Trader Joe's getting ready to open College Park store

Trader Joe's is getting ready to open a new store in College Park, where it will serve as a lead retail anchor in a larger redevelopment of the site where Plato's Diner and a Quality Inn hotel once stood.

The grocery chain updated its website to list the new store at 4429 Calvert Road as "Coming Soon!" The notice lists the opening data as to be determined, though the larger project, called Aster College Park, is slated to deliver later this year. A Trader Joe's spokeswoman confirmed the store is coming soon but said it is too soon to provide an estimated opening date.

Its planned arrival is part of a larger push by the University of Maryland to create a stronger draw around its flagship campus for prospective students, staff and private employers with ties to College Park, said Ken Ulman, president of Terrapin Development Co. Terrapin is part of the development team at the Aster, a $140 million project that kicked off about two years ago. Luring other retailers to the area including Lidl, Target and Whole Foods Market has also been part of that effort.

Ulman said Terrapin Development, the university, Prince George's County and the city of College Park have been working closely over the past several years to "create a great university community," a place where more faculty, students and staff will want to live and companies will want to base their operations. Terrapin Development has teamed up with Bozzuto Development and Willard Retail on the project.

"We really are creating a number of options for faculty, staff, students and the surrounding community, and Trader Joe's, frankly, is one of those stores that people sit up and notice," Ulman said. "We're just thrilled that, after conversations with Trader Joe's over a number of years, that they are going to open their first store in Prince George's County later this year."

The Hyattsville Wire first reported the grocer was coming, based unofficially on marketing materials from retail brokerage KLNB. The project will to include nearly 400 multifamily units and 70,000 square feet of retail, which will also include a Crunch Fitness, Roots Natural Kitchen, and Bandit Taco.

The residential part of the project will include about 12,000 square feet of amenity spaces, including a pool, and the first residents are due to move in by the end of the summer, according to Bozzuto. Bozzuto Construction is building the project and Bozzuto Management Co. will manage it once construction is completed.