Performing Arts Center/Artists Flats Groundbreaking!

Orchard Development Corporation is proud to announce the groundbreaking of the dynamic mixed-use Performing Arts Center/Artists Flats project in downtown Columbia, Maryland.

Nearly 15 years in the making, the groundbreaking marks the start of construction on the first public facility identified in the 2010 Downtown Columbia Plan, as well as the first Low-Income Housing Tax Credit development in Downtown Columbia. The Performing Arts Center (PAC) portion of the project will contain one 340-seat dinner theater, two 200-seat black box theaters, a public art gallery and several dance studios and performance classrooms. The Artists Flats portion of the facility will include 174 mixed-income units serving a full spectrum of household incomes.

The $189,000,000 Performing Arts Center will be the new home for the renowned Toby's Dinner Theater as well as Columbia Center for the Theatrical Arts, which has been providing arts education, workshops and performance opportunities for children in Columbia and surrounding communities for nearly a half century. In addition, the Howard County Arts Council will have a presence in the PAC, with community theater programming in the black box theaters as well as gallery space for visual arts.

The Performing Arts Center/Artists Flats is a collaboration of the Howard County Government and the Howard County Housing Commission, which are the owners of the project, and Orchard Development Corporation, whose Chairman, L. Earl Armiger, envisioned the initial concept. Orchard Development Corporation is providing development services to the County and Housing Commission for the project.

Phase I of the project, which includes the new Toby's Dinner Theater, is scheduled for completion in the Fall of 2026. Phase II, including the Artists Flats residential portion and remaining performing arts and gallery space, is scheduled for completion in the Fall of 2028.