Bowie State University is searching for developers to turn 1.6 acres of woods into a mixed-use development currently called the “Gateway Parcel” to meet a desperate need for student housing, per a recently issued request for proposals.
The new development, proposed for the entrance to the Bowie State campus, would provide residences for undergraduates and/or graduate students, but it could also include dining facilities and ground-floor retail in addition to commercial and university office space, according to the RFP issued Feb. 21. The site is located at the intersection of MD-197 and Jericho Park Road, and adjacent to the MARC commuter lot.
Bowie State enrolled 5,381 undergraduate students and 927 graduate students in the fall of 2021 — a 1% jump from fall 2020, but a bigger increase, up 18%, from pre-pandemic enrollment in fall 2019, per university numbers and Washington Business Journal reporting. Currently, the school has 1,904 beds in its seven dorms and other residential facilities — and only 35% of undergraduate students live on campus. The university previously had a master lease with a student housing facility in College Park and shuttled more than 100 students to campus each day, a roughly 30 minutes trip, but that ended after two years in 2020.
