students share a more planning and debating, the four-mem-
negative position regarding Konterra, inber Prince George’s County Planning
cluding sophomore Sarah Jeffries, who Board approved the three billion dollar
proclaims, “I’m upset because we don’t construction of the Konterra Town Cen-
need another mall, and I would rather ter East on June 12, 2008 after its sub-
have them use the funds for a wildlife mission in September 2007, based on a
preserve. We already have Columbia Gazette article’s fi ndings. Developers
Mall, Arundel Mills Mall, and Annapo- anticipate an 18-month approval process
lis Mall all near us, so it seems useless.” before beginning construction in late
Jeffries alludes to other Laurelites’ fears 2009 or early 2010 on this 30-month
that the imagined refurbishing of the construction schedule for the downtown
local Laurel Mall will suffer from Kon- portion of the Town Center. With 12
terra, as she observes, “We could use to 20 years predicted to pass before a
the funds for animals and Laurel Mall, glimpse of the completed Town Center
which hasn’t even been fi xed.”
even enters reality and yet undetermined
“It’s going to be an overpriced mall dollar amounts and projected timelines
if it costs that much for construction,” for the remainder of Konterra, this ‘town
junior Malcolm Richardson worries. On of the future’ seems to be just that: a dis-
the other hand, Richardson looks on the tant shooting star light-years away that
bright side of the Konterra project by will take ages to approach distinction by
mentioning that “it’s going to look nice awaiting humans who must continue on
though because it costs so much money with their normal lives while the hope-
to make,” quipping, “and if they don’t ful glimmer looms promisingly in the
have a Starbucks, I’m going to laugh.” uncharted reaches of the unknown.
Adolescents, Adults & Couples
Carol Geer Williams PhD
Licensed Psychologist
Patuxent Place
585 Main Street #143
Laurel, MD 20707
Offi ce Number:
(301) 490-0778