Butterfly Ridge Elementary School will have Community Recreation Center

February 25, 2017 / / News

By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Frederick News Post
Saturday, February 25, 2017

The new elementary school in western Frederick will be constructed with a large gym and recreation center operated in part by the city’s parks and recreation department.

Members of the Frederick County Board of Education favored including in the plans for Butterfly Ridge Elementary School such a center, which often functions as a hub for the community. Similar centers are dotted around Frederick County at other public schools, but the board said it has struggled with surging costs of constructing schools, and so it was unclear whether it could add the oversized gym.

Brad Ahalt, senior project manager with the school district, told board members that the school system had found cost savings because the design of Butterfly Ridge had been replicated before, like the new North Frederick Elementary School, and built.

“The contractors have performed the work before,” Ahalt said.

Ahalt noted that bids for Sugarloaf Elementary School — the new elementary school being constructed in Urbana, with the same design — had been distributed right before Butterfly Ridge. Contractors were able to adjust their bids when they lost out on Sugarloaf Elementary, Ahalt said. In some cases, the contractors who bid the highest on Sugarloaf bid the lowest on Butterfly Ridge — winning the contract, he said.

The gymnasium and recreation center will be managed by the city of Frederick Parks and Recreation Department and school administrators. Other centers are run through a partnership with the county’s parks and recreation department. The total expected cost of the center is $668,703.

The center, a 7,233-square-foot space, includes additional gym space and an activity room.

City Alderman Josh Bokee (D) had particularly pressed for the center and the oversized gymnasium. He said in a Friday interview that such a recreational facility doesn’t exist on the west side of the city, and so “it’s great news” it is being built.

“It’s going to be a great resource for the community,” Bokee said.

Both new elementary schools are due to open in 2018. Butterfly Ridge is expected to ease overcrowding in west Frederick.

The district doesn’t intend to use Sugarloaf as a new school right away, rather the plan is for Urbana Elementary School students to transfer into the new building while the school system knocks down and reconstructs Urbana Elementary.

The school district has estimated that Butterfly Ridge will cost roughly $46 million, and Sugarloaf will be about $40 million.

On Wednesday, the board approved seven contracts related to Butterfly Ridge, totaling a little more than $28.5 million. Of those contracts, $517,000 is dedicated to construction of the oversized gymnasium.

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Frederick Towne Mall Site Sells for More than $6 Million

February 25, 2017 / / News

By Mallory Panuska, Frederick News Post
Saturday, February 25, 2017

The Frederick Towne Mall site has sold to a local company.

The West Frederick Center LLLP, a limited liability limited partnership that formed Jan. 26, purchased the 37.35-acre, Golden Mile site with plans to “revitalize the property,” according to an email a representative of the company sent Friday.

“The West Frederick Center, LLLP, is currently exploring ways to revitalize Frederick Towne Mall and service the broader Frederick community,” the email said.

Dr. Mohammed Mohiuddin, a Frederick urologist, is listed as the resident agent. Several partners, both general and limited, are part of the company.

An attorney representing The West Frederick Center said Friday he did not have time until Monday to comment on the sale or answer questions about plans for the site.

Dave Severn, an attorney representing property owner Rockwood Capital, said the property sold a week ago Monday for more than $6 million.

Members of the Golden Mile Alliance, a community organization created to foster growth and development in west Frederick, discussed the sale at a meeting Tuesday. The subject also came up at a Neighborhood Advisory Council 5 meeting Thursday.

Deb Reynolds, co-president of the Golden Mile Alliance, said Friday that she contacted Mohiuddin to welcome him to the area and offer him any assistance he and the other partners may want or need.

“I left a message that we were the advocacy group and welcomed him and said I’d like to talk to him about ideas,” Reynolds said.

She added that the group does not really have an opinion about what is developed at the site. She said members are just excited about everything happening in and around the Golden Mile and plan to help the new owner in any way they can.

“It’s a private property. I think people tend to forgot that,” Reynolds said. “I don’t really think we have a preference of what we would like to see go there, not to say we don’t care what goes there, because we do. It’s just so new in the process we really don’t have a comment about that right now.”

Richard Griffin, the city’s director of economic development, said Friday he was aware the property had been sold and knows who the new owner is but has not had any conversations with him or seen any plans.

The mall has sat vacant since 2013, but Boscov’s and Home Depot continue to operate at the site.

Rockwood Capital had planned to demolish the former mall at 1301 W. Patrick St. and construct a four-building shopping center with a 155,000-square-foot Wal-Mart anchoring the project. But Wal-Mart pulled out of the deal at the beginning of September, and the owner put it up for sale in December in an online auction. The minimum bid was $2.5 million.

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Frederick Towne Mall Site Sold to Frederick Doctor

February 24, 2017 / / News

By Mallory Panuska, Frederick News Post
Friday, February 24, 2017

The vacant Frederick Towne Mall site has officially sold.

Dave Severn, an attorney representing property owner Rockwood Capital, said his client told him the Golden Mile property sold a week ago Monday to Dr. Mohammed Mohiuddin.

Mohiuddin is a urologist with a practice in Frederick.

Severn said he believes the property sold for more than $6 million.

Members of the Golden Mile Alliance discussed the sale at a meeting Tuesday. The subject also came up at a Neighborhood Advisory Council meeting Thursday.

The property has sat vacant since 2013. Rockwood Capital officials planned to demolish the former mall at 1301 W. Patrick St. and construct a four-building shopping center with a 155,000-square-foot Wal-Mart anchoring the project. Wal-Mart pulled out of the deal at the beginning of September.

Boscov’s and Home Depot continue to operate at the site.

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