Gateway Arts District Recognized for Growth

The Gateway Arts and Entertainment District was recognized by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development last week for booming commercial and residential growth along the Route 1 corridor over the last year. 

Accepting the department's 2013 Award for Outstanding Achievement, an award shared with Silver Spring's Arts and Entertainment District, representatives for the Gateway Arts District highlighted new housing, restaurants, and other businesses along Baltimore and Rhode Island Avenues in Hyattsville, North Brentwood, Brentwood and Mount Rainier. 

Among the highlights of that growth is the mixed use development in Hyattsville, once the site of an abandoned car dealership parking lot. The last year has seen the completion and opening of the Palette at Arts District Hyattsville apartment complex at 45th Avenue and Jefferson Street. And the ongoing build out on the remaining single family homes in the development mean that the project is very nearly complete after years of work. 

In just the last few weeks, tenants have begun moving into the large, multi-colored apartment building, even as finishing touches are still being applied to the structure. The new six-story apartment complex, which is only rivaled in size by the massive brick telecom building on the west side of Baltimore Avenue, is the largest of a two-building, 243 unit apartment complex which sits almost directly onto of what has become the city's most radically transformed neighborhood. 

Already, more than 20 units have been rented in the new building, according to representatives from Bozzuto Group, which manages the property. 

Rents for the two bedroom apartments at the new building start at about $2,500 per month. One bedroom suites start at $1,500. For the price, tenants get access to a secluded pool, two parking spaces per unit, and the use of the decidedly swanky rooftop balcony. 

The apartment building's rooftop balcony has already become a hot destination for parties and curious apartment hunters. Last week The City Paper held a blues-infused barbecue on a glorious early June evening which also served as an opportunity to tour some of the apartment units. 

The Gateway Arts Distict is the first of 20 special zones established by the state legislature since 2001 which allow municipalities to offer tax incentives to "harness the power of each area's unique cultural resources," according to a press release issued by the Gateway Arts District Management Team.