October 21, 2020
Media Contact:
Scott Peterson, Director of Communications, Office of Public Information, 202-277-9412
ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Today, County Executive Calvin Ball announced the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the purchase and repurposing of the Former Columbia Flier Building and property, located at 10750 Little Patuxent Parkway, in Columbia, MD. The RFP can be found here.
The Flier Building was constructed in 1978 and for 33 years was home to the Columbia Flier, Howard County’s local newspaper. In 2014, the Howard County government purchased the Flier Building.
“The Columbia Flier Building was an important part of Howard County’s history and we are focused on making it a critical part of sustainable future development,” said Ball. “As we prepared for this RFP, we have engaged, collaborated and listened to our residents about their concerns and desires for future use of this site. We will continue working with the community throughout this process to ensure this site becomes a vibrant epicenter in our county once again.”
Howard County’s goals with this RFP are to:
- Facilitate the redevelopment of the building and property through new ownership;
- Generate revenue for the County through the sale of the property and collection of future real property taxes on the property; and
- Conduct a competitive solicitation process to sell to an entity which will consider community input and address market demand which does not include housing
The Flier Building is located less than a half of a mile from Downtown Columbia in the Village of Wilde Lake. The building is over 35,000 square feet situated on an approximate 2.16-acre site which fronts Little Patuxent Parkway. This property will benefit from the continued redevelopment and transformation of Downtown Columbia.
Earlier this year, Howard County held a virtual community informational meeting to discuss the sale and repurposing of the Flier Building and Property. At this meeting, the county provided a presentation that included the history and condition of the Flier Building and discussed the county’s intent and objectives for a sale of the Property. Following the community meeting, the county released a survey to request feedback from the community on the Flier Building and repurposing of the Property. Feedback to this survey included:
- Valuing the history of the building and its original use and communicated a desire to see the history memorialized in the repurposing of the Property.
- Prioritizing sustainability such as the development of a LEED certified building as well as the preservation of the mature trees on site and use of solar panels.
- Providing benefits to the community such as retail, food service, educational use, and office use, among other uses.
Howard County has retained the services of Chartwell Enterprises, a commercial real estate services firm, to advise and represent the county throughout this process. It will be the buyer’s risk and responsibility to take its proposed development plan through the planning and zoning process, as required. It is important for a buyer to offer its most competitive purchase price with its initial offer as the county may select a buyer from initial offers. Following the county’s approval of the preferred proposal, the county will finalize a Purchase and Sale Agreement (P&SA) to sell the Property to the selected buyer. Closing will occur when the Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ) verifies that the SDP submittal for the Property substantially conforms to the preferred proposal selected by the County.