A Clarksville couple with development connections is negotiating to buy the former Gateway School building on Route 108 and redevelop the lot. They envision a mixture of commercial offices, retail and a green boutique hotel.
George and Holly Stone were chosen from among six finalists to redevelop the site, where a county-owned, 7.8-acre complex of former school buildings just across the road from the River Hill Village Center is being demolished.
Holly Stone is a vice president of Percontee Inc., a Silver Spring building materials and quarry firm owned by the family of her father, the late Homer Gudelsky, a prominent Washington developer. She and her husband also own and run the Medomak summer camp and conference center in midcoast Maine. George Stone, 59, was also involved in developing Waverly Woods in western Ellicott City, he said.
George Stone's desire in building what he calls Clarksville Commons, he said in a statement, is to create a "mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, sustainable, signature destination for Clarksville and the region," using the latest in green technology and people-friendly public spaces to produce a sense of community absent in the cluttered commercial crossroads.
Stone said former county planning director Joseph Rutter's private Land Design and Development firm and Jared Spahn's Old Town Construction firm, which also worked on Waverly Woods, would also be involved in the project.
"They put forward a proposal unlike any other," said county executive Ken Ulman, who called their plan an "exciting, visionary, inspirational" mix.
Ulman said the Stones' firm, GreenStone Ventures LLC, was chosen after an unusual process that involved community members and negotiations with numerous bidders on how the site would be used, instead of a straight sale to the highest bidder. The money from the sale is to help pay for $40 million worth of renovations to the George Howard county office building and other county buildings in Ellicott City and Columbia. The county is paying a contractor $259,000 to demolish the school complex, last used several years ago for fire and police training. He said the building had suffered vandalism, was costing the county for utilities and upkeep and had become too great a liability to leave standing.
The executive said the process the county used was a first for Howard government, which worked through a broker and a citizens advisory committee sworn to secrecy about the bidders proposals to find an idea that will be "dynamic, environmentally friendly and unique.
"GreenStone's proposal and reputation provide just that," he said. Five pre-qualified teams submitted proposals by mid-August.
"It's something I'm very proud of and I think it's very important," Ulman said about the new sale process. "We've got enough strip centers, auto dealers, gas stations and fast food" in Clarksville, he said. "I did not want it to be a gas station, fast-food place or a car dealership." The citizen advisory group made a recommendation to a separate selection committee, which then chose the Stones' idea.
Ulman said details of the proposal, including a purchase price, can't yet be revealed, however, since the final sale contract has not been completed. He announced the choice of the Stones and their firm to let people who see the demolition know what is happening.
Ulman said the county preserved the old school's original front doors to use in the new building.
Steve Kendall, whose family owns and operates the large Kendall's hardware and home improvement store next to the school site, said the selection "was an odd process, but I think they did things right." The Stones, he said "are just good county residents who want a good and clean use for the site."