Here are number six best and worst on their respective lists, Disclaimer.

Developer: Easter Seals Society for Disabled Children and Adults, Inc

Architect: Weihe Design Group (WDG Architects)

Property Address: Spring Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Project Specifications:
Gross Floor Area: 41,400 sq\ft
Site: Approx .65 acres
Height: 51′Feet
Stories: 3
Parking Spaces: 90

The facility will be officially called the Easter Seals⁄Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Inter-Generational Center (the eminant domain legal battle in Baltimore involving the Weinbergs will be ignored at the momment). The project was funded through dozens of public and private donors, including Montgomery County who donated the land. Located across the street from Woodside, it will house 20,000 sq\ft of general office space, 12,400 sq\ft adult day care and 9,000 sq\ft intergenerational and meeting room space. Reduced from 49,680 sq\ft.

The three story building is composed in neo-traditional form. It will provide meeting room space for the community. It is expect to be completed in 11 months.

The project is on the best list because it provides unique services that adds to the variety of functions that can only be found in Silver Spring. The Easter Seals facility will act as a regional headquarters and will include but not limited to an adult day services program, a family caregiver resource center, a geriatric and pediatric therapy center, structured intergenerational programs, community training programs.

Developer: WMATA, Cypress Realty Investments, LLC (Union Realty Partners)

Architect: Smith Group

Property Address: 8021 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Project Specifications
Gross Floor Area: 313,466 sq\ft
Site: Approx 1.88 acres
Dwelling Units: 210 residential dwelling units, including 27 MPDUs
Height: 90′ Feet
Stories: 9
Parking Spaces: 200

This project is unique in the fact that it incorporates portions of the National Institute of Dry cleaning building. Built in 1927, it was placed on the Locational Atlas and Index of Historic Sites in 2005. The architect was Arthur Heaton, who also designed the National Geographic building in Washington, D.C.

Union Realty Partners, Inc along with WMATA is redeveloping the site. The project will be directly across the street from the planned Montgomery College Performing Arts Center, a 500 seat theatre that is sure to attract hundreds of patrons and performers. Taking advantage of this was not to the allure of the developer, instead 210 units are planned for this 100% residential project. Instead of the typical “It’s too tall and destructive” mantra of the NIMBYs, neighborhood residents in South Silver Spring pleaded for a genuine mixed use project noting the Performing Arts Center across the street. To no avail the developer did not heed to their calls and a great opportunity lost in our opinion.

Responsible for the architecture is the Smith Group, the same firm that designed the Discovery Communications headquarters. The lead designer must have been on vacation when they designed this one. The new above grade portion poorly integrates it’s self with the historic structure below it. Instead of the understated setback design, designers should have matched the historic structure in it’s architectural significance, other wise it just looks out of place. Continuing the theme of the yellow and green, Spanish tiled roof onto the new building and adding green space on top would only increase your sales chances. The design just doesn’t do the historic structure justice.

Whether residential use was the proper reuse for this site is questionable considering they had to do sound testing because of the proximity to the railroad tracks. Configuring the site for residential use almost seems more trouble than it’s worth for.

In a change of pace the developer contributed $140,000 to a park fund because they were unable to provide adequate public use space onsite. It has to be said that contributing to this fund has a far more positive impact than providing the public use space onsite for another pocket park that no one is going to use. If the fund was a standard agreement between the developer and park and planning, perhaps they could have purchased the old fire house as a museum (or whatever have you), instead of it showing up on EBay.

The lobby will house relics of the past from, portraying facts about the architect and machines that were use in the Dry Cleaning Institute but it’s not known how this will be accessed by non-residents.

The case seems to be that developers believe only that offering the bare minimum instead of the total package is sufficient in Silver Spring. These one type use projects with weak architectural designs would be far more desirable if they but some more effort into them. In a sub market as crowded as Silver Spring’s is this project really enough to sway buyers?

>> Onto Silver Spring Transit Center: A Disaster in the Making, #5 Worst