---
title: "For a Parking Lot’s Future, the Sky’s the Limit"
date: 2023-02-13T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/for-a-parking-lots-future-the-skys-the-limit"
section: Articles
---
# For a Parking Lot’s Future, the Sky’s the Limit

*February 13, 2023* — by [Maggie Haslam](/author/maggie-haslam)


> Students at Marathon Event Conceive Provisional ‘Pop-Ups’ for Aviation Landing Site

*UMD Place Hack 02112023 SC 6665 1920x1080 — Information science and finance major Nicholas Azarm '24 (arm at left), and finance and information science major Kelly Tran '24 collaborate at the second annual UMD Place Hack on Saturday. Their team—which also included 2022 veterans Navid Misaghian '24 and Nathan Bezvalem '24—took first place in the 24-hour competition to transform a campus space.*

Excitement may be coming sooner than expected to the future site of a major development in Greater College Park, no construction crews required: outdoor movie nights, crisp fall farmers markets and a temporary ice rink under twinkling lights.

The vision for the metamorphosis of an unassuming parking lot adjacent to the College Park Airport—and the future home of the Discovery District’s Aviation Landing—took off with judges at the University of Maryland’s second annual PlaceHack, earning four undergraduate students $2,500, bragging rights and possibly a new weekend destination. The group was one of three to nab a portion of $5,000 in prize money on Saturday night to close the 24-hour hackathon dedicated to imagining great campus spaces.

Sponsored by Terrapin Development Company, the university’s economic development arm, and the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (MAPP), PlaceHack challenged teams of undergraduate students to reimagine an underused place in College Park as an engaging, inclusive community asset.

“We gave you a challenging, busy site with high traffic and airplane noise and asked you to make it something special,” said Dawn Jourdan, dean of the school, to students at the final presentations. “And you did. I didn’t see anything today that I wouldn’t want to visit.”

The winning projects’ rotating series of engaging activities and temporary infusions of art and amenities aimed to connect a growing community and serve as a placeholder for a transit-friendly development of housing, restaurants and other businesses. Aviation Landing is the latest project in the $2 billion Greater College Park initiative to boost the area’s economic development and solidify its reputation as a vibrant college town.

\[[*Mixed-Use Development to Take Flight Near Airport*](https://today.umd.edu/mixed-use-development-to-take-flight-near-airport)\]

Aviation Landing could break ground as early as 2024. Until then, said Terrapin Development Company Vice President Tom Parker ’09, M.RED ’17, temporary “activation” of the site will build excitement around the upcoming development, create a sense of arrival from people disembarking the College Park Metro Station and add engaging functionality. This strategy, called tactical urbanism, creates temporary and experimental public spaces—like street murals, temporary bike lanes or a pop-up park—in advance of a longer-term project.

“Aviation Landing will be an extension of the university—and it wouldn’t be a university without students,” he said. “They bring lots of energy and ideas to their solutions, so we knew we’d get some terrific concepts from this competition.”


*students collaborate at PlaceHack — From left, computer science majors Aman Talreja '26, Aryan Agrawal '26, Aadesh Kheria '26, Rishabh Chheda '26 and Agastya Mukherjee '26 work together.*


*students work together at PlaceHack — Teammates computer science major Yiting Zheng '26 (left), community health major Kashobi O'bua ’23 and architecture major Crystal Ndungu '25 discuss possible solutions to their challenge.*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Academic Competitions](https://today.umd.edu/topic/academic-competitions), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience), [Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/arts)


**Units:** [School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-architecture-planning-and-preservation)