WASHINGTON INFORMER: College Park shoppers are saddened to know that the Campus Village Shoppes, located at 8147 Baltimore Avenue, will have all retailers relocate as the shopping center is being converted to student housing.
Sixty-day vacate notices were given to each tenant on Aug. 1. While some merchants are planning to move to other retail locations in College Park, others want their leases to remain through the end of the year.
Taqueria Habanero Director of Operations Yicela Alvarado said their business will operate out of a food truck until they find a new location.
“We are actively working with the new project developer and City of College Park to operate under modified conditions, this includes obtaining a designated space for Taqueria Habaneros food truck and a possible future location so that we can continue building community through food,” she said.
Mr. Fries Man, one of only 13 locations in the country, opened in the shopping center last year. EB, the owner, said he would be given six months’ notice for redevelopment in a news interview.
While they do have a food truck to take their food on the move, he is considering a new location earlier than he had expected. He emphasized that prospective entrepreneurs should be attentive to their lease details.
Other tenants that will have to adjust their plans include Hanami Japanese restaurant, Pupuseria La Familiar Salvadoran restaurant, Box’d Kitchen, Jodeem African cuisine, Jidong Tea, Paris Beauty Bar, UM Nail Spa, Pandora’s Cube, Vape Exchange and College Park Liquors. College Park Liquors, in operation for over a decade in Campus Village Shoppes, has started a GoFundMe to pay for the cost of relocating.
“Desiring to be good partners, we had a personal conversation one year ago with every tenant at the Campus Village Shoppes and notified them of our intent to redevelop. Nearly all tenants have agreed to compensation and LV is actively negotiating with the remaining few,” said the shopping center’s owner LV Collective in a statement.
“We have partnered with some tenants to come back to the new development once completed,” the statement continued. “We have worked with each tenant individually and are committed to our partnership with the community. We look forward to continuing to support these businesses.”
According to LV Collective, they have made an agreement with 17 of the 19 businesses in Campus Village Shoppes. The company has not submitted its Detailed Site Plan (DSP) for the new design to Prince George’s County or to College Park, according to a development update from the city. The project is estimated to cost $150 million and construction is slated to begin in early 2024, but LV Collective is waiting on local approval to start demolition.
The Best Buy in the Market Place Shopping Center has also closed. Search for a new tenant is underway.
For further information on the Campus Village Shoppes closing, contact Michael Williams at [email protected].
