Metro Picks Developer For 320-Unit Prince George's County Project
A $140M development is moving forward next to the Capitol Heights station on Metro's Blue Line, a corridor where Prince George's County and Maryland officials are pushing for more growth.
Metro selected a development team led by Atlantic Pacific Cos. to build 320 affordable apartments on a 3.8-acre surface parking lot next to the station, the transit agency announced Tuesday afternoon.
The apartments will be set aside for renters making no more than 60% of the area median income. The project is also planned to include 10K SF of retail.
The site was previously awarded to Donatelli Development in 2014, but its project fell through and Metro began seeking a new development team in September 2024.
The team selected Tuesday includes Torti Gallas + Partners as the architect and Whiting Turner as the general contractor. Atlantic Pacific Cos., a Miami-based developer with a national portfolio, owns at least three properties in the D.C. area and is also partnering on a 293-unit senior housing project near the Capitol Heights station.
Sitting just over the Maryland side of the border with D.C., the Capitol Heights neighborhood only had seven new homes built between 2020 and 2024, according to the Blue Line Corridor Coalition. But the area is now primed for significant residential development in the coming years as state officials target it for growth.
Several officials and development partners quoted in Metro's Tuesday press release — including Gov. Wes Moore and Prince George's County Executive Aisha Braveboy — framed the Capitol Heights project as a significant step toward addressing the area's housing shortage.
"This Blue Line Corridor project will help close the housing shortage in the community, connect more Marylanders to opportunity, and demonstrate what transit-oriented development should look like," Moore said in a statement.
Maryland in 2024 allocated $17M to upgrade the infrastructure around the Capitol Heights Metro station to allow for development. And the state has committed $450M to advance development on the Blue Line corridor, stretching from the D.C. border to the Largo terminus station.
The corridor suffered a major loss last year when the Washington Commanders announced plans to leave Northwest Stadium in 2030 and build a new stadium in D.C. Prince George's County officials had advanced plans for more mixed-use development around the stadium and along the Blue Line corridor when vying to keep the team there, but they are still moving forward with the efforts.
The Blue Line Corridor Coalition, launched in October, is led by the Local Initiatives Support Corp. in partnership with local business owners, developers and officials. It aims to spur revitalization and "equitable development" in the area, in part by supporting affordable housing projects.
LISC provided financing to a 158-unit mixed-income project that Community First Development Corp. is building in the Capitol Heights area. Amazon's Housing Equity Fund also provided financing for that project in 2022.
