Retail "space" in the EYA development in Hyattsville

Retail "space" in the EYA development in Hyattsville
Originally uploaded by rllayman.

is awfully small. One of the problems with developers is that they are mostly comfortable doing only one thing, and they apply that model to every piece of land they buy, whether or not it is appropriate.

EYA's SOP (standard operating procedure) is rowhousing. And I will say that they do a pretty good job of building it. It's the location that concerns me here.

First, and this is the City of Hyattsville's own fault due to their lack of vision, the site, being on Route 1, located by what passes for Hyattasville's downtown, should have been denser, and mixed use, if they truly wanted to begin (re)developing a downtown. (They have a great restaurant, Franklin's, but the retail around it keeps dying...)

Second, these "live work" units are too small for retail, but large enough maybe for small office activities, like on Main Street in Kentlands, the new urbanist development in Montgomery County.

These spaces seem to be much less than 500 square feet of usable space.

Wayfinding marker, City of Hyattsville, Route 1