ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Calvin Ball today announced the release of an updated Request for Proposal (RFP) for the purchase of the Former Columbia Flier Building and property. It is located at 10750 Little Patuxent Parkway, in Columbia. The RFP can be found here.
The Columbia Flier Building was an innovative part of Howard County’s history, and we are focused on making it a critical part of our next Howard County chapter. As we prepared for this RFP, we have engaged, collaborated, and listened to residents and community stakeholders about their concerns and desires for future use of this site. We will continue working with the community throughout this process to ensure this site becomes a vibrant epicenter in our county once again.
The Flier Building was constructed in 1978 and for 33 years was home to the Columbia Flier, Howard County’s local newspaper. In 2014, the Howard County government purchased the Flier Building.
Howard County’s goals with this RFP are to:
- Facilitate the redevelopment and/or use of the building and property through new ownership;
- Generate revenue for the county through the sale of the Property and collection of future real property taxes on the Property; and
- Conduct a competitive solicitation process to sell the Property to an entity which will consider community input and address market demand, which does not include housing
The Flier Building is located less than a half of a mile from Downtown Columbia in the Village of Wilde Lake. The building is more than 35,000 square feet situated on an approximate 2.16-acre site which fronts Little Patuxent Parkway. This property will benefit from the continued redevelopment and transformation of Downtown Columbia.
Howard County engaged the community in recent years to discuss the sale and repurposing of the Flier Building and Property. The county discussed the county’s intent and objectives for a sale of the Property. The county released a survey to request feedback from the community on the Flier Building and repurposing of the Property.
The community’s feedback to this survey included:
- Providing benefits to the community such as retail, food service, educational use, and office use, among other uses.
- Valuing the history of the building and its original use and communicated a desire to see the history memorialized in the repurposing of the Property.
- Prioritizing sustainability such as the development of a LEED certified building as well as the preservation of the healthy, mature trees on site and use of solar panels.
Howard County has retained the services of Chartwell Enterprises, a commercial real estate services firm, to advise and represent the county throughout this process. It will be the buyer’s risk and responsibility to take its proposed development plan through the redevelopment process, as required. It is important for a buyer to offer its most competitive purchase price with its initial offer as the county may select a buyer from initial offers.
A restrictive covenant in the deed will ensure the buyer delivers a use acceptable to the County. Following the county’s approval of the preferred proposal, the county will finalize a Purchase and Sale Agreement (P&SA) to sell the Property to the selected buyer. Closing will occur within 21 days following the completion of the 45-day due diligence period. Deadline to submit proposals is 11:59 p.m. on May 26, 2023.