Who the Hell is the Patriot Group?
By Silver Springer • Aug 3rd, 2006 • Category: Uncategorized
A friend looking for a condo in Silver Spring happens to get an offer for an MPDU at the new Crescent Condominiums on Wayne Avenue. For those that don’t know it is the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit program for middle income residents who want to live in Montgomery County but can’t afford market rate homes. Developers are required to set aside at least 12.5%.
Apparently they can’t get rid of all their MPDU’s, curious as to why, he further explains the situation. Some of the standard amenities are a Full-size stacked washer and dryer, Ceramic tile foyer, Wall-to-wall carpeting in choice of colors, Gas heat and hot water, and a Spacemaker microwave oven.
But…the units being offered do not include a washer and dryer and Spacemaker microwave oven, what else is missing, air conditioning? Further more there are no parking spaces available for these units, if you did have the luxury of buying one it would set you back $35,000 for a space. The developer also touts the public Wayne Avenue garage across the street as an “amenityâ€, is that legal?
One model being offered at about 600 sq\ft is called the Kubrick. Market rates are in the mid $300,000. The floor plan shows that it has a balcony but according to my friend it really doesn’t. It’s basically a wall in its place (you can see the missing balconies from the SW side of Wayne Avenue). What happened? Material costs for Balconies went through the roof too and how did they slip that past Park and Planning?
Condo fees cover maintaince of the grounds and snow removal. What “grounds” and aren’t the cars in an underground garage?
I tried to do some research about the company on the internet but couldn’t find a corporate website anywhere. How do you not have a website this day in age? What are you trying to hide? At this level of business that’s inexcusable, especially one that develops buildings that people live in! The best I could come up with was an address and phone number with no answer of course. Patriot Group has developed other properties within the Silver Spring CBD as well.
930 Wayne Avenue LLC, c/o the Patriot Group
1003 K street NW, suite 207
Washington D.C. 20001
(202) 737-9540, Mr. Leith Wain
Apparently MPDU purchasers aren’t good enough for a washer and dryer and a balcony. I didn’t know that was too much of a luxury item for middle to low income residents! Is this in retaliation to the requirement for setting aside MPDUs? Worst part of all is that they are selling these units at the regular MPDU price range.
Ever heard the phrase “if you don’t have anything good to say don’t say it at all� Well, if you don’t have anything good to build don’t build it at all!
UPDATE: The Silver Spring, Singular points out an interesting peculiarity about the MPDU program,
“What I also find fascinating is how HEAVILY Asian (both south and east) the list of MPDU lottery winners are. Check out the list of winners [clik here] for the Aurora and the Silverton condominiums. My aforementioned friend said that when he went to the MoCo offices to do some MPDU paperwork, every other person there was Asian. These ethnic communities seem to be spreading the word about MPDUs amongst themselves, but perhaps the county isn’t doing such a good job of educating everyone else.”
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To I Hate Yuppies,
I know you also hate the Mica, but please get your facts straight: the Mica is still under renovation. It is dark because the new residents (which include old residents when it was Springwood apts. and current residents of Silver Spring) have not yet moved in.
If you look on the http://www.mc-mncppc.org/silverspring/private_projects/newell.shtm
website you can see how to contact the Patriot Group by phone. I am curious to hear what they might say.
I think we also have to keep in mind that these MPDUs aren’t being given away for free. Some cost in the hundrends of thousands of dollars. So a washer and dryer shouldn’t be to much to ask to be included even at these prices. Again, they are moderately priced not free.
Again, my last condo was 300k with NONE of these things and I made do. The object of these MPDUs is to help those of a certain income live in an area, not get everything that those amenities who make more than them can afford. In the real world you have to have enough money to buy things at the price that others are willing to pay here. We are already subsidizing a false economic environment here, it isn’t necessary to provide them with every luxury. Why not add on a plasma TV?
Tell me that when they hand them out for free, close to $200k is alot of money. I could buy a new single family home in North Carolina for that much and get my washer and dryer too.
A washer and dryer and a balcony that was proclaimed to be standard is are not luxury itmes IMO.
Plus, can you tack on the balcony later? That the most boggles my mind. Why show it on your floor plan and then alter the building so it’s not there? How cheap can you get!
If you say they are standard make them standard in every unit. And did they make reductions in the price to reflect the disappearance of these “luxury items”?
The more I look at the building the more it reminds me of a commie block in North Korea.
Anonymous…
Sales for the MICA condo units have been sloooooooow. The developer is already reducing prices with some units. Plus, the developer is throwing more incentives at potential buyers like free digital cable service.
Anonymous with the $300K condo…
Then you made a very BAD decision to buy that condo. Silver Springer is right…he (or she) can get a better deal in another part of the country. The greedy developers will learn the hard way; real estate customers will get more savvy about purchasing properties.
Yes, but what if you don’t WANT to live in another part of the country?
It is standard now for new condos to come with a washer/dryer. That’s a fact.
But the question is: if MPDU’s do not have washer/dryer units, is there somewhere nearby where they can wash their clothes??? And assuming they don’t have cars (beause they can’t afford the $25k price tag), is there a laundromat within walking distance?
Anonymous,
I don’t think there are laundromats within walking distance of the Wayne Ave. location.
Is Metro in walking distance from this house in N. Carolina?
Are you always such a prick?
wow…this is good. That is some serious vitriol Silver Springer. I agree with you most of the time and hear you! However, I don’t think that Washers/Dryers are standard elements in condos these days, but to remove the balcony is clearly tacky and could be a violation of their approved site plan. Someone should look into that.
Last time I checked, Wellers(?) is still operating on Fenton, although that’s a dry cleaner and a two block walk which I realize is a long haul for a lot of us Americans
As far as a Laundromat is concerned, they are a dyeing breed. Closest one might be one across the line in DC on Georgia.
Finally, what was the point of the Asian comment?
Please keep it civil! To Anonymous 04:05:31 PM, the #1 reason why people are moving to the D.C. area is because of the so called abundance of jobs available. Unfortunately Silver Spring and the eastern side of the region, including Prince George’s county are far below capacity. Jobs are skewed heavily towards Northern Virginia and the western part of the county. I blame the developers for falling into the fallacy that Maryland “Has a bad business climate”, zoning laws and other misconceptions that I’m not even going to touch. But we are also our worst enemy by opposing this kind of development instead of trying to create a balanced county. More jobs in Silver Spring would significantly reduce traffic in the long run better than any road can.
When you finally get your condo in Silver Spring how will you get to work? Will you walk, drive or take mass transit? Most likely you will drive or take mass transit because the number of residents far outstrips the number of jobs in Silver Spring. Discovery can only employ about 1,500 people and not all are can or want to work there. The number of residential units planned or under construction are about 3,000! A smart developer would take advantage of Silver Spring’s very low vacancy rate and the smart ones did. The ones who jumped on the condo bandwagon and came late to the game are now holding the bag of empty units, for some it’s too late to turn back! It’s not too late for others to significantly alter their plans or hold off. A true mixed use project is the only way to limit the risk.
The point of the “Asian comment” was simply to show that certain ethnic communities are taking advantage of the MPDU program more than others. If these lottery lists reflected the actual demographics of MoCo, 80% of the county would be Asian. These immigrant communities tend to be more tightly-knit and it seems as if they are spreading the word about this program to one another. Good for them. Based on the disproporionate number of names on these lists, they appear to be much more aware of the program than the community at-large. Why are you so offended? The comment isn’t meant to be offensive. If anything, it is complimentary of their resourcefulness.
They have a website: http://www.crescentcondo.com/. They are a legit company.
That’s the website for the specific project not the corporate website that just about every other developer has but them.
sligo wrote: “Why are you so offended”.
I wasn’t offended, just didn’t see the point of the comment.
It’d be interesting if someone from 8045 chimed in here. 8045 was the Patriot groups first project. A bit more than they could chew as it was delivered about two years late. From what I heard the developers were also incredibly unresponsive to purchasers needs.
I’ve heard the same story from folks trying to move into the Silverton, not to mention a friend who just got a place in DC.
Seems like developers in general are arrogant and aloof when it comes to working with their purchasers.
Anybody have a different story? Who are the good guys?
The hidden message in this report was not about the MPDU program but how developers in Silver Spring are not putting forth their best effort. We are not getting the same quality designs and mixed use as Bethesda, Arlington, and Prince George’s County.
Do you think it’s that the developers aren’t putting their best effort forth, or that they simply aren’t good developers? JBG’s done some quality projects and has a really vibrant idea/concept for th SW waterfront…the others…I’m not sold on them. I think SS needs to attract some better developers.
If I was a developer I would be worried that I’m playing in a field of over 25 projects and 3000+ residential units within 2 square miles. I would want to build the best mixed use project possible but it doesn’t seem like a lot of developers did their research. The weaker will lose.
A mixture of both. The large players like JBG are simply not puting forth their best effort in Silver Spring.
You can tell just by looking at other parts of the region where they have projects planned. It’s weird and no offense to Prince George’s County but they get better architectural designs and mixed use projects that put Silver Spring and even other parts of Montgomery County to shame.
The smaller developers are more of a mixed bag, some (but few) have really good proposals, others like the Patriot group continue their tradition of lackluster projects. I think it all comes down to how ambitious the developer is and which architectural firm they hire. Some have the passion and want to put forth a quality project but most don’t think they need to have a competitive project in Silver Spring.
I am a purchaser at 8045 Newell Street,(AKA 8045, The Building With Balls) the other Patriot Group project in South Silver Spring. Patriot Group has been notorious for promising one thing and delivering something else. In the two bedroom units on part of the building they cut the size of the balconies in half and eliminated a window. Keep in mind that these were the unit owners with the most expensive units they were screwing over. There were also other things like changing the bathroom plans without telling the owners, etc. They really did not care and kept telling us how much we were going to make on the condos, not taking into account that some people wanted to actually LIVE here.
Despite all of the initial problems I have to say that I enjoy living here and I enjoy the building.
The Patriot Group is primarily a builder of apartment communities. The building at the 8045 site was their first condo project. I understand that The Crescent will be the last. They sold the other project they were going to do in Silver Spring when the market went soft. They do not understand the difference between building apartment homes and selling condos. They just saw the dollar signs.
I think homeowners should contact park and planning about these alterations being made without their consent. If you’re cutting corners like this then you’re not in a position to build.
[...] For those who thought the prices at the new Veridian Apartments by JBG were out this world, wait till you set your eyes on the Portico by Patriot Realty Group. [...]