Cafritz Facade Improvement Program

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Stable businesses that provide neighborhood goods and services are an important part of healthy and viable communities. Unfortunately, many of the major commercial corridors in Prince George’s County are in a state of disrepair. They look old, tired, and uninviting to potential shoppers. Because of the lack of investment, many small businesses struggle, often leading to vacancies along a shopping strip and, in the worst cases, the entire strip vacant and boarded. As these businesses fail, residents face unemployment and fewer local employment options emerge.

In order to boost economic development in these older commercial corridors, the Neighborhood Design Center, with funding support from the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, established the NDC Facade Improvement Program to provide targeted design assistance and jump start commercial revitalization. NDC partnered with the Hyattsville CDC, Port Towns CDC, and Town of Riverdale Park to provide façade improvements for six individual storefronts and one entire shopping center along Kenilworth and Baltimore Avenues. This work culminated in a day-long charrette on Saturday, January 30, 2010 where NDC staff and seven volunteer architects and designers developed plans and drawings for the participating businesses.

                                            Images from the charrette work session

Concentrating the main services in a one day charrette streamlined the design process and offered the opportunity to increase civic engagement by bringing together volunteers with the collective group of business owners and sponsoring CDCs and municipalities. During the first half of the charrette, volunteers quickly drew different facade schemes; after lunch, business owners arrived to review the schemes and provide design direction for the volunteers. Over the course of the next several months, NDC staff person Michael Majestic and various interns and volunteers refined the preliminary concepts and provided the businesses with more detailed drawings and cost estimates (lick HERE to see the final project report and facade designs).

The participating businesses were:
Hyattsville: Under the Coconut Tree, the "Yellow Building", and 180 Club
Riverdale Park: Riggs Grocery, El Bucanas Cafe, and a multi-tenant building
Port Towns: Three Brothers Center

                The 180 Club Existing                                          The 180 Club Proposed

               Riggs Grocery Existing                                           Riggs Grocery Proposed

                                                      Three Brothers Center Existing

                                                      Three Brothers Center Proposal

In particular, we would like to thank the following volunteers:
Joseph P. Brandli; Joe Architect, Inc.
ShaVon Davis; Architect
Jon Eisen; The Eisen Group
Seth Harry; Seth Harry and Associates, Inc.
Lisa Reed; Cho Benn Holback + Associates
Megan Schwartz; Seth Harry and Associates, Inc.
Patrick Zimmerman; Seth Harry and Associates, Inc.

To date, the three partner groups - Hyattsville CDC, Port Towns CDC, and the Town of Riverdale Park - have raised over $300,000 to provide a funding match to each of the selected business. In addition, our partner groups are actively working to obtain additional funding to provide for future commercial revitalization initiatives.

NDC is excited to have completed another successful series of storefront improvements. Through the generous donation of time and services by our volunteers, NDC’s façade improvement program has targeted and responded to the most urgent needs of the area’s businesses and devised a design strategy that fits within the priorities outlined in the County Consolidated Plan. NDC hopes that continued funding will allow the organization to support the many other businesses in the County that would benefit from design assistance and commercial revitalization.