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

Developer: Fenton Street Development, LLC(The Freeman Group and Bloom Builders)

Architect: SK&I Architects of Bethesda

Property Address: Fenton Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Project Specifications:
Gross Floor Area: Approx 145,471 sq\ft
Site: Approx 0.96 acres
Office Space: Approx 18,200 Sq\ft
Dwelling Units: Approx 96 residential dwelling units including 15 MPDUs
Retail Space: Approx 15,020 sq\ft
Height: 60′ to 90′Feet
Stories: 13 Stories
Parking: Approx 171 spaces

Also known as the Easley Subdivision the Adele development is the only mixed-use project integrating office, residential and retail in a single building. The retail will be at the ground floor activating the street. The office component will be placed above while the residential portion takes the top floors.

The Adele pushed past to second place because it incorporated an extensive green roof that will clean the air, mitigate heat island effect, absorb rain water and help the property’s value.

Not my personal favorite but I can appreciate the architecture because of its attention to detail. It doesn’t look cookie cutter or like a two minute sketch. It’s an interesting unique modern design; although a bit boxy it will add character to the Fenton village area.

The developer donated $70,000 towards the restoration of the Fenton Street Park; this is one of ways the public use requirement funds should be used. It appropriates funds towards things that really matter.

The Adele is one of the smaller projects but it is another one (from a smaller developer mind you) that shows that a good mixed use project is feasible in Silver Spring contrary to what we’ve been told

Developer: 930 Wayne Avenue LLC (Patriot Group)

Architect: Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue Architects of D.C.

Property Address: 930 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Project Specifications:
Gross Floor Area: Approx 151,140 sq\ft
Site: Approx: 0.48 acres
Dwelling Units: 143 residential dwelling units including 18 MPDUs
Retail Space: Approx 1,741 sq\ft
Height: 143′feet
Stories: 14
Parking Spaces: 140

The Crescent is sitting in a very lucrative location. It is across the street from the Downtown Silver Spring Town Center, just a block and a half away from the discovery communications headquarters, next to the future site of the new Silver Spring Library and a possible station location for the future purple line.

Because of this I think a much better project should have been there; something along the lines of the Adele with an abundant amount of retail. This could have really drawn a crowd out the Town Center area and directed them to explore other parts of downtown.

With a scant 1,741 square feet of retail, the Crescent barely qualifies as mixed-use. This is the smallest amount of retail proposed. At the very least the project took advantage of the maximum height allowed but if only something beyond that could fill the void.

Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue was too ashamed to have the project listed in their website portfolio. The architecture is very bland, some kind of modernist\neo-traditional combo that ends up looking like public housing from certain angles.

The public use space took a significant amount out of the buildings foot print on a half -acre lot, pushing the retail far away from the street and contributing to making Silver Spring less urban.

At the least we should learn to take advantage of our most important locations and make sure only the best projects are placed there. Not only is their proposal lacking but they couldn’t even stick to the plan as witnessed in a previous report. To Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue, thank you for going into your drawer of bland designs and handing it over to Silver Spring and thank you Patriot Group for choosing the lowest bidder and cutting corners!

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