Greg Reaves, co-founder and CEO of Mosaic Development Partners, gives remarks Tuesday to announce the development of transit-oriented development on nearly 100 acres at Bowie State MARC station. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)
State and local officials touted a transit-oriented development project for the MARC station at Bowie State University that would bring hundreds of affordable housing units to Prince George’s County, but could take several years to come to fruition.
Officials on Tuesday announced the development team for the Bowie State project, which is slated to include more than 400 housing units, retail and commercial businesses and office space. Part of the project will also include creation of pedestrian and bicycle access between the station and the campus.
The Maryland Department of Transportation selected Mosaic Development Partners JV and Campus Apartments as the state’s joint development partner; Prince George’s County chose BSU MARC Community Partners.
“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new partnership and the next chapter of our community … for a simple but powerful idea: The places we build shape the lives we live,” said Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D), who spoke at the press conference that lasted more than 40 minutes.
Although the state owns about 5 of the nearly 100 acres at the Bowie State MARC station, the state Department of Transportation will contribute $1.5 million toward the master and infrastructure planning, among other work. Another $250,000 will come from money approved in the federal government’s fiscal 2026 budget.
The county owns the remaining 93 acres with a goal of producing up to 670 construction jobs and generating $108 million in state and local tax revenue.
The project is personal for several people such as Greg Reaves, a county resident who is co-founder and CEO of Mosaic Development Partners. The company was established in Philadelphia but also has an office in New Carrollton.
“To be able to come down here and work where I live is something that’s so special to me,” he said.
A few speakers, such as Vance Gragg, had to contend with trains going past during Tuesday’s event. Gragg is co-founder of Gragg Cardona Souadi of Washington, D.C., which will serve as master developer on the county land adjacent to the station.
A train also zoomed by while Bowie State President Aminta Breaux gave her remarks. During a brief interview after the renderings were unveiled, Breaux said it’s unclear if any of the units would be designated for students, especially since the college is already working on its own housing project.
Breaux said this project is something she has envisioned since she became president in 2017.
“From what I’ve seen, being in higher ed for a long time on other campuses, is that this is how you can connect the university with the largest business sector, with corporations, with partners in government,” she said. “This is what we need to do to bring our talent to the experts and have them come into us. That’s been the vision all along.”
According to a 2024 MDOT report, the Bowie State station presented one of the best opportunities for transit-oriented development of the six stations along the MARC’s Penn Line between Washington and Baltimore. The entire Penn Line is 13 stations that stretch between Union Station in Washington, D.C., to Perryville in Cecil County.
‘Creating access’
In Prince George’s, former County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) helped kick off the transit-oriented development effort with his push to designate the last stop on Metrorail’s Blue and Silver lines as the “Downtown Largo” station. That station and three others on the line are part of the ongoing Blue Line corridor project, which the legislature approved four years ago, allocating $400 million for the Maryland Stadium Authority to oversee the project.
Shortly before the start of this year’s legislative session, Gov. Wes Moore (D) in January unveiled a housing legislative package that coincided with an event to announce a contractor to redevelop property around the Capitol Heights Metro station, part of the Blue Line corridor that stretches east from Washington, D.C.
In May, Moore signed two housing bills into law — the Maryland Housing Certainty Act and the Maryland Transit and Housing Opportunity Act — in the hopes of decreasing the state’s 94,000 housing unit shortage.
Besides a plan to offer affordable housing in Bowie, the project unveiled Tuesday will also provide access to residents and students, said Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold.
“Transit does more than just move people from place to place. We are creating access to jobs, to education, to healthcare, recreation, cultural spaces, this amazing university,” she said. “This transit-oriented development at Bowie MARC station serves to better use our existing transit system and allows for students to easily access D.C., easily access Baltimore and all the amenities that we have there.”
State and county officials highlighted how the project will include minority-owned and women-owned businesses, such as L.A. Bolden of Washington, D.C, owned by Lisa Bolden. Her company, which worked on a project about 10 years ago to construct senior housing in Suitland, will be responsible for the same type of housing in Bowie.
“The importance of being a women-owned, minority business as part of this development actually shows how inclusive the state of Maryland is, in making sure that we all get some opportunities,” Bolden said in an interview before the unveiling of the renderings. “Maryland is at the forefront when it comes to being a state showing social equity.”
Originally published at Marylandmatters.Org