Maple Lawn

Harris Teeter Now Open!

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:00:49 -0500

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Maple Lawn, Howard County's premier new home development, is proud to announce the opening of a Harris Teeter supermarket! With its October, 2009 grand opening, Harris Teeter is a welcome addition to the great shopping at Maple Lawn.

Neighborly Maple Lawn

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:45:48 -0400

By Janene Holzberg
Baltimore Sun
Friday, July 18, 2008

It's almost as ifTim and Emily Higgins willed Maple Lawn into existence. A planned development of homes and businesses on 600 acres in southwestern Howard County, the neighborhood had yet to be advertised when the couple went in search of it more than four years ago.

At the time, they both worked in Gaithersburg near a similar mixed-use project called Kentlands. They admired its emphasis on neighborliness, with tightly packed houses built within easy walking distance of recreation, restaurants, shops and offices. But the surrounding area was too congested for them.

Hoping such a great concept might be duplicated near their Columbia home, the couple decided to check county zoning plans. Their hunch paid off when they discovered Maple Lawn Maryland in Fulton, which stretches between Johns Hopkins Road and Route 216.

“We thought it was so cool that we decided to wait for it,” said Tim Higgins, a loan officer. In 2005, they moved in.

The Higgins family was among 550 residents at the fourth annual Community Fun Day on Saturday afternoon, one of many community-building events that Maple Lawn offers.

“This is where we want to raise our family, with lots of other kids, who will grow up together,” said Emily Higgins, a real estate agent and mother to Maya, 2. The family was the fifth to move into the development. Now, 222 of the 1,340 planned homes are occupied, and 30 more are under construction.

The Higginses had taken part in a 50-family lottery to win a chance to purchase one of nine available lots, which came with a predetermined style of single family home. While they got their first choice, they said they would have bought in Maple Lawn no matter what the house
looked like.

“I love our home, but it’s 100 percent about the neighborhood,” said Emily. “We wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, ever.”

Catered food, live music, a Moon Bounce and face painting were offered under tents on the community center’s expansive lawn, next to the Olympic-size pool. Activities were capped off that evening with a disc jockey and a fireworks display.

“This whole event is about community — it is what Maple Lawn is all about,” said developer Stewart Greenebaum, partner in Greenebaum and Rose Associates.

Inspiration for Maple Lawn might have come from Kentlands and King Farm, both mixed-use developments in Montgomery County, but it was Columbia’s founder, James W.
Rouse, who really made it all possible, he said.

“I knew Jim, and I would like to think that this development is the second generation of what he would have done if he were alive today,” he said.

Maple Lawn was conceived as a pedestrian-friendly and self contained neighborhood, he added. Homes built on lots ranging from 4,500 to 9,500 square feet encourage interaction between neighbors. There are also sections of townhouses and condominiums.

There are three restaurants, seven retail stores, two doctors offices, a preschool and 21 companies in the development. There also are corporate and medical offices along with specialty retailers that include a spa, wine store, and lingerie shop. Pizza Fresca, an Italian bistro, will open at the end of this month.

Harris Teeter, a North Carolina-based chain of grocery stores, plans to open a 50,000-square-foot store in the fall next year. The company opened its first Howard County store in Kings Contrivance Village Center in May. When all commercial and retail construction is completed within another 10 years, it will total 1.86 million square feet of space.

“The developer’s vision is for people to live, work and recreate here,” said Lydia Chandlee, property manager. “This is not only idealistic, it’s realistic, because
it’s happening.”

Jose Ramirez knows firsthand. He and wife, Stacy, operate Outrageous Occasions, a special event planning service, from their home in Maple Lawn. Fifty-five children are enrolled in a summer camp that they run on-site, and the couple arrange birthday parties and offer Kids Night Out, a child care service based in the community center Friday nights.

“My wife found this place, and the first day she brought me here I said, ‘Sold!’ You could just see what was going to be happening,” he said. They moved into the neighborhood in 2006 and married last year. The close proximity of everything, especially the homes, isn’t for everybody.

“If you want 2 acres so you can raise German shepherds, then this neighborhood isn’t for you,” said Greenebaum. Residents “are forced to interact,” Tim Higgins said, since their homes are purposely built close together. “The only negative is if you want privacy. It isn’t here.”

Like the Higginses, Gino and Christy Hefner saw the potential in Maple Lawn, which is named after Maple Lawn Farms. Members of the Henry Iager family, who have farmed nearby since 1839, sold about 150 acres to the developers. “I feel like this place has evolved into even more than we imagined,” said Gino Hefner, who likes the frequent community get-togethers. “They’ve really taken it to a level that we didn’t expect.”

The couple, who have four children ranging in age from 2 to 10, praised the local public schools — Fulton Elementary, Lime Kiln Middle and Reservoir High — clustered together off Route 216.

“When we first moved in, there were only nine children on the [elementary] school bus, and now there are 50,” said Christy. “This is an especially great place for families.”

Children swarmed the pool and playground areas surrounding the community center Saturday, yet some residents did not choose the neighborhood for its child population.

Richard Keating and his wife, June, are empty nesters who moved into Maple Lawn three years ago from a 1960s rancher on three-quarters of an acre in Laurel. They chose a larger, low maintenance home with a first floor master bedroom.

A vice president with a Silver Spring mortgage company, Richard Keating said the neighborhood’s easy access to U.S. 29, Interstate 95 and other highways was a large factor in their decision. The couple are visited frequently by their four children and six grandchildren, who come from Virginia, New Jersey and Montgomery County.

A Break From the Yard In Suburban Maple Lawn

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:44:19 -0400

By Tony Glaros
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, July 12, 2008; Page G01

When Prassad Karunakaran lived on a half-acre in Sykesville, northwest of Baltimore, tending to his spread came with the mortgage. Over time, the novelty of mowing turned into plain drudgery.

"Cutting the grass was a nightmare," he recalled. "You try to spend weekends with your family, and you end up doing all these chores."

Eventually Karunakaran set out to simplify his life. He went house-hunting in Rockville and Gaithersburg, but he was turned off by the congestion. Someone suggested he check out a new, mixed-use community in southwest Howard County called Maple Lawn. He liked what he saw and bought a single-family house on just an eighth of an acre. "This morning, I cut the grass in 10 minutes," he said cheerily from the steps of his wind-powered house. Karunakaran buys electricity from Rockvillebased Clear Currents, which generates much of its power on wind farms in Texas and the Midwest.

Karunakaran, 40, a government contractor, boosted his quality of life in another way. His office is less than a mile away in downtown Maple Lawn, which is made up of a handful of low-rise office buildings. Tenants include lawyers and financial service firms. With the soaring price of gasoline, the idea that he can walk to work in 15 minutes is satisfying, he said. He's even considering asking the staff at the homeowners association to install a bicycle rack outside his office building.

There's plenty to like about Maple Lawn, said Sharada Karunakaran, 39, a certified public accountant for her husband's business. "I like the concept. It's very mixed," she said. "There are retired people whose children are gone, and there are married couples with no kids. And the ethnicity is amazing."

Since 2004, Maple Lawn has been taking shape in semirural Fulton, two miles north of Burtonsville off Route 29. The neighborhood follows popular "neotraditional" design principles, sometimes called new urbanism. Such neighborhoods aim to recreate an oldfashioned, small-town feel in new suburban areas.

Maple Lawn's neighborhoods, many of them tree-lined, are made up of small blocks woven together to promote walking and interacting. Homes are a mix of sizes and types. The business district is young, but there's an ever-growing list of retailers, including a tapas bar, ice cream parlor and small specialty stores such as lingerie shop Bra-la-la.

At the Daily Grind, a franchise coffee shop, owner Sophie Bradford, 43, said her business has
grown in fits and starts since opening two years ago.

"Maple Lawn is an excellent concept, but it's still very new," she said as a late-morning line formed. To create more awareness after dark, Bradford sponsors Family Game Night on the third Friday of each month. "During August, we'll have it every Friday night," she said. It brings together parents and children who play board games such as Scrabble and Monopoly.

This fall, she plans to reopen the store at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and offer "specialty drinks, live entertainment and gourmet desserts." The focus will be on adults searching for lighter fare. "You might be up late working on taxes. Parents can put their kids to bed and have a cup of coffee."

Plans call for more than 1,300 homes -- single-family houses, townhouses, multifamily condominiums and rentals. So far, 219 have sold, said Denise Shrader of Re/Max Advantage Realty in Maple Lawn. "The people are moving here because of the attractive location" near Baltimore, Washington and Annapolis "and the lack of large lots to maintain."

Given the sluggish real estate market around the region, she said, "I think the builders have made some adjustments and are continuing to sell. In spring and summer, there are typically more sales than in fall and winter."

Larry Yumkas and his family moved to Maple Lawn in late 2005 from the Village of Kings Contrivance in Columbia.

His wife, Miriam Fisher, 47, works as a lawyer in downtown Washington. "Any closer we could get her [to the District] while staying in Howard County was a plus," said Yumkas, 44, a lawyer-turned-chief executive of a consulting group in Annapolis. Staying in the county meant their children, Emily and Ben, could continue attending its top-ranked public schools.

While he found Columbia friendly, he said, "Maple Lawn is more conducive to a sense of community. In Columbia, you tend to be in a cul-de-sac so you're limited in how many people you come in contact with."

Fisher said of their six-bedroom, 5,500-square-foot house: "It looks over a horse farm across the street. One of the nice things about it is even though it is a large house, the rooms are not enormous. There's coziness to it. . . . The guest room is in a separate part of the house that's quiet. And there's a lovely patio in front of the house that has a certain privacy to it." They still shop at the Mall in Columbia, she added, but for groceries, they make the short drive down Route 29 to the Giant Food
in Burtonsville.

Although Metrobus does not extend into Howard County, Maple Lawn residents can park in Burtonsville, in Montgomery County, and catch a bus there. State-owned buses also run from a commuter lot on Scaggsville Road. For those who prefer the train,
MARC's Camden Line from Baltimore is a 10-minute ride away on Main Street in Laurel.

Long before Maple Lawn became an upscale residential and commercial project, it was -- and still is -- the name of the nearby farm that raises and sells 20,000 fresh turkeys each year during Thanksgiving week. In 1839, Henry Iager immigrated from Germany and bought the family's original 108 acres in Fulton. The family has farmed the land since. The farm had grown to as many as 1,000 acres. Eugene Iager, Henry Iager's great-great grandson, who runs the farm, said he is pleased at the way Maple Lawn is taking shape a mile east of his rolling pastures. "We only committed a small parcel -- 150 to 170 acres -- to the
development," he said. "If we hadn't done it, it would still be all farmland today. Nobody wants density . . . they're trying to keep lots of open space there."

The sprawling community center is the focal point for activities that extend beyond the outdoor, Olympic-size swimming pool, said Isabella Boyd, assistant manager of the homeowners association. The list includes yoga, Pilates and wine tasting. Come summer, the soccer field is transformed into an outdoor movie theater showing family films.

"People bring their blankets and their lawn chairs and their relatives," she said. A fireworks show tonight will cap a full day of activities that include face-painting, Moonbounce and a raffle.

Late one recent afternoon, Kristina Leary was keeping a close eye on her two young sons playing in the children's pool. Leary moved from the District to Maple Lawn in February 2005, making her the first resident of the development. "We wanted to move out and get some more space but still have a feeling of community," she said. "After you move to the 'burbs you can feel isolated."

Leary, 39, admitted it was hard leaving the city and all the services it offered, such as good doctors and upscale shopping in places such as Mazza Gallerie in upper Northwest.

Being the first residents of a neighborhood wasn't easy, she said. At that time, her street had more construction workers and equipment than anything else and no street lights. "My husband traveled a lot," she said, which added to the loneliness. "Your imagination sometimes runs wild. Thank God we had a big old Lab retriever."

Trish Cott, 60, and her husband, Jerry Cott, 61, moved from their house in College Park to Maple Lawn, where they paid $750,000 for a 5,000-square foot house complete with Palladian arches and copper drain pipes. "We didn't look anywhere else," she said. "It's fantastic. People walk their dogs at 1 o'clock in the morning, and you can go outside and talk to them."

Cott, who works for the Social Security Administration in the District, served as a trailblazer of sorts. Since she bought at Maple Lawn, her sister, son and daughter have all followed. "We're in the middle of all this rural paradise," she said, "and we have public water and sewer. I'm a psychologist. This has done more for my mental health. . . . it's better than Prozac."

Maple Lawn Wins Prestigious Award

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:42:29 -0400

Maple Lawns dedication to excellence was recently recognized by its receipt of the prestigious Best In American Living Award from the National Association of Home Builders.

Board Approves Expanded Maple Plan

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:42:36 -0400

In a January 10, 2007 article, The Baltimore Sun reported that the Howard County Planning Board unanimously approved an amended sketch plan that will greatly expand Maple Lawn. According to The Sun, The plan will alter Maple Lawn by Increasing the number of acres restricted to residential development from 251 to 266. Permitting 1,340 housing units, an increase of 224 units. Expanding permitted business uses from 77 acres to 122 acres, and increasing the square footage by 684,552 square feet to 1.86 million square feet. Increasing land reserved for open space from 179 acres to 217 acres.

Maple Lawn Boulevard Is Now Open

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:42:38 -0400

On Saturday, July 8th, 2006, Maple Lawn Boulevard officially opened from Route 216 to Johns Hopkins Road during a Street Dedication Ceremony. This road now provides easy access from the residential neighborhoods of Maple Lawn to the rapidly expanding business district, which contains a myriad of diverse restaurants, retail shops and office buildings.

Maple Lawn Featured in The Baltimore Sun

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:42:40 -0400

On August 1, 2004 The Baltimore Sun ran a feature story about Maple Lawn. The article focused on the unique “neo-traditional” look of the community. As the article described, “Some houses have peaked roofs; some look flat; some appear in between. Some roofs have dormers; others don't. The fronts all look different, but not with a cookie-cutter pattern of exterior features repeated every third house. There are varying patterns of windows, shutters, trim and materials. Even the outdoor landscaping is individually designed for each home.” The article went on to describe the different home styles built by the two builders, Mitchell and Best Homebuilders and Miller and Smith Homes. With a variety of single family and townhome options, Maple Lawn has become an immediate success.

Maple Lawn Recieves Go Ahead For First Phase of Residential Construction

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:42:43 -0400

WASHINGTON DC– Howard County, Md. gave the go-ahead for the first phase of residential development at Maple Lawn, the Washington/Baltimore region’s much anticipated new mixed use community at the intersection of Routes 216 and 29 near Columbia, Md. Land development for the initial 120 of a planned 1,116 new homes is expected to begin shortly. The 507-acre community is being built by Greenebaum and Rose Associates, builders of quality properties throughout Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Two of the Washington areas most prestigious homebuilders, Miller and Smith, headquartered in McLean, Va., and Mitchell and Best, of Rockville, Md. will build the first homes at Maple Lawn. Miller and Smith has won more Finest for Family Living awards than any other Washington area builder. The FFL Awards are a series of prestigious awards given annually by the Washington building industry to firms demonstrating the highest standards of quality, design and overall presentation. Mitchell and Best has won numerous awards from the local building industry for its superior product. These include four FFL Awards just this past year, and a SMART Growth Award from the Planning Commission of the City of Gaithersburg, MD for their commitment to quality for urban design and Smart Growth in the City of Gaithersburg. The firms are known for their expertise in Traditional Neighborhood Design TND communities, a concept that combines distinctive residential and commercial architecture with a town planning style recalling the small communities of the early 20th century. Maple Lawn’s pedestrian friendly streetscapes, neighborhood parks, and recreational amenities will create an enhanced sense of community not often found in other planned communities. Residential neighborhoods are within walking distance of the Business District, shopping and recreational facilities. Main Street style retail, including pharmacies, bookstores, local banks, and restaurants, is accessed directly from the sidewalks. The first commercial and residential lots at Maple Lawn are slated for completion in early 2004. The entire project will be carried out in phases, with initial commercial and retail construction to include approximately 90,000 square feet of office space and some retail pad sites. When the final phase is completed in 2012, Maple Lawn will feature more than one million square feet of office space comparable in quality to most class A alternatives in downtown Washington at significantly lower rents, and 150,000 square feet of prime retail space. Greenebaum and Rose Associates, Inc., is a privately held full-service real estate development and management company with offices in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Founded in 1979, the firm develops, owns and manages mixed-use projects, urban and suburban office buildings, research and development/business park facilities, shopping centers and residential communities. The firm has developed more than 3 million square feet of commercial space and more than 10,000 residential lots. Greenebaum and Rose has earned a reputation for developing award-winning projects to suit the needs of commercial businesses, clients and residents. The company brings expertise in project and construction management, leasing, property management, finance, and government relations.

Concept in City Planning Promotes Livable Communities

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:42:44 -0400

WASHINGTON DC – One of the hottest movements in contemporary urban planning is about to gain a major presence in the greater Washington region. Maple Lawn, under development at the intersection of Routes 216 and 29 near Columbia, Md., will deliver a livable, sustainable community based on Traditional Neighborhood Development TND principles. One of the great dissatisfactions of contemporary living is the blight of sprawling commercial corridors, office parks and housing blocks radiating ever further outward from major metropolitan centers. Over the past several decades, this pattern of development has resulted in snarled traffic, frustrating commute times for workers, and the separation of individuals, couples and families from recreational and cultural amenities. The greater Washington region is particularly notorious for this. TND seeks to reverse this trend. Harking back to a time before automobile dependency took root, TND fosters compact, cohesive communities in which residential areas are gently integrated with pedestrian-friendly town centers to create a natural interplay of private and public spaces. A key concept of TND is pedestrian friendliness. As much as possible, TND seeks to place public spaces – shops, offices, theaters, and parks – within convenient walking distance of surrounding residential areas. Buildings are close to the street, and garages and parking lots are hidden from the streetscape. Streets are laid out in interconnected grid networks to disperse traffic and ease walking. And wherever possible streets are lined with attractive trees. Mixed Use is another important TND principle. Within neighborhoods, within blocks and even within buildings, TND seeks to create a healthy mixture of offices, shops and homes. And among homes, TND places a range of different types, sizes and prices in close proximity. TND emphasizes putting nearly all structures into greater proximity to one another. The resulting density contributes to pedestrian friendliness. At the same time, the structure of the TND community preserves a definite distinction between the center of town and the edge of town. The public space at the center is the densest, with the density progressively diminishing toward the edge. A final, important feature of TND is the incorporation of architecture set to the human scale and emphasizing human comfort as well as integration with the natural world. The distinctive design of both residential and public buildings is one of the hallmarks of TND. Maple Lawn’s developer, Greenebaum and Rose, is a Washington area leader for high quality mixed-use developments. It was designed by Design Collective, an award-winning architectural design and planning firm renowned for its sustainable, mixed-use designs. When Maple Lawn is completed in 2012, the community will provide more than one million square feet of Class A office space, and 150,000 square feet of “Main Street” style retail in a compact, well laid out downtown resembling that of a traditional small town center of the early 1900s. Maple Lawn will also feature upon completion 1,116 residential units spanning a variety of housing types and price ranges. Greenebaum and Rose has selected the firms Miller and Smith and Mitchell and Best to undertake the building of Maple Lawn. Both firms have won numerous prestigious awards and are held in the highest regard within the building industry for their TND triumphs. Maple Lawn, Maryland is developed by Greenebaum and Rose Associates, Inc., a Washington area leader for high quality mixed-use developments. Greenebaum and Rose is a privately held full-service real estate development and management company with offices in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Founded in 1979, the firm develops, owns and manages mixed-use projects, urban and suburban office buildings, research and development/business park facilities, shopping centers and residential communities. The firm has developed more than 3 million square feet of commercial space and more than 10,000 residential lots. Greenebaum and Rose has earned a reputation for developing award-winning projects to suit the needs of commercial businesses, clients and residents. The company brings expertise in project and construction management, leasing, property management, finance and government relations.

Mitchell and Best Open For Sales At Maple Lawn in Maryland

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:42:46 -0400

May 22, 2004 Fulton, Maryland – Mitchell and Best, an award winning homebuilder based out of Montgomery County, MD, opened for sales at Maple Lawn, a new community off of Johns Hopkins Road, on May 22, 2004 with their first release of nine single-family village and manor homes. Due to the overwhelming interest Mitchell and Best received for their upcoming single-family homes at Maple Lawn, they recently held a Preview Information Session on May 13, 2004. The event was held at the nearby Ten Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville, and included a presentation by the community developer and the management team of Mitchell and Best, as well as a question and answer session. Over 400 potential homebuyers attended and received floor plans and pricing for the first available homes, as well as floor plans for the upcoming townhomes. Interested participants signed for homeowners association documents that allowed them to participate in the lottery at the Maple Lawn sales trailer. On May 22, 2004, Mitchell and Best held the lottery for the first release of village and manor style single-family homes at Maple Lawn. The lottery was held at the Maple Lawn sales trailer and was open only to those potential purchasers who had shown previous interest and signed for the homeowners association documents. The drawing began promptly at 10 am, and each participant’s name was randomly drawn and assigned a priority number. All nine homes were sold and additional potential homebuyers were added to the priority waiting list. At the next release, the persons on this list will be contacted in order for an opportunity to purchase one of the available manor or village homes. Mitchell and Best will be offering townhomes, village and manor homes and estate homes at Maple Lawn. The townhomes will start in the mid-500s, village and manor homes in the 600s, and the estate homes will start at 1.1 Million. Maple Lawn is a 507-acre neo-traditional planned community featuring a visionary master plan with sidewalks, streetlamps, alleyways, recreation, parks and its own town center. To learn more about Mitchell and Best and their communities, visit them on the Internet at www.mitchellbesthomes.com or phone (301) 762-9511.