Silver Spring Scene Exclusive: BIGGEST PROJECT EVER IN SILVER SPRING
By Silver Springer • Aug 11th, 2006 • Category: Uncategorized
According to an inside source the planned Falkland Chase redevelopment will be the biggest project ever in Silver Spring. Totaling 1,050 apartment units in a group of highrises. There will be a lot of retail outside the assumed grocery store tenant that just so happens to be Harris Teeter. The project clears the old Falkland Chase complex along East-West Highway.
In other news, there were some technical difficulties in latter part of yesterday. Not sure exactly why but were back up and running.
UPDATE: The developer is Home Properties, current owner of Falkland Chase. 70,000 square feet of retail will be at the ground floor with Harris Teeter taking about 60,000 square feet in a combined two floor space. Six interconnected towers surrounding a large open garden style park with water features and a roof top pool. The buildings will be at least 15 to possibly 20 stories wrapped in a neo-traditional architectural design.
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Where is the grocery store going in? In the first floor of the new north section? Is it going to have below ground parking? I’m having visions of a Harris Teeter with a parking lot like the Rite Aid. Twelve spaces and potential customers circling and circling.
I live in Summit Hills and walk down that north sidewalk on East-West Hwy every week day. This should add a new je-ne-sais-quois to the quality of life in the area.
So another 1000 cars or more on East West Highway/Colesville Rd., added to those cars will be the employees of the retail establishments, plus people from the area who want to shop at Harris Teeters and we are getting close to maybe 1500 cars added to that area and if they are two car families maybe another 500 or more–when does it end.
And what about all those people who live in Falkland now, will they be able to afford the new living spaces–Stop it already- enough is enough.
Man what happened last night? you think they tapping into your site? I’m glad your back on.
Where is Falkland Chase exactly? I’m sorry if that’s an ignorant question — in fact it is — coming from someone who lives in Silver Spring. Is that the area west of Colesville Rd. on East-West Hwgh. going toward Bethesda, near the Parkway Diner?
Also, does anyone know what’s going on at the corner of East-West and Georgia near 13th across the street from the Discovery Channel’s more discrete office building? I walk that way to the Metro every day, but I usually go via Kennett St. and lo and behold I walked down East-West today and it looks as if they are laying the largest foundation for a building known to man, what with all the equipment that’s there now. I mean, they could be putting up Silver Spring’s answer to the Sears tower for all I know.
Also, does anyone know if there is a way to access the information online contained on those green placards that go up on a property every time it’s being considered for a redevelopment application?
Finally, anyone know what’s happening at the corner of Kennett and East-West? Where the now former day parking lot is? They have one of those placards on their fence. I’m guessing it has something to do with the main East-West monstrosity going up near the southern part of the Blairs.
God, the Blairs’ Giant is going to get so packed out with all these new people going into the SSS area!!
I’m so tired of people complaining about more traffic in SS. It’s a really selfish tirate, that makes zero contextual sense…the context being that SS is a city. Wake up! It will have the most utilized, or second most, transit center in the region. Where else is the County and region supposed to put the estimated million of people that are supposed to move here over the next 7 years?
I’m curious as to all of the details as well, but if this project does add to the ’street scene’ in DTSS, then I’m all for it. Here’s to more sidewalk cafes and pedestrian traffic.
Great job on the scoop SSS!
Yes, Falkland Chase in on East-West Hwy, west of Colesville Road. Essentially, we’re discussing the piece of land from the Rite Aid (by Kinkos) over to 16th Street, and between E-W Hwy and the train tracks.
I’m hoping to see some pictures soon. I’m happy to hear that they wouldn’t be tearing all of the apartments down. I find them quite charming, at least from the outside. This will be very good planning, however, as the Metro is a very short walk away.
Of course there will be more cars, but it is doubtful that it would add anything near 1,000. Also, of course there will be many, many more cars in the coming years as “anonymous” most correctly stated. Millions of more people means that millions more people will be bringing their preferred modes of transit. We just have to make it easy for them not to use cars.
Politiscribe, did they show any images or renderings?
To Twoste: The construction site across from the Discovery Technology center is the Silver Spring Gateway. Go to the link below for more information.
http://silverspringscene.blogspot.com/2006/08/rating-projects-best-and-worst.html
The temporary parking lot between Newell Street and Blair Mill road is the project site for 1200 Blair Mill, another condo project
I was just thinking, this could be quite a visible project depending on how tall the highrises are simply because the site is near the top of a hill, unlike Lenox Park or the AT&T building which are in something of a valley.
Visiting over here - too bad about DC realo estate site grabbing your verbage and posting it as their own - you should definitely put them on notice and ask for apology + source ackbowledgement!
Oh yeah, it’s pretty tall and definitely visible regardless of elevation. Thinking more about your observation because of the elevation, it could be as tall or taller than the former AT&T building. I may have more info on the project soon.
I have mixed feelings about this project. On the one-hand, looking at a glass/steel tall building across the street is not visually appealing. Also, the Falkland Chase properties have lots of charming green space. Thankfully, the ghastly Summit Hills buildings are tucked away behind a row of trees. The hideous Suburban tower sticks out like a sore thumb. In terms of aesthetics, this new project will make 16th Street look like a life-less, Soviet style living arrangment.
However, more apartment rental units means that the supply will keep up with demand…if not exceed it at certain points. Rents should stabilize in SS if projects like this get past the planning department approval stage.
It all depends on how real greedy real estate developers become. In the end, the gentrification of downtown Silver Spring will run out of steam. You can only have so many yuppies working in the DC metro region.
Hopefully this project won’t be aimed at the yuppies. Falkland Chase was designed for families - all those townhouses - and hopefully the new development will have larger apartments suitable for families who still can’t afford to live in Woodside.
SIX interconnected towers? On that size piece of land? Holy moley. It’s going to look like a space station landed.
I was and still am hoping it ends up looking a bit more urban than it sounds I wonder what they mean by interconnected. At the ground level?
Think of The Grand in Bethesda, doesn’t seem to urban to me.
You mean in North Bethesda by White Flint? Yeah, nothing very urban, but it’s not a towers in the park either.
It would be nice if the new towers were to be as tall as the Grand, which is something like 20 stories.
North Bethesda… aka Rockville
Not quite, it’s just south of the border at Montrose Road.
If even. The new high-rise at Montrose Crossing (north of Montrose Road) is being called “Midtown Bethesda North.” Bethesda just keeps creeping further and further up 355.
Anyway - when I think “neotraditional tower” I think of the Edgemoor in Bethesda, but maybe taller. It would be nice to see that in Silver Spring.
Yeah, you’re not going to get that. I would write the developer though, this is very preliminary so changes can easiliy be made now.
Remember the Edgemoor is the design I would like to be seen at that Thayer Street development, which seems to have fallen off the radar for now.
I suppose the Grand wouldn’t be too bad of a role model, but I really would like to see something more urban, with a continuation of the somewhat “grid-like” pattern to better connect it with the rest of downtown.
Maybe if the developer receives several like-minded letters, emails, or phone calls early-on requesting these details, he would be more likely to actually take the suggestions into account.
Are the 1050 Apartments all in the portion of Falkland Chase on the northeast corner of 16th & E-W Highway? I’ve read on other blogs that Home Properties intends to eventually redevelop the entire Falkland Chase site. Just wondering if anyone knew. Has Home Properties given any indication of when they plan to submit the plans or potential construction start time frame?
They are not going to develop the other side from what I heard. They will upgrade them in some way though.
Any new developments on this project? I am thinking about purchasing a little place right down the street from FC and was wondering how the project might affect my future interests.
Thanks -
[...] to August 2006 and you might remember the beginning of “Falkland Chase under fire“. It was that month [...]
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