Monday, January 19, 2015

Lets clear up some misinformation

OK I have received numerous emails and comments about this one property so I want to get this cleared up.  There is a  property at the corner of Billingsley road and St. Charles parkway that is zoned for commercial.  One of the home builders made a claim that there was a 500,000 square foot retail complex coming to the corner and Harris Teeter was a tenant.  That is totally false.
Harris Teeter did their research and they do not like the demographics of the area.  So as of now they have no plan to come to the area.  Many of the tenants like Trader Joes, Wegmans & Whole Foods want high population along with higher household incomes.  We do meet the income requirements but they fail to see that even though we are a smaller population we eat and shop like crazy people.
We are second in the state for food and beverage sales only being beat out by Anne Arundel county by a few thousand dollars.  No matter what you put in front of some of these retailers they still go by their charts and calculations and go with what that says.  Some would have to put a lot of infrastructure in place to make it work as well like distribution centers so the cost may outweigh the profit.  We do our best, we cant get them all.  But we try.

44 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for your updates! Too bad wegmans would have been great lol

Unknown said...

so in your opinion we ARE NOT ever going to get a high end grocery store?

Chris Shasho said...

There is always the hope that they will change the way they do things and reconsider. We need our workforce to stay in the county. We need bigger companies to plant their flags here. I want to be wrong but that's the way its currently looking.

HarrisM said...

Oh well at least you tried. The county will have to do a better job of luring companies with daytime jobs. Until then we will just have to wait.

OrangeLady said...

I am still holding out that one day it will happen. Thanks for the updates..

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update Chris. Was curious to know if there has been any discussions of a telework site for federal employees?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update. I was wondering if Macaroni Grill is a restaurant like Cheesecake or PF Changs that relies on weekday lunch business? Or maybe Waldorf doesn't have the right demos for a Macaroni Grill? Has Macaroni Grill ever shown any interest in coming to Waldorf? I would love to have Macaroni Grill come here. Just wondering what the detriment for coming here is?

Anonymous said...

Macaroni Grill was supposed to go in where Famous Dave's was built but pulled out.

Anonymous said...

Some of the other outer suburbs support a Harris Teeter. I think there is some major redlining going on with Charles County.

Anonymous said...

Are there any plans to build in the vacant lot in Waldorf on 301 South across from the Toyota Dealership where an old motel was taken down a few years ago? That land has become an eye sore.

Chris Shasho said...

There were teleworking sites in the area but they lost funding from what I remember.

Chris Shasho said...

There had been a plan some time ago to do a town center but the Peterson company that owns it started their national harbor project and forgot about it. Meanwhile other shopping centers popped up and it didn't make sense anymore. No plans currently

Anonymous said...

Wow wegmans would be great in the north end of st marys county

Anonymous said...

demographics issue, in other words to many black people, smh

Anonymous said...

Will there be a Super Walmart at Brandywine Crossings

Chris Shasho said...

No super Wal-Mart at Brandywine Crossing.

Anonymous said...

Will Bryans Road, MD be expecting some renovations in next few years? we are slowly growing and are in need of some new eateries/shopping venues near by

Anonymous said...

The telework site option seems like a no brainer. Or even a proposal for a small federal agency or an 8a government contracting company. Not only will that generate your mid day workforce lunch crowd, but it would also mitigate the horrendous morning/evening traffic on 301 and 210. You probably would know the numbers better than I but I would imagine at least 50% or more of the Waldorf workforce are military/federal employees commuting daily to DC, Dahlgren, Indian Head Naval Base, and/or Patuxent Navel Station.

Anonymous said...

Any chance we are getting a new, large gym in the area soon? Not a fan of the small boutique ones popping up.

Anonymous said...

There was a rumor about an LA Fitness going in Festival...oops Shops at Waldorf but I haven't heard anything else about it. And maybe the new name for the shopping center would stick of they didn't just stop after renovating like 10 percent of it.

Unknown said...

I am having a house built at Adams Crossing, one of the many Ryan's Homes developments within the area. I was very excited to hear that a Harris Teeter was being built in the area, and I am very disappointed we will not be getting one. I hope we will be getting a high-end market soon. We also need more jobs in the area like another poster stated. I am in the healthcare field and the area hospitals do not pay as much as Washington, DC area hospitals. Charles County has to make their salaries more competitive. However, the cost of housing may go up if this happens. I would only get a fraction of the square footage in a house where I currently live (Laurel, MD)

Anonymous said...

This furthers lets me know (too many blacks in Charles County)that all Charles County residents should boycott these so called (upscale supermarkets)located in other areas through MD,VA and northwest DC. If they see in their surveys that our zipcodes aren't showing up, then they'll take notice. Do not give your zipcode for surveys!!!!!!!

Chris Shasho said...

Bryans Road shopping center is for sale and if the current purchaser does buy it there will be renovations done.

There has bee a rumor about LA Fitness for a while but where I think it may go has been tight lipped about any new tenants.

Renovating shops at waldorf is done as it is because larger tenants sometimes want their own facades. They aren't going to dump money on the building until after they secure a tenant.

Not giving your zip code may have the reverse effect. If they don't know you are coming from this area then they will never think about coming this way. They will assume no one shops at their store so why build one.

Anonymous said...

Are we going to get any new restaurants in Waldorf for 2015? Anyone interested in replacing Mimi's Restaurant former site? or Lone Star Restaurant old site? I thought we were supposed to have gotten a Long John Silver on 301. What happened?

Chris Shasho said...

I think long johns was supposed to go where dunkin donuts went in pine field. Still looking for a good seafood place. No new restaurants on the horizon currently.

Anonymous said...

take that crap to some other state you have destroyed enough land already,county comissinoers need to stop this over population and building!!!

Chris Shasho said...

I haven't destroyed anything. I report what happens.

Unknown said...

Anything new on Sonic?

Chris Shasho said...

Still going thru permits and design. Getting closer.

Unknown said...

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

why did long john silvers pull out? We have enough DD now. I think a KK would have been better where the newest DD went.

Chris Shasho said...

No idea, could have been the franchiser backed out. It happens a lot when they don't read all the fine print in their agreements. Costs go over what they expected.

Unknown said...

Yes! Some new restaurants would be nice! How about a Cheesecake Factory, Maggianos, Bahama Breeze, or Matchbox, to name a few. Or even some more healthier alternatives such as Chop't Creative Salad Company or Sweetgreens. They seem to all be located in DC, VA, and Montgomery County.

Chris Shasho said...

I would love to be able to bring those restaurants down here but the problem is population. Montgomery County has a population of approx. just over one million people. PG County has 900,000. Charles has 154,000. And those numbers don't bring the fancy guys down here.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what's currently going on on Billingsley Rd between St. Charles Pkwy and 301, but I sure don't like it. The Dash gas station is an eyesore and now something else is being built on Billingsley. Sheesh!

If you build it, the more riff-raff will come...not interested...AT ALL!

Chris Shasho said...

The construction is for sewer upgrades.

Anonymous said...

What's going on at the intersection of Smallwood drive and Old Washington rd? Where the railroad tracks are.

Chris Shasho said...

Park and ride with road upgrades.

Anonymous said...

Hi. Do you know of any future plans to bring an indoor trampoline park to Waldorf/LaPlata?

Chris Shasho said...

People have come with the idea but no one has actually done it yet. People come with great ideas but they don't research what its going to cost them to run it. I suggest anyone go to CSM and visit their small business department. They will help you develop a business plan before you go out to the world and get sticker shock.

vee johnson said...

I heard they are proposing to build a Wal-Mart market place town center in Waldorf on 301 south at Mattawoman Dr. Is this true?

Anonymous said...

Last night I went to meeting with the residents of the residential area where St. Charles wants to build at Billingsley road and St. Charles parkway. Has there been any interest in this land by any one. I know your sign is at Billingsley road and DeMar road, has it had any interest?

Chris Shasho said...

We have had several groups look at it for development but the density of the area was not high enough to support what they wanted to do. That is part of why St. Charles is asking to move some of the apartments to this area rather than further down the road. More people in the immediate area would help to get things moving. If I remember correctly some apartments will be for 50+ and some for regular users.

Anonymous said...

And so it goes, Charles countians have to spend our dollars out of county and even out of state for decent shopping/dining. And by "decent" I mean Trader Joe's, Aldi, Wegman's, Cheesecake Factory, Honey Pig, Duck Donuts, etc. Why don't they like us?