File:VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST OF SPRINGHILL LAKE SHOPPING CENTER, 9200 BLOCK OF SPRINGHILL LANE. - Springhill Lake Apartments, 9230 Edmonston Road, Greenbelt, Prince George's County, MD HABS MD-1216-10.tif

• Significance: The community of Greenbelt, Maryland, was created through a landmark federal planning initiative in the 1930s. Old Greenbelt exhibited a thoughtful integration of transportation, housing, services, green space, and residents. As Greenbelt expanded beyond the original New Deal-era planned town in the post war period, the community tried to maintain an emphasis on planning and progressive ideals, with mixed success.

While the original section of Greenbelt established a precedent in housing form and planning, the federal government could not maintain its tight control over the community. In 1952, the federal government sold its property to a veterans cooperative and individual buyers. The cooperative-subsequently known as Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI)-later sold most of the vacant land in Greenbelt to private developers, paving the way for major growth and conflict between residents and those developers during the 1960s.

The Springhill Lake development originated in this era of intense growth and signaled a transition between the planned, even isolated, Old Greenbelt and the coming private development that would irreversibly change the city's character. Designed by distinguished Washington, DC, architects Cohen Haft and Associates, the garden apartment complex was constructed in phases over the course of 7 years. Springhill Lake was comprised of nearly 2900 housing units on approximately 157 acres west of Old Greenbelt and was reputed to be the largest garden apartment development on the East Coast at the time of its construction. With low-rise apartment buildings and townhouses integrated into a verdant landscape, the Springhill Lake complex signified the inclusion of mid-century modernist structures into suburban settings while acknowledging the form that predominated in the first two phases of Greenbelt's development. In addition, Springhill Lake was made economically feasible by the federal government's construction of the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) to facilitate traffic around the growing capital area.

Springhill Lake's developers, Community Builders, Inc., partially emulated Old Greenbelt's site plan of clustered, low-rise dwellings and communal space, and also planned social and retail services for their residents in order to build community spirit. The Springhill Lake Community Center, also designed by Cohen Haft and Associates, provided opportunities for games, dancing, music and instruction on various forms of recreation. The development also included area for an elementary school, later built by Prince George's County, and a retail shopping center. In this way, Springhill Lake was a sensitive addition to the city of Greenbelt that greatly expanded the population of one of the most significant planned communities of the twentieth century.

• Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1035
• Survey number: HABS MD-1216