The Martin Architectural Group

Stacked Townhomes designed in collaboration with the team at Schaefer Homes, wins "Outstanding Design and Architecture" at the Maryland Building Industry Association MAX+ 2025 Award of Excellence!

Covington Oaks, the new 2 over 2 stacked townhouse designs, created for the community in Prince George's County, MD took home the residential design award last week.

Pulling from the neighboring residential styles and vernacular, the brick, siding arrangements, porches, and subtle bay projections add charm and uniqueness to each of the homes in the 48-townhouse community. Using a stacked townhouse approach, density and a more appropriate use of limited land availability were achieved, and arranged to create frontage around the shared open community green.

Pictured: Jim Schaefer and Bobby Thompson of Schaefer Homes with Dan McCauley, of The Martin Architectural Group.

Residential Design and Innovation-Throwback Edition:

THINLINE TOWNHOMES:
14' wide townhouses with three and four story concepts and aesthetics to blend into more traditional neighborhoods.

TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT:
Rear loaded single family homes for superb curb appeal and elevation style variety! Designed to blend in with heavily curated adjacent homes.

NARROW LOT SINGLES:
Neo-traditional alley loaded garage product for narrow lot single family homes. Curb appeal, and pedestrian friendly concepts with prominent front porches and open floor plans.

STACKED TOWNHOMES:
Stacked townhomes in an urban residential neighborhood allowed for higher density living, without sacrificing the charm of the existing community.

LEED PLATINUM TOWNS:
Before it was even trendy, these townhomes in the Philadelphia suburbs pushed the boundaries of sustainable design. Solar panels, ERV heat recovery, spray foam insulation with 14" thick exterior walls, EV car chargers, and rain collection systems were just a few of the elements leading the way.

Throwbacks provide a snapshot of where we have been and sometimes a guide to where we are going.

2026 Newark Summit – Cliff Notes
Key Market Intelligence for Developers, Designers, Owners & Investors
📍 Newark, NJ | 🗓 February 9, 2026

Big Picture Takeaway:
Newark, NJ is positioning itself as a Northeast model for balanced urban growth—where mixed-income housing, adaptive reuse, TOD, and experience-driven development outperform single-use, single-income strategies.

🏙️ Mixed-Use & Place-Making

Community-anchored projects win long-term (arts, culture, social programming = stickiness)

Food & beverage is now the 2nd largest private employment sector → no longer an “amenity,” but an economic driver

Transit-oriented development (TOD) remains the most resilient framework across market cycles

🏢 Office Market Reality Check

Panelist take-Downtown office markets are estimated to be ~30% overbuilt

Demand strongest for Class A; Class B/C = reposition or redevelop

Adaptive reuse trends for Class B&C Office:

Residential conversions leads the way

Startup-scale office (smaller, cheaper, flexible)

Lab space and tech space with open-floor concepts growing

Where reuse doesn’t pencil: strategic demolition + land assembly enables reset

With 30–40% of workers preferring fully remote, offices must now compete on experience, not just location

🏛️ City of Newark – Municipal Priorities

Success measured by housing affordability + wealth creation

Tools under discussion:

City-owned lots for small developers

Public funding for portions of construction

Shift from project-by-project affordability to area-wide funding strategies

Continued reliance on tax abatements

Major infrastructure investment (Gateway Tunnel) seen as critical to growth

🏘️ Affordable & Workforce Housing

Biggest gap: “Missing Middle” (80–120% AMI)

Mixed-income projects consistently outperform single-income models

Newark framework:

20% minimum affordable requirement

Fees below threshold support 100% affordable projects

Workforce housing treated as essential infrastructure

📈 Emerging Development Trends

Demand strongest in metro-connected, multicultural urban centers

Taller buildings + non-combustible construction to unlock density

Higher rents require better product:

Premium amenities

Higher-quality finishes

Floor-to-ceiling glazing

Improved HVAC & indoor air quality

Industrial demand favors 20–30k SF spaces, either new or demising existing stock to re-tenant. (Large-format 200k+ SF product struggling)

🏗️ Multifamily Market Insights

Standardizing municipal proforma review could speed approvals

Class B multifamily expected to outperform Class A in some markets

Panel consensus:

Mixed-income (80/20) models = best practice

Overreliance on 100% affordable is risky, leads to unbalanced areas

Small-scale condos support generational wealth and community stability

🎄 Holiday Cheer, Philly-Style 🎄

This year, our Philadelphia office celebrated the holidays in a whole new way—breaking in our new office space with a party that mixed design minds, friendly competition, and a whole lot of fun.

From Giant Jenga (yes, architects and engineers get kind of intense 👀), to corn hole flying through our high ceilings, classic Christmas movie marathons, cold beers, claw machines, and some surprisingly intense wind-up racer showdowns—it was the perfect reminder that great spaces are meant to be enjoyed, and so is great company!

Cheers to teamwork, creativity, and celebrating the season together at Martin Architectural Group. 🎅🍻