Westphalia Project Moves Forward, Discusses Plans to Include Minority Businesses

The Westphalia project, which was approved in 2007 but encountered years of delays and setbacks, may finally begin to move forward following a preliminary meeting last Wednesday.

The meeting at Prince George’s Community College’s Westphalia Training Center was held to inform small business owners about how they can compete for future contracts with the project, according to ABC7.

The Gazette reported that the project has three developers, one of which is Walton Development and Management. Walton is responsible for the 479-acre Westphalia Town Center that hopes to open by March 2014. 

“We had been watching this property, and when it became available we thought it was a wonderful opportunity to acquire a great piece of land, and execute a vision that's been in the making for many years,” John Vick, the company’s regional vice president, told ABC7.

The Gazette reported that Walton purchased its portion of the development in March for $29.7 million.

Owners of small businesses have a reason to be optimistic, according to ABC7, as the new project will offer new job opportunities and provide a chance to expand. 

Ben Robertson, of RDA engineering, told ABC7 he had to lay off about 65 percent of his staff during the last recession and sees the Westphalia plan as a chance to stabilize and rebuild. 

“It’s a wonderful thing they’re doing, making a large development available to everyone,” Robertson told the Gazette. “It demonstrates the impact a large development can have on the county. It can transform into something to improve our image." 

Smith Home Farms, another one of the three current developers, also attended the meeting and plans to develop 3,600 housing units and the project’s 140-acre central park, according to the Gazette.

Marva Jo Camp, an attorney working with the company, said at the meeting that she too is the owner of a small business and takes minority business participation “very seriously,” the Gazette reports.

Not everyone at the meeting had confidence that minority businesses would be considered as development progresses.

Brenton C. Miller, principal of Maryland Technical Review in Fort Washington, said private projects have no guarantee for minority work, the Gazette reported, and called last week’s meeting “just a formality."

According to the county’s planning department, the development will include about 4.5 million square feet of new employment space, between 14,000 and 15,300 new residential units and nearly 1 million square feet of retail.

In addition, the project plans to develop five new elementary schools, a new middle school and a new high school, as well as new fire, police, library and health facilities.