Manekin, LLC and Jones Lang LaSalle have been selected by Howard County to serve as consultants in the sale and redevelopment of the former Gateway School Site in Clarksville.

“The acquisition of this site represents one of the last remaining opportunities in Howard County for a site of this size and zoning with access to public sewer and water,” said Richard Fields, senior vice president of Manekin LLC’s brokerage division, who is representing the County in this transaction along with Manekin’s Liz Tarran-Jones, (investment services associate, (George Santos (vice president) and Owen Rouse (senior vice president /director of capital markets), and Robert A. Peck, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle.

The County is looking for the site to be redeveloped into a mixed-use, environmentally conscious, pedestrian-oriented project with public amenities. The goal is that the future site will feature high quality, context sensitive architectural design that promotes uniqueness and innovation while respecting the character and history of Clarksville and River Hill.

The Property
Located just off Rte. 32 at the intersection of Clarksville Pike (Rte. 108) and Great Star Drive, this 7.768 acre site with B-1 zoning contains a school building, originally constructed in 1939 to serve grades 1-11 students from the rural farms in western Howard County.

Various additions were added to the school over the years as it went through different uses, including serving as Clarksville Junior High School until 1979, and as the special needs Gateway School until 2002.
Prior to the school moving, the Howard County Department of Fire & Rescue used some of the upper floor classrooms at night starting in May 2001, and continued using the school as a training facility until 2007.
 
The school building, a freestanding garage and two small ancillary sheds will be demolished to provide a clear footprint for the redevelopment.

“The property is a keystone in the County’s goal to create a vibrant mixed use destination in Clarksville, and the disposition of the Gateway School site presents a unique opportunity for the County to provide for the return of a vacated site to profitable (and taxable) uses, while also shaping the future of development for this key site,” said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.