NACHRICHTENRAUM

Chunk of Westphalia in Prince George’s County to be sold

2018/12/07

The master developer behind the 310-acre Westphalia Town Center project in Prince George’s County has a deal to sell a healthy chunk of the property to a single buyer.

Walton Westphalia Development Corp. announced late last month that it has entered into a conditional purchase and sale agreement “for a bulk sale of the Phase 1A lands.” Ed Fleming, president of the East Region for Walton Development and Management, said the deal covers about 50 acres — land slated entirely for residential development, up to 650 units of various types.

The sale is subject to the due diligence of the unidentified buyer. The 50 or so acres do not include the commercial core of Westphalia Town Center, which is planned for some 300,000 square feet of retail and other nonresidential development. Walton Westphalia is in negotiations with a grocer and a hotel to locate in that core near Joint Base Andrews — those talks have advanced, Fleming said, beyond the letter-of-intent stage.

In the meantime, Walton Westphalia continues to sell individual lots to homeowners, recruit retail tenants in partnership with Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM), and advance with construction of major infrastructure projects. The financial struggles that the project endured in 2017 appear to be behind it.

The infrastructure work will be boosted by $39.8 million in tax-increment financing bonds recently issued by Prince George’s County. The bonds, to be repaid by tax revenue generated by the project, will be used to design and construct President Parkway and to upgrade the Pennsylvania Avenue intersection with Woodyard Road. The improvements, per a release, “are expected to unlock the potential of Westphalia Town Center, relieve existing traffic problems, and spur economic development in this part of the county.”

As for home lots, Walton Westphalia is selling to three homebuilders — NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR), Mid-Atlantic Builders and Haverford Homes. As of Oct. 31, 255 lots had been sold, according to Walton Westphalia’s latest earnings report, while the builders reported a total of 262 contracts for future home owners and 181 occupancies.

“We’re going to be out of lots by next summer,” Fleming said, noting the pace of residential development is driving the 50-acre sale. “The residential piece is rolling.”