Where to Buy: Maryland Neighborhoods with the Best Investment Potential

• December 15, 2008
• 6 Comments

by Mark Wellborn

Home in North Kensington

Readers will notice a common theme among a few of the suburban Maryland neighborhoods that we highlight with the best investment potential in the DC area: the arrival of the mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly community. As convenience and public transportation begin to climb to the top of the priority list for those who are buying a home, the consensus is that the neighborhoods with these types of projects will increase markedly in popularity. However, buyers should keep in mind when looking in these areas that the return on their investment may not come for some time.

“I do not advocate anything but long-term investing, whether it is to buy property for a rental (buy and hold), or as a residence,” Dana Scanlon of Keller Williams told UrbanTurf. “The days of short-term gains are not likely to be seen again for a long while, and this is probably a good thing.”

North Kensington is not a neighborhood many are familiar with, but prospective homeowners should be. Bordered to the north by Veirs Mill Road and to the south by University Boulevard (see map here), the median list price for a home on the market in this area is around $320,000. This compares quite favorably to Kensington proper where the median price is more than double that amount. North Kensington is within walking distance of both the MARC train and the Wheaton stop of the Metro’s red line. There is a small pocket of this neighborhood that feeds to Bethesda’s Walter Johnson High School which Dana Scanlon noted has “prime real estate potential.” If that is not enough to whet your appetite, the zip code was recognized by Money magazine in 2007 as one of the Best Places to Live in the U.S.

Rockville Town Square

The opening of Rockville Town Square, a pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use community with residences and a budding retail sector, has made this section of Rockville a very popular place to buy a home.

There are contemporary condos like The Fitz at Rockville where one-bedrooms are going for around $150,000, and three-bedrooms are on the market starting in the high $300s. There are also several townhome communities including the Rockville Heights development in the heart of downtown where spacious properties are priced in the low to mid- $500,000s.

“Whether you are an investor or looking to live there, the curve will definitely swing up in this area,” Laura Gray of RE/MAX Realty said of downtown Rockville. “Many commercial projects are ‘on hold’ until 2012, but with the city government involved, things will be moving forward.”

Located right next to each other, the neighborhoods of College Park (see map here) and Hyattsville (see map here) are considered areas with great investment potential by the people we spoke to because of the redevelopment going on in each zip code.

In Hyattsville, EYA is literally building a neighborhood, Arts District Hyattsville, that will include townhomes, condos, and a plethora of retail and restaurant options (Target and IKEA are already open and a new Busboys and Poets will open next year). Hyattsville does not have a Metro station, but it is very close to Route 1 and the Riverdale MARC train, and only about a twenty-minute drive from downtown DC.

The College Park redevelopment plans, spearheaded by Doug Duncan during his time as vice president of the University of Maryland, involve transforming a 38-acre spot of land on the campus into a shopping district with a hotel, movie theaters, a music center and a number of condo developments. The two-phase project is set to deliver the retail and restaurant sections by 2011 with the housing to follow shortly after.

“When these two poles of development really build up steam, which will probably take a few more years than expected due to the downturn, the values in this entire area should really begin moving up,” Scanlon told UrbanTurf.

Artist Housing in Mount Ranier

While places like Shaw and Petworth have made a name for themselves as habitats for the area’s creative set, artists should expand their housing search to Mount Ranier. Just on the Maryland side of DC’s Brookland neighborhood (see map here), this zip code has a number of properties conducive to an artist’s lifestyle, including a 44-unit development for artist housing designed by HGA Architects and Engineers where each unit has a studio space. The neighborhood’s housing inventory, much of which was built in the late 1800s around a streetcar line to downtown Washington, is particularly affordable right now as single-family homes near DC go.

6 Comments

1. Brent Roberts said at 12:16 pm on Monday December 15, 2008:

   To be clear, the Ikea is in College Park by 495 not in Hyattsville or a part of the EYA project.  There is a Target in Hyattsville (also not part of the EYA project) that is a part of the Mall at Prince George’s.  Also, there are 2 metro stations in Hyattsville.  West Hyattsville is about 1.3 miles from the EYA development and the Prince George’s Plaza station is about 1.1 mile.  EYA has a long way to go before they have created a true neighborhood on route 1, but for those looking for a more walkable urban environment there are condos and lofts at University Town Center which is directly accross from the PG Plaza Metro and surrounded by a new movie theater and lots of restaurants and shopping.  More development coming to the area includes the University of Maryland / Folger Pratt massive mixed-use redevelopment known as East Campus as well as potential for another completely new mixed-use neighborhood just off of Route 1 by East-West highway on land owned by the Cafritz family.

1. dan reed said at 10:35 am on Tuesday December 16, 2008:

   It would’ve made more sense to lump Hyattsville and Mount Rainier together, since they’re both in Prince George’s County’s Gateway Arts District (unrelated to EYA’s Arts District Hyattsville), which is the main driving force for a lot of the development you’re talking about.

1. Eric Sibley said at 11:39 am on Tuesday December 16, 2008:

   Also, Mt. Rainier sits directly across from the neighborhood of “Woodridge”, not Brookland (although it’s close).  I agree on the Arts Dist. point.  And another point of interest, the “Arts District” stretches down rt. 1 from Mt. Rainier to Hyattsville.  In addition, there is a brand new (architecturally significant) artists housing bldg. in Hyattsville called “Renaissance Square”.

1. Reginald Ready said at 7:38 pm on Tuesday December 16, 2008:

   In terms of development projects that are in the pipeline, there are several other locales within Prince George’s County that will provide neighborhoods with great investment potential as well.  Check out the link at
   http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/Government/AgencyIndex/CentralServices/PDF/Majordevelopment.pdf for more details.

1. JT said at 9:56 pm on Thursday December 18, 2008:

   Largest non-gaming convention center on the east coast.  1 million plus room-nights already booked.  Waterfront real estate in the Washington Area with views of the monuments.  National Harbor anyone?

1. sands said at 4:09 am on Tuesday May 12, 2009:

   Thank you for the very useful information about developments coming down the pike in Prince George’s County.  Does anyone know when work will recommence on the eastern side of the EYA site in Hyattsville?  What they have built so far is very attractive, as is the new construction in Mt. Rainier.  The older homes in both Hyattsville and Mt Rainier are also lovely. It seems that what both places—and Brookland, Woodridge, Brentwood—lack, though, are good grocery stores like Trader Joe’s, and cute little restaurants.  (Although Glut is a great boon to the region, as is Franklin’s.)  Perhaps they will come in time… Or do small cafes/restaurants and grocery stores require greater urban density in order to thrive?

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