Palmer Park

Victory House of Palmer Park Selected for 2007 Commitment to Excellence Award

This successfully completed project is a mixed-use village center containing 26,000 square feet of retail, office, and community space with 69 units of senior housing. The project provides the community access to a variety of neighborhood services at an attractive gathering place. The facility includes the Palmer Park/Landover Boys and Girls Club, a gift shop, doctor's office, social service facility, small grocery store, barber/beauty shop, and office space.

Palmer Park: retail at left, new senior housing at right. The RA spearheaded the redevelopment of the once vacant and rundown Palmer Park Shopping Center on Barlowe Road. The RA partnered with Victory Housing, Inc. to demolish the back portion of the Shopping Center and build 69 new affordable senior housing units.

The RA teamed up with Victory Housing Inc., a local and well-known non-profit housing developer, to build this affordable senior housing project. Resident amenities include a wellness center, library, beauty salon, meeting rooms and TV lounges. All 69 units are occupied.

Hearing residents say, “This is the nicest place I’ve ever lived,” is the reward for funding high-quality affordable housing. Next, the RA completely renovated the remaining retail space which is now fully occupied. This view shows the new retail shopping area on the right, with Victory Housing in the background.

Part of the Redevelopment Authority's mission is to facilitate the redevelopment of property in the older communities of Prince George's County. This project fulfills this mission and represents a major investment by the Redevelopment Authority. The project completely changed the image and the operations of the shopping center, and also enhances the entire community, making Palmer Park a better investment for homebuyers.

The successful funding of a HUD Senior Housing Section 202 grant for 69 units of senior housing was the first major achievement. The federal funding included 100% of construction costs and a rental allowance to assist persons over 62 who have incomes less than 50% of the area median income. The grant was awarded in November 2001.

A second major achievement was the renovation of the remaining portion of the shopping center to maximize the use of the 5.5-acre site. This portion of the shopping center was in major disrepair and not compatible with the development of the $5.5 million senior-housing complex. Without a major renovation, this portion of the shopping center jeopardized the marketability of the senior housing and the $5.5 million dollar federal investment.

The Palmer Park Shopping Center originally opened in 1959. It is situated on 5.45 acres, and contains 47,756 square feet of leasable floor space and 383 parking spaces. Its original anchor stores were a Safeway supermarket and a drug store. By the mid-1970s, the center had lost many of its tenants. In 1978, the County acquired the abandoned portion of the property with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for approximately $700,000. The property was rehabilitated in 1981 using more than $1 million in CDBG funds. In 1984, the shopping center was converted into 14 business condominiums.

From an assessment of the shopping center's interior and exterior, including its mechanical and electrical systems and overall site conditions, it was determined that a number of items needed to be addressed to bring the center up to acceptable commercial building standards. The shopping center's major maintenance and repair issues include the need to replace the roof and modernize the shopping center facade. The commercial renovation package would cost over $2million.