Editing Columbia, Maryland (section)

=== Further expansion ===
"The Downtown Columbia Plan" is a 2010 amendment to the county's General Plan of expansion. It is a framework for the revitalization of Downtown Columbia over the next thirty years. Development plans for downtown projects in the years ahead will include details for that project such as neighborhood design guidelines, environmental restoration, public amenities and infrastructure. These development plans must adhere to the framework of the Downtown Columbia Plan as required by the zoning legislation. Over the life of the Downtown Columbia development project, as much as 13 million square feet of retail, commercial, residential, hotel and cultural development is planned.<ref>{{cite web| title=DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA PLAN: A General Plan Amendment| url=http://planhoward.org/downtown_columbia_plan.pdf| publisher=Howard County, Maryland| access-date=October 2, 2012| date=February 1, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209103631/http://planhoward.org/downtown_columbia_plan.pdf| archive-date=December 9, 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref>

To be accomplished in three phases, the plan calls for the formation of the non-profit Columbia Downtown Housing Corporation to build an additional 5,500 units of low income housing placed downtown in exchange for increased zoning density for other projects.<ref>{{cite news| newspaper=Patuxent| title=Group hopes to provide affordable housing in downtown Columbia| author=Lindsey McPherson| date=September 24, 2012}}</ref> Additional development includes 4.3 million square feet of commercial office space, 1.25 million square feet of retail space, 640 hotel rooms, Merriweather Post Pavilion redevelopment and a [[Intermodal passenger transport|multi-modal transportation system]].<ref>"FAQ Downtown Columbia, MD." Howard County, Maryland. 2012. <http://www.columbiamd.com/plan/faq/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021145717/http://www.columbiamd.com/plan/faq/ |date=October 21, 2012 }}> Retrieved October 2, 2012</ref>

Columbia's master developer, the Howard Hughes Corporation, is heading up the expansion project. The project is projected to cost $90 million and will outline development in the community for the next 40 years.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-council-votes-november-delay-1117-20161109-story.html |title=Howard County Times |last=Waseem |first=Fatimah |date=November 9, 2016 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=February 19, 2017 |archive-date=February 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220015250/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-council-votes-november-delay-1117-20161109-story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>