The Merriweather Post - March 2025 Edition

My take on the "hostile" CA takeover; the revival of two blighted yet legendary Columbia Landmarks, Is the iconic Lakefront Library back on track, BGE Transmission, and a Restaurant run-down

The Columbia Association’s (not-so) Hostile Takeover of Village Facilities

The Columbia Association (CA) is entering election season, and like clockwork, suddenly, after a quiet year in which the resident volunteers comprising the CA Board have managed to conduct business without inspiring too much controversary, there, gasp, appears to be a sky-is-falling outcry regarding a prospective CA board action.

The issue du jour is the management of village facilities, e.g. the 24 community/neighborhood centers scattered throughout Columbia’s 10 villages that are owned by CA but managed and operated by the community association of the village where they are located. Some of these buildings are large (like Historic Oakland in Town Center or The Other Barn in Oakland Mills) with ballrooms large enough for weddings and other large private events; but most are small neighborhood centers (frequently rented to a preschool) or a community center containing a banquet room, conference room, and/or administrative offices used by the community association staff.

Villages decide how best to use their buildings, including when to program the space with their own in-house community events or make the space available for rental (e.g. for a business meeting, seminar, religious service, private event, etc.) Currently, when a village decides to rent out its space, the staff of that village’s community association are responsible for handling bookings, renter coordination, payments, event set-up, cleanup, insurance, etc. The community association keeps the rental revenue it generates while bearing these associated expenses and responsibilities. Each village association is essentially operating as its own independent venue operator.

CA sees an opportunity for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of building management by centralizing some or all of the tasks involved with rental management. Instead of 10 separate organizations each managing 1 to 4 buildings a piece, CA believes that if they were to centralize building rental operations, they can significantly lower expenses through elimination of redundancies and leveraging economies of scale. For example, CA believes it could reduce expenses if it were to create a centralized booking/payment system and/or just have a single insurance policy or janitorial contract to cover all buildings. CA also suspects that they can be more successful in maximizing rental revenue through their name recognition, marketing reach, and sales capability. The aim would be to increase rental revenue and decrease expenses. A win-win.

Importantly, CA is not proposing to take rental revenue away from villages nor dictate when the building is made available for outside rental. CA has made this abundantly clear. Villages would still keep net rental revenue and would be able to reserve their building whenever they want to host their own community programming. The CA proposal is to simply relieve villages from the burden of facilities management, thus freeing up village staff time or salaries so villages can reinvest this attention and money towards other resident services, such as improved events, advocacy efforts, or enhanced covenant enforcement. Of course, for the village staff whose job responsibilities include faculty management, there is rightful concern that their jobs could be reduced, changed, and/or eliminated if they are no longer responsible for performing one of their primary job functions. Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of each of the village boards to oversee how their community association allocates its resources to best serve their community.

While this CA proposal is clearly a well-intended effort to improve organizational efficiency as stewards of Columbia resident’s assessment dollars, the proposal, nonetheless, has been mischaracterized and weaponized by several CA Board members to seemingly drum up anger against CA and mobilize resident’s support for their own re-election bid. Misleading and factually-incorrect letters from the CA board members of River Hill (Eric Greenberg), Long Reach (Reg Avery), and Oakland Mills (Karin Emery) claim that this proposal is a power grab that will result in an inability for villages to provide services to their residents or continue popular events. This is false, and these CA board-members know it. They are intentionally manufacturing resident outrage towards CA in order to cast themselves in a better light.

The CA Board will meet tonight at 7 PM Thursday March 27 to hear resident speak-out and consider these options.

Long Reach Village Center Redevelopment Progresses

A lot of new information has become available on the planned major redevelopment of the Long Reach Village Center. The entity chosen to undertake the project, Columbia Concepts, is new, but their website boasts it is a joint venture between entities with deep roots in Howard County. The company recently presented their plans to the CA Board (see packet and recording of the February 21, 2025 CA meeting) and the Long Reach Village Board (see March 18, 2025 presentation to the LRVB). Columbia Concepts is considering several alternatives for the redevelopment, depending on whether or not adjacent property owners want to become part of the plan.

Columbia Concepts submitted a “Notice of Intent to the Long Reach Village Board and Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning on March 13, 2025 as one of many necessary steps in the redevelopment process. The NOI contains background, renderings, vision, site plans, project team, timeline, and much more information..

Columbia Concepts describes their visions as follows:

The proposed redevelopment will introduce various elements designed to rejuvenate the area. The plan includes the construction of a first-of-its-kind in Howard County multi-sports complex, modernized residential buildings (rental and for-sale), offering over 330 mixed-income housing units with designated spaces for senior living. New commercial and retail spaces will attract diverse businesses, including a neighborhood grocery store, dining establishments, and entertainment venues. Public and green spaces will be expanded and redesigned to promote walkability, social interaction, and community engagement.

Columbia Concepts will next hold a public Community Workshop on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at Stonehouse to provide an opportunity for community input.

It’s important to note that this project is at the beginning stages of the multi-year planning and zoning process that involves multiple levels of review and approvals from the community, village board, planning board, zoning board (comprising the 5 members of the County Council), and other government bodies. This all will take time, and accordingly, Community Concepts does not not expect for these preliminary pre-construction steps to be completed until 2027. If all goes well, construction will then occur in phases, with full buildout approximately a decade away.

The Source of funding for The Source

The Long Reach Village Center is not the only project that Columbia Concept is advancing. Columbia Concepts was also selected by the County to redevelop the Columbia Flyer building on Little Patuxent Parkway into The Source, a hodgepodge collection of community amenities, including a gymnasium with basketball courts, fitness center, food hall, daycare, video game room, recording studio, food pantry, tutoring space, and more. The site is now fenced off as a clear signal that construction is imminent.

Here is a description of the project from Columbia Concept’s website:

Complementing Columbia’s stunning downtown transformation, we are pleased to introduce Howard County’s newest, must-see attraction: The Source- a fully-appointed 65,000 square foot commercial building that will replace the venerable Columbia Flier Building with a generative force for our community. Inspired by the award-winning Columbia Community Care nonprofit, and developed by lifelong Howard County residents, The Source will spur significant economic development while also providing essential social services. Consistent with the community’s stated desire in the RFP, The Source will include a state-of-the-art sports complex; modern food and social halls; and tenants who will provide community-facing services in education, medical care, and daycare. The Source will be home to the Columbia Community Care Peace and Justice Center, which will provide vital services for our County’s most underserved residents, including literacy programs, a food pantry, video-game rooms, and a recording studio, creating safe places in which our youth can learn and relax as their authentic selves. In other words, The Source will provide our community’s most precious commodity – our children – with a desirable alternative to simply hanging out at the mall or in downtown Columbia. With letters of support across our community including the Howard County Sheriff, the Howard County State’s Attorney, and near unanimous support from the Howard County Council, The Source has what the community needs.

While Columbia Concept’s vision for Long Reach makes sense economically to me, I am positively baffled by the Source. Don’t get me wrong, The Source sounds like it will be an incredible addition to Columbia, especially for teens in the Wilde Lake area. And I’m thrilled that Columbia Community Care will be featured tenants. They do incredible work. What I don’t understand is how in the world a community center can provide the profit needed to justify such a large private-sector investment.

Before I explain why, allow me to provide a quick aside on background. After a 33 year-run as home to the cherished Columbia Flyer newspaper, the County became owner of the building in 2014 with ideas of incorporating the property into the Downtown plan. Those plans were ultimately abandoned, and the County opted to instead initiate the process of offloading the building for private redevelopment. This was a topic of one of my very first blog posts in February 2020. The County issued a Request for Proposal in April 2023. Columbia Concepts was the sole respondent and were selected to purchase and redevelop the site, an announcement that was covered by the The Columbia Patch (Columbia Flier Building To Become State-Of-The-Art Community Center, April 12, 2024), Baltimore Banner (Newest plan for the Columbia Flier building: A community center, April 9, 2024), and Maryland Reporter (The Newspaper was Already Dead; Now the Building it created would be demolished too, April 11, 2024). Land records show that the County officially sold the building for $3 million to Columbia Concepts, operating under the business name Columbia Flier Owner, LLC, on July 15, 2024.

Columbia Concept plan is to tear down the existing building and replace it with a state-of-the-act community center. A complete demolition and construction of a new 65,000 SF facility has got to cost in the tens of millions of dollars. $30 million? $50 million? $70 million? The Country is NOT financing this. It's private sector investment. An investment of this magnitude requires underwriting by banks and due-diligence of investors to ensure the projected revenue can service debt and provide a return. So, where is all this revenue going to come from? Certainly not from charging teens to use the recreational amenities. I suspect the food entrepreneurs operating in the food hall will pay rent as will the nonprofit tenants, but I can’t imagine this revenue is expected to come even remotely close to service the debt on an eight-figure construction loan or provide a return to investors. What bank would lend money to this capital project? What investors think they will earn a return? It’s perplexing. Maybe there is a logical explanation, like an extremely generous donation from an anonymous philanthropist? Or maybe there is more to the business plan than I’m comprehending. But, as I understand it, this is private-sector investment in what sounds more like an (amazing) public amenity, and I just don’t understand how the numbers work to make this project financially viable, let alone profitability. I’m clearly missing something… Help me understand.

The Lakefront Library is not dead yet

Howard County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball will soon be revealing his FY26 Capital Budget request. Ahead of the full release, the CE has slowly been revealing some of the key capital projects that will be proposed. One notable part of his request will be asking the County Council to release $5 million of State Funds to be used to finalize plans for a new Central Library branch in Downtown Columbia. These funds were awarded from the State to Howard County when the Lakefront Library concept was first announced in 2023, and have been held in contingency pending Council approval of their release. If released, the funding will be used to help identify a final site for the library and advance planning to move the project forward. The County has hired the Maryland Economic Development Corporation to prepare various studies related to the Lakefront site, including options for satisfying the parking requirements associated with the use of the Lakefront site as well as a revenue study to determine revenue-generating potential of a new Central branch. I’m trying to contain my excitement and not get too ahead of myself, but this is a clear signal that the Lakefront Library could become reality after all. Yes!

More Tree Loss Coming to Columbia

BGE plans to add a third high-voltage transmission line on the right of way that cuts through Owen Brown, Kings Contrivance, and Long Reach, as part of an upgrade to 59 miles of transmission infrastructure across Harford, Baltimore, and Howard County. Transmission infrastructure needs to be expanded throughout the United States as energy demand rises, renewables and batteries are integrated into the grid, and in order to improve grid reliability and resilience. Additional transmission capability allows for power to be delivered from sources further away, particularly during periods of peak demand. This helps lower electricity prices. In order to make room for the additional line, BGE’s right of way will need to be widened and trees will need to be removed. The project is in the preliminary planning phase with expected competition in 2030. Cue the outrage.

Restaurant Rundown of Openings, Closings, and What’s On Deck

To conclude this month’s post, here is a list of restaurant comings, goings, closings, and vacancies in and around Downtown Columbia. Let me know in the comments what I omitted.

Opened in last 6 months

• Eggspectation (The Merriweather District), opened March 2025

• Pupatella Neapolitan Pizza (Route 108), opened March 2025

• HipHop Fish and Chicken (Oakland Mills Village Center), opened January 2025

• Tous les Jours (Dobbin Corridor), opened December 2024

• Big Greek Cafe (Dobbin Corridor), opened November 2024

• Old Line Kitchen and Wine Bar (Dobbin Corridor), opened November 2024

• Naz's Halal Food (Columbia Mall area, in former Halal Guys space), January 2025

Closed in Last 6 Months

• Chicken & Whiskey (Mall in Columbia)

• Nally’s Fresh (Dobbin Corridor)

• Bark Social (Merriweather District)

• Halal Guys (Mall in Columbia)

Coming Soon

• Gyusan Japanese BBQ (Merriweather District)

• Mighty Quinn’s BBQ (Merriweather District)

• Chadol Korean BBQ (Wilde Lake Village Center)

• Celia’ Cuban Cuisine (Hickory Ridge Village Center)

• Uber Bagels (Snowden River Parkway)

Key Vacancies in Downtown Columbia:

• Marlow C145 (4,700 SF) prime corner location across from Toastique

• Marlow C135 (1500 SF) between Smashing Grape and Allure Nails

• Marlow C136 (1500 SF) between Smashing Grape and Allure Nails

• Marlow C120 (2000 SF) between Smashing Grape and Kyo Matcha

• Juniper B135 (1400 sqft) was supposed to be Jrip Coffee.

• 6100 Merriweather (7000 SF) Ground floor under Eggspectation

• 5801 Meriweather Drive: formerly Bark Social

• Two Merriweather: 2 space (4800 SF) formerly F45

• The Metropolitan (2,120 SF) formerly Po Boy Jim

• The Metropolitan (3,800 SF) formerly Corner Bakery

• Mall in Columbia (~3,000 SF), formerly Chicken & Whiskey

• Lakefront Exhibit Center (7000 SF) formerly the 3rd

• Note this list is just Downtown Columbia, as I’m not including vacancies in village centers and other retail centers throughout the rest of Columbia.

I’ll just close by state the obvious: Operating a restaurant is hard. And it’s harder than ever these days. With rising food costs, payroll, and rent, menu prices need to increase so restaurateurs can bring in enough revenue to pay their bills and stay in business. The increased cost of dining out has impacted customer behavior. I’ll be the first to admit that my family has changed our dining habits because it has become prohibitively expensive to dine out as frequently as we’d like. Couple that with the increasing trend, particularly amongst younger generations, away from alcohol and the high margins that come with it, and it becomes an even greater challenge for a restaurant to stay in business over the long-haul. So, while it’s certainly fun to anticipate and try new places (new restaurants are exciting!), I’d encourage readers to keep frequenting and supporting your long-time favorites as well with your limited dining dollars.