Office Park Plan Stalls On Mixed-Use Dispute

BOWIE, MD-Even in today’s tight real estate market, deals snag on old habits. The demands of fast adjustment to economics clash with the stubborn course of government.

The partnership Patuxent Run Associates LLC wants to build a high-tech business park at the University of Maryland Science and Technology Center in Bowie. The plan was approved 14 years ago for 6.4 million sf of office development on the 466-acre site at Routes 50 and 301 in Prince George’s County.

The problem is that partners in Patuxent Run, developers Robert G. DePew and Dean F. Morehouse, want to build a mixed-use development of housing and shops along with the offices and high-tech. Bowie Mayor Fred Robinson said he won’t accept anything but offices.

The developers said that while the all-office plan was visionary in 1986, times have changed. High-tech companies are looking for mixed-use communities that let high-tech workers integrate work and home life round the clock, they said.

Local officials haven’t budged yet, but said they are interested in seeing the site developed. Only two federal government agencies occupy the park now, providing no property tax revenues to the county.