The first architectural renderings of an apartment building planned for the College Park Metro show a dramatic change for the area.

Rhode Island-based Gilbane Development Co., which is also developing the Riverfront at West Hyattsville, has put together plans for a five-story, 440-apartment building with 13,000 square feet of commercial space near the Metro station.

The plans, first reported by Route 1 Reporter, show a building the length of a city block, broken into three parts with different facades to keep it from appearing too monolithic.

The project would not look out of place in an area of D.C. like NoMa, but it’s a pretty big shift for the area around the Metro station, which is at the western entrance of the University of Maryland’s Discovery District research park.

The proposal came about as part of the Metro system’s overarching goal of increasing density on land it owns right around stations, especially along the Green Line, where ridership tends to be heavily tilted toward commuting into D.C.

But it’s also clearly influenced by the light-rail Purple Line that will run right through the Discovery District when it opens and onto campus. With a stop right in back, the apartments would be a good option for students and staff who don’t want to live right in the middle of campus.

Along with the College Park Academy, the apartments would also turn the Discovery District into more of a mixed-use area.