Neighborhood guide · Prince George’s County, MD
Living in Greenbelt, Maryland
A 1937 planned town with a lake in the middle, the Metro at its edge, and homes from the mid $100s.
Updated October 2026. Every figure below is dated and sourced.
The tour
Greenbelt in about two minutes
Sean walked the town in October 2026 and filmed it: the three kinds of homes, the lake, Roosevelt Center, the Metro, and the two things to know before you buy. The guide below has everything from the video, with more detail and the sources.
Built
1937
A New Deal planned town; the original core is a National Historic Landmark
Homes
About 11,000
Apartments, townhouses, condos and about 850 houses (City of Greenbelt)
The co-op
About 1,600
The original rowhouses, still a co-op today (GHI)
Metro
~26 min
Green Line to Gallery Place (trip planner, Oct 2026)
City tax
$0.8275 per $100
On top of the county's (FY2027 adopted budget)
Homes start
Mid $100s
Co-ops and condos, October 2026 (Redfin)
The homes
Three parts of town, three very different kinds of homes
Greenbelt was one of the New Deal’s planned towns, built from scratch in 1937, and the original part is now a National Historic Landmark district. Today the city has about 11,000 homes. About half are apartments, about a third are townhouses, then condos, and about 850 detached houses.
Old Greenbelt is the original town. About 1,600 rowhouses, block and brick from 1937 and frame from the early 1940s, sit on big blocks with footpaths and green commons. Your front door faces a walkway and the parking is in a shared lot out back. Those rowhouses are a co-op (more below). Old Greenbelt also has a few streets of regular detached houses around Lakeside and Boxwood Village.
Greenbelt East, across the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, is mostly condos and townhouses from the 1970s through the 90s, plus a section of detached houses from around 1990.
Greenbelt Station, on the west side by the Metro, has townhomes built in the last ten years or so, with garages and more modern layouts.
What homes cost, by type (October 2026)
GHI co-op
From the mid $100s
A 1937 to 1942 rowhouse, about 550 to 1,150 sq ft, with a yard and a shared parking court. Plus a monthly co-op fee of about $600 to $1,000 that includes your property taxes.
Condo
From the mid $100s
Mostly 1970s and 80s garden and mid-rise buildings in Greenbelt East. Condo fees vary by community.
Townhouse
Low to mid $300s, up to the $600s+
1970s and 80s townhouses in Greenbelt East run about $310,000 to $440,000. The newer townhomes at Greenbelt Station, with garages, run about $450,000 to the high $600s.
House
About $500K to $700K+
Detached houses around Lakeside, Boxwood Village and Greenspring. Real yards and no co-op fee.
Built from Redfin listings and sales in October 2026. A single median is misleading here because co-ops and condos dominate the sales, so the ranges by type tell you more.
See what is for sale right nowBuying a GHI co-op
That mid $100s co-op: here is what you are actually buying
The co-op is Greenbelt Homes, Inc., or GHI. When you buy in, you do not get a deed. You buy a membership with the right to live in your home, and when you move, you sell it at market price.
You pay for it with a share loan from one of the lenders GHI works with, not a regular mortgage. GHI asks for 10% down, or 5% with a credit score of 720 or higher, and the down payment and fees have to be your own money. There is an orientation, the co-op approves you, and you pay 1% to the co-op at settlement.
Then there is the monthly fee, about $600 to $1,000 on the listings in October 2026. It covers your property taxes, insurance and the major repairs, because GHI takes care of the structure. If you want to change something, like an addition or new windows, you need a permit from GHI.
Before you fall for a co-op home
- Line up a lender that does GHI share loans first
- Plan on 5 to 10% down from your own funds
- Most down payment programs do not cover co-ops
- Rooms are small and most homes have no basement
- Ask what the fee covers and when it last went up
Parks and the outdoors
A lake in the middle of town and a national park next door
Greenbelt Lake sits right in the middle of Old Greenbelt, and Greenbelt Park, run by the National Park Service, is right next door. The city pool is open to anyone.
Buddy Attick Lake Park
555 Crescent Rd
Greenbelt Lake, 23 acres, with a dirt and stone trail about a mile and a quarter around it, a playground, pavilions and fishing (license 16+). Residents can get canoe and kayak permits.
Greenbelt Park
National Park Service, off Greenbelt Rd
Right next door and free to enter: 9 miles of trails, picnic areas and a 172-site campground (reservations required).
Schrom Hills Park
Northeast Greenbelt
Athletic fields, a paved path about half a mile long, a pavilion and a playground. It hosts the city's Fall Fest and Pumpkin Festival.
Aquatic and Fitness Center
101 Centerway
City-run indoor and outdoor pools and a fitness wing, open to non-residents too. Fall day passes are $5.50 for residents and $7.50 for non-residents.
Footpaths and underpasses
Old Greenbelt
The 1937 plan put walkways behind the houses and underpasses below the roads, so you can walk to the town center without crossing traffic.
Braden Field and more
Around town
Ballfields, the Springhill Lake Recreation Center, the Community Center in the 1937 school building, and woods throughout.
Roosevelt Center and town life
A 1930s town center you can walk to
The heart of Old Greenbelt is Roosevelt Center, the town center from the 1930s. If you live in Old Greenbelt, you can walk to all of it.
Labor Day weekend
Labor Day Festival
The big one, at Roosevelt Center and the Community Center lawn. In 2026 it ran September 4 to 6.
Sundays, through the week before Thanksgiving
Greenbelt Farmers Market
10 am to 2 pm at 25 Crescent Rd. The last regular market of 2026 is November 22, and the Holiday Market is Sunday, December 6.
October
Fall Fest and the pumpkin festivals
Fall Fest and the Pumpkin Festival at Schrom Hills Park, then a carved-pumpkin walk. The Utopia Film Festival runs at the Greenbelt Cinema the same month.
Around Halloween
Wild Rumpus and Trunk or Treat
A costume party at Roosevelt Center and the police department's trunk or treat.
2027
Greenbelt turns 90
The museum is aiming to finish its new visitor center in time for the anniversary.
Day to day
- The co-op grocery. The Greenbelt Co-op Supermarket is right in Roosevelt Center, next to the shops.
- A movie and live music.The Greenbelt Cinema is the town’s 1930s movie theater, and the New Deal Cafe has morning coffee and live music most nights.
- Bigger shopping. Beltway Plaza on Greenbelt Road and the Greenway Center by the Beltway. College Park is about 11 minutes away and Hyattsville about 13 for more restaurants.
Getting around
The end of the Green Line, MARC, and the Beltway
Greenbelt is the northern end of the Green Line, and Yellow Line trains run here too. You are about 26 minutes from Gallery Place and about 30 from L’Enfant Plaza. MARC’s Camden Line stops at the same station, about 29 minutes to Union Station.
You are right off the Beltway and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, so Baltimore is about 38 minutes by car off-peak. The Metro is a long walk from Old Greenbelt, so most people drive or take the bus to it. The city also runs the Greenbelt Connection van, $2 a ride if you book a day ahead (301-474-4100).
Green and Yellow Lines
MARC Camden Line
Greenbelt Connection van
Schools and campuses nearby
Greenbelt Elementary, Springhill Lake Elementary, Greenbelt Middle and Eleanor Roosevelt High (PGCPS) are all in Greenbelt. Check any address with the PGCPS boundary locator before you buy, because boundaries can change. The University of Maryland is about 11 minutes away.
Drive times from Roosevelt Center, midday (Google Maps, October 2026)
- Greenbelt Metro and MARC stationabout 8 min
- University of Maryland, College Parkabout 11 min
- Hyattsville Arts Districtabout 13 min
- NASA Goddardabout 15 min
- BWI Airportabout 24 min
- Downtown DC (Metro Center)about 25 min
- Annapolisabout 29 min
- Baltimore Inner Harborabout 38 min
Rush hour will be longer.
What's coming
The FBI headquarters and Beltway Plaza: planned, not built
The federal government picked the land by the Greenbelt Metro for the new FBI headquarters in 2023, then moved to keep the FBI in DC. In August 2026 a federal judge ruled for Maryland and put Greenbelt back on track, and the government appealed two days later. As of October 2026 it is in the courts, and appeals like this usually take a year or more. Nothing is being built, so buy for what is here today.
Beltway Plaza is approved to become up to 2,500 homes with shops, and the county Planning Board gave it six more years in April 2026. Nothing is under construction there either. A trail from Greenbelt Station to the Metro is planned but not built.
Know before you move
The catches nobody mentions until after you move in
People who live here love walking to the grocery store, the theater and the lake. The most common complaint is the co-op fee, until they remember it includes their property taxes. These are the things to budget and check before you make an offer.
A city tax on top of the county's
Greenbelt has its own property tax: $0.8275 per $100 of assessed value in FY2027, on top of the Prince George's County bill. On a $350,000 assessment that is about $2,900 a year to the city. Budget off what the home will be assessed at after you buy, and file for the Homestead Tax Credit after you close. In a GHI co-op, the taxes are part of the monthly fee.
The co-op has its own rules
A share loan, 5 to 10% down from your own funds, GHI's approval, and a permit for most changes. Most down payment programs do not cover co-ops.
Beltway noise on the nearest blocks
The Beltway runs along the north edge of Old Greenbelt and past Boxwood, Lakeside and parts of Greenbelt East. Go by at rush hour before you make an offer.
A few parts of town have had flooding
The city finished a flood resiliency plan in April 2026, with Lakeside Drive and Westway among the focus areas. Check the address and ask about water.
A Greenbelt address is not always inside the city
The 20770 ZIP spills past the city line. Check the city map, because it changes your taxes and your services.
You will want a car for the Metro
The station is on the west side of town, a long walk from Old Greenbelt. Most people drive or take the bus to it.
Looking for help with the down payment?
The condos, townhouses and houses in Greenbelt can use county and Maryland programs like Pathway to Purchase, for buyers who qualify. The co-op homes usually cannot. The program and your lender decide who qualifies. Every program that fits a Greenbelt address, with whether the money is available right now, is in Sean’s guide.
Where it is
Right on the Beltway, at the end of the Green Line
Greenbelt sits where the Beltway meets the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Prince George’s County, next to College Park. The listings link opens Sean’s search site drawn to the city, so you see what is for sale right now, with alerts if you make an account.
Sources and dates
- City of Greenbelt, FY2027 Adopted Budget (housing units by type, city tax rate)
- Greenbelt Homes, Inc., membership selection criteria
- Greenbelt Online, Greenbelt Homes, Inc. home types
- City of Greenbelt, Buddy Attick Lake Park
- National Park Service, Greenbelt Park
- City of Greenbelt, Schrom Hills Park
- City of Greenbelt, Aquatic and Fitness Center
- City of Greenbelt, events calendar
- New Deal Cafe
- WMATA, Greenbelt station
- MTA, MARC Camden Line schedule
- Prince George's County, Pathway to Purchase (eligible home types)
- City of Greenbelt, Community Flood Resiliency Plan (April 2026)
- CourtListener, State of Maryland v. Patel (FBI headquarters case)
- Greenbelt News Review, Beltway Plaza six-year extension (April 9, 2026)
- Redfin, Greenbelt (ZIP 20770) listings and sales, October 2026
- PGCPS school boundary locator
- Drive and transit times: Google Maps and trip-planner estimates from Roosevelt Center, midday, checked October 19, 2026. MARC: MTA Camden Line schedule, October 2026.
- Photos: Sean Evans, October 28, 2026. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Prices, fees and court cases change; the figures here are as of the dates shown. Sean Evans, REALTOR®, eXp Realty. Licensed in Maryland and DC. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Thinking about calling Greenbelt home?
Sean knows the co-op, the tax bill and what each part of town is like. One conversation, no pressure.