In today's edition of Purple Line NOW News, here's what you'll find:

• An Announcement for the Next Purple Line NOW Forum - Completing the Capital Crescent Trail
• An Update on New Development Around the Purple Line Corridor
• An Appeal to Help Purple Line NOW Continue Its Work - All Levels Welcome!

Save the Date for the Next Purple Line NOW Forum

We are excited to announce the next forum in our Envisioning the Purple Line series will be on July 25 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm at the Lawton Community Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The long-requested topic will be: Completing the Capital Crescent Trail.

We are busy pulling together a fantastic panel with representatives from Montgomery County Council, Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Purple Line Transit Partners (the folks who are building the project), and the Montgomery County Planning Board. Stay tuned for more details coming soon.

An official invitation will arrive in your email box next week – make sure you click on the link in the invitation to reserve your seat. The event, as always, is free and open to the public, but seats must be reserved in advance due to space limitations.

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Please feel free to share this newsletter - no permission from us needed! You can always find a link to our newsletter on our Purple Line NOW website which makes it easy to share with your friends, neighbors, constituents, customers, and employees.

CONSTRUCTION NEWS TO KNOW

Development Spurred by the Purple Line

Last Friday, a multidisciplinary and cross-regional panel at the Urban Land Institute discussed changes spurred by the Purple Line and why those changes will matter for our communities. Panelist and Montgomery County Planning Board Chair, Casey Anderson observes, “Even those that won’t use the Purple Line will still benefit from a focus [on] the neighborhood... It creates places that are affordable, but also a good quality of life because they have services and amenities that are convenient.”

American University Radio WAMU 88.5 reported that the panelists expect "communities on the eastern side of the corridor, between College Park and New Carrollton, are likely to see the greatest growth opportunities. Areas like Riverdale have more room to add new development without disrupting existing neighborhoods."

The panel also discussed affordable housing, a topic this newsletter intends to delve into more detail about in a future edition. You can read more in WAMU's article, As The Purple Line Moves Forward, When And Where Will Development Take Off?

This past month has also brought concrete examples of new projects currently under construction, just broke ground, or planned for future construction around the Purple Line. 

On May 7, Maryland Today, a publication from the University of Maryland’s Office of Strategic Communications, announced they were breaking ground on a 105,000-square-foot office building located at 4600 River Road. This project is a joint venture between Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) and the University of Maryland. The building will have four stories of office space and will be located in the UMD’s Discovery District in College Park. The Discovery District is, according to the University’s website, “the epicenter of academic, research and economic achievement and will strengthen existing research partnerships, retain a pipeline of talent locally and offer more experiences for residents, faculty, staff and students.” The Purple Line, once completed, will be nearby and provide a direct link to the main UMD campus.

Rendering Courtesy of COPT

According to the same Maryland Today article, the building will have a courtyard, outdoor gathering spaces, and even a café. A tech company which offers online security training, Cybrary, will anchor the building.

The aforementioned panel discussion also brought news of a new $150 million project which will be a mixed-use development in the works along Route 1 in College Park planned by Bozzutto Development. According to WAMU, this will be the "first major non-student housing project in the area, with housing for nearly 400 residents.” 

Chevy Chase Lake, a development being planned on Connecticut Avenue will have a Purple Line station right at its location. Nearly 750,000 square feet of residential and retail space will be housed in the development. The development is scheduled to be finished before the Purple Line opens.

If you know of more development along the route, send them our way and we’ll make note of it in a future email.

PURPLE LINE NOW NEWS AND EVENTS

Next Forum: Completing the Capital Crescent Trail

We are busy pulling together a fantastic panel with representatives from Montgomery County Council, Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Purple Line Transit Partners (the folks who are building the project), and the Montgomery County Planning Board. Stay tuned for more details coming soon.

An official invitation will arrive in your email box next week – make sure you click on the link in the invitation to reserve your seat. The event, as always, is free and open to the public but seats must be reserved in advance due to space limitations.

Upcoming Community Advisory Teams

May 29, 2019
University Boulevard
6:30 – 8 p.m.
Langley Park-McCormick Elementary School (Multi-Purpose Room)
8201 15th Avenue
Langley Park, MD 20783

June 5, 2019
Bethesda/Chevy Chase
7 – 8:30 p.m.
North Chevy Chase Elementary School
3700 Jones Bridge Road (All Purpose Room)
Bethesda MD, 20815

PURPLE LINE NOW ACTION

Purple Line NOW Needs Your Sponsorship Today

Sponsorship is another way to help Purple Line NOW continue our efforts to bring you important Purple Line related news and information via our newsletters, outreach, and public events. Our organization has been around for a long time and is almost entirely run by dedicated volunteers. We don't hold big fundraisers and we do not receive underwriting grants from any source, government (local or otherwise), nor are we a membership organization (we do not ask for annual dues). We operate solely on donations from individuals and businesses who care about the Purple Line and whose generosity allow us to continue our work.

If you need more information before you push the donate button, we sent out a request a few weeks ago that will give you a good, indepth idea of how hard we make your donations dollars work. Click here to read all about what we do with your donations!

All levels of sponsorships are welcomed and appreciated!

As always, we are happy to share financial information about our operating expenses and our income. Just shoot us an email or give us a call. When we say we do a lot on a skinny budget, we mean it. We try to only ask for donations when our bank account gets low enough to make our treasurer nervous - and that is usually around the $3,000 mark.  

We hope you will consider joining the sponsors already on board (you can see these awesome folks here) – and remember, with your donation, your name (or your business name) will be listed on our website and in event literature and signage for a year following your donation.

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