6,625
By Silver Springer • Apr 23rd, 2007 • Category: Real Estate
And there’s more. To put this into perspective the city of
There is another project on
|
Project |
Developer |
TYPE |
|
Residential Units |
|
|
Banneker Ventures, LLC |
N/A |
|
56 |
|
|
Washington Property Co. |
Apartments |
|
335 |
|
|
Perseus Realty |
Condominiums |
|
96 |
|
|
Home Properties |
Apartments |
|
247 |
|
|
|
Apartments |
|
210 |
|
|
Patriot Group |
Condominiums |
|
120 |
|
|
|
N/A |
|
106 |
|
Adele |
Bloom Builders |
N/A |
|
96 |
|
|
RST Development |
Condominiums |
|
135 |
|
|
Foulger Pratt |
Apartments |
|
223 |
|
Blair Towns |
The Tower Cos |
Apartments |
|
78 |
|
|
|
N/A |
|
72 |
|
Cameron House |
|
N/A |
|
325 |
|
Crescent |
Patriot Group |
Condominiums |
|
143 |
|
Eastern Village Co-Housing |
|
Condominiums |
|
56 |
|
Ellsworth |
The Peterson Cos. |
Condominiums |
|
222 |
|
|
Home Properties |
Apartments |
|
1,020 |
|
|
Bush Companies |
N/A |
|
250 |
|
Galaxy |
RST Development |
Condominiums |
|
321 |
|
|
RST Development |
Apartments |
|
178 |
|
Lofts 24 |
|
Condominiums |
|
24 |
|
Midtown |
Kettler |
Condominiums |
|
317 |
|
Moda Vista Residences |
|
N/A |
|
94 |
|
Portico |
Patriot Group |
Condominiums |
|
158 |
|
Silver Place |
Park and Planning |
N/A |
|
358 |
|
|
The JBG Cos. |
Condominiums/Apartments |
|
457 |
|
|
Foulger Pratt |
N/A |
|
453 |
|
Silverton ( |
The JBG Cos. |
Condominiums |
|
220 |
|
|
Michael, LLC |
N/A |
|
255 |
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
6,625 |
Silver Springer is
Email this author | All posts by Silver Springer
Silver Springer, you’re totally right: we need more office space. (Alright, I need more office space.) How else are we supposed to bag NPR?
Also saw these headlines on the Wash Biz Journal site (print edition):
– Hewlett-Packard regional offices move to Bethesda
– Area’s largest VC firm moves to Chevy Chase
I’m happy for Bethesda and Chevy Chase, but it’s our loss that Silver Spring didn’t have the commercial space (or even prospective commercial space) to bag those leases.
Hey Silver Springer,
You probably already know this, but the chart isn’t displaying correctly…the top 8 rows are overlapping the black “box” to its right.
Hmmm, it looked ok on my end and I’m using Firefox and IE. I reduced the size hopefully that helps.
What about the 150 condominiums at the Mica ?
”
Comment by Silver Spring Penguin
Made Monday, 23 of April , 2007 at 12:55 pm
Silver Springer, you’re totally right: we need more office space. (Alright, I need more office space.) How else are we supposed to bag NPR?
Also saw these headlines on the Wash Biz Journal site (print edition):
– Hewlett-Packard regional offices move to Bethesda
– Area’s largest VC firm moves to Chevy Chase
I’m happy for Bethesda and Chevy Chase, but it’s our loss that Silver Spring didn’t have the commercial space (or even prospective commercial space) to bag those leases.
”
Plus MedImmune is being acquired, so there goes the states and regions largest Biotech. Montgomery County better get their act together and cut this anti-growth nonsense. We need a lot more jobs and Park and Planning is definitely not helping.
I didn’t count the MICA because it is basically a transfer of one use type to another. We aren’t really gaining or loosing since it never sat vacant for a long period of time and simply converted.
Yeah but the question is whether all of those condominium developments will come to fruition. Developers are getting skittish right now because the real estate market is awful for condos. There will be some pull back with these projects. I mean if The Crescent, the Silverton, and MICA are having a terrible time in getting buyers…this will not bode well for other projects coming down the pike.
Regarding economic development in MontCo, there should be more business attraction efforts by the county and the state. I will say that Montgomery County has powerful NIMBY groups that lobby hard against business expansion in communities. Why? Traffic congestion. That’s the simple answer. People who live in MontCo don’t like traffic caused by offices, retail businesses, and schools. It’s all about auto traffic.
Developers don’t do speculative office space. That was the lesson learned in the early 90s. Whereever they go, NPR will build a new building of their own that meets their special needs. Bethesda has vacant space that is backfilling. Eventually we will get more office, but it will only happen when a large user commits to a project.
Gary can you explain why it is feasible in Reston, Tyson’s Corner, and Arlington and not here in Silver Spring even though we have a lower vacancy than all those places?
And if spec space doesn’t happen in Silver Spring what about the few projects like City Place Tower and Silver Place?
To add to that, is it healthy to have this much residential in one place? We have seen the results of an over concentration of residential in a community. What happened to the work in live, work and play?
All the logical parcels are spoken for, if all these projects are built, there will be very little space left for office buildings or anything else.
Silver Springer–a few of the projects are unfamiliar to me…can you elaborate on the locations of :
1. Moda Vista Residences
2. First Baptist Church Expansion. Is this at the corner of Wayne & Fenton across from the library site?
Speaking of the library, a recent article in the Silver Spring Voice said that plans are mostly complete, even though land acquisition is still in progress. Do youknow anything about what is proposed? Will the library sit on top of retail? Will there be an office/residential component?
There is a great opportunity to create something very special on the corner…I hope they don’t blow it.
There could be several reasons why businesses don’t relocate to Silver Spring.
Maybe the commercial property taxes are higher in Maryland. I know the state income tax rates are more in MD as opposed to VA. I would assume taxes play a significant role in the decision-making process.
Second, Silver Spring is not viewed as a hub for business and hi-tech entrepreneurial activity. Corporations like to cluster in geographical areas. That’s why you have IT & telecom firms locating in places like Tyson’s Corner, Reston, Dulles, and Arlington. Biotechnology firms prefer to plant their roots in upper Montgomery County.
What industry defines Silver Spring?
Silver Spring has a mix of non-profit organizations, small business consulting firms, medical-industry contractors etc. But there is not one industry that represents Silver Spring. There’s the Discovery Channel HQ but you don’t see National Geographic moving from its DC headquarters to move across the street from Discovery. I don’t see other media companies knocking on Silver Spring’s door either.
Another reason…the Silver Spring/Takoma Park area does not have enough high-class residential properties to attract corporate executives. You notice that the Virginia IT companies are located close to where the big shot executives make their home (i.e. Great Falls, Reston, and Arlington). We lack $1 million+ homes with estate-like properties. Silver Spring was always viewed as a middle-class suburb for government workers.
Last reason…Silver Spring is a very strong liberal Democratic stronghold. The residents of Silver Spring support more regulation of busineses (large and small). We are right next door to the “Nuclear-Weapon Free Zone, Peoples Republic” of Takoma Park. Company executives would not want to put their stakes in a community that is less-than-friendly to big business and Republican politics.
This is why the Montgomery County Economic Development office has had a hell of a time attracting investors to our part of the county.
Developers don’t build on the spec in MoCo becuase there are an inordinate amount of barriers to putting up a decent size building. Park and planning, permitting services, now new green building standards. Ike Leggett has never been a big economic development guy, not that Duncan did much in his last term. Without a large tenant already signed up it makes more sense to build in NoVa. Park and Planning still worship the General Plan that assumes that DC will be the employment base of the County and they should build housing around Metro instead of office space.
Now, Yuppies, the folks to our east DO support businesses but prefer that those businesses heat only with corn cobs.
“Comment by Woodsider
Made Tuesday, 24 of April , 2007 at 10:23 am
Silver Springer–a few of the projects are unfamiliar to me…can you elaborate on the locations of :
1. Moda Vista Residences
2. First Baptist Church Expansion. Is this at the corner of Wayne & Fenton across from the library site?
Speaking of the library, a recent article in the Silver Spring Voice said that plans are mostly complete, even though land acquisition is still in progress. Do youknow anything about what is proposed? Will the library sit on top of retail? Will there be an office/residential component?
There is a great opportunity to create something very special on the corner…I hope they don’t blow it.”
1. It’s at the corner of Silver Spring Ave and Fenton planned for the parking lot there next to the 7-Eleven. It will have ground floor retail too.
2. Yes but I believe they would build on the parking lot closer to Bonifant (if the project is still in planning).
3. I think like with the civic center we’ll be disappointed with the Library, I don’t think it’s going to be more than that. Only the site constraints would force them to do anything out of the ordinary; although Rockville library does have ground floor retail and an incubator attached.
Thanks. I assume the Moda Vista then is that funky deconstructionist building (which I like). It will be a shame if we get a library that is anything less than what Rockville got in their new town center.
Actually Woodsider, the deconstructionist building is 814 Thayer Ave, I haven’t seen renderings of the Moda Vista but there is a Development Review sign on the lot.
The Rockville Library was designed to be the flagship library in the County system. Silver Spring is not the county seat nor is it the most important city in Montgomery County, the County will not build a flagship library in Silver Spring. Think more of the new Germantown Libary which is very nice indeed. The County says it want to put ground-level retail and sell the air rights but I think this is doubtful and it would exaccerbate the already expensive costs associated with condemming land in a central business district.
Thank goodness you keep up with all of these…I don’t have much room left in my little head after a full week’s work at my ‘real’ job!
A while back I signed up on the Web site for The Ellsworth. Just now I received an e-mail with the following:
Thank you very much for your interest in The Ellsworth. The construction start of the Ellsworth has been delayed due to the County approval process for the building. In the mean time, we appreciate your patience for what will be a fantastic living experience at the Ellsworth. We will contact you when the sales office opens, which is now expected to be in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Warm Regards,
The Ellsworth Sales Team
Quote: Rockviller
“The Rockville Library was designed to be the flagship library in the County system. Silver Spring is not the county seat nor is it the most important city in Montgomery County, the County will not build a flagship library in Silver Spring. Think more of the new Germantown Libary which is very nice indeed. The County says it want to put ground-level retail and sell the air rights but I think this is doubtful and it would exaccerbate the already expensive costs associated with condemming land in a central business district.”
I know! Let’s discuss what IS the most important city in Montgomery County! Are you saying, Rockviller, that you don’t think the people of Silver Spring should aspire for a flagship library?
Silver Spring people should aspire for something like the impressive new Germantown Library. Already they are going to have to incorporate a parking garage into the project ramping up the costs. Ground level retail and other luxuries are unnecessary. I think Rockville is the most important city, but in terms of downtowns, Bethesda is the clearly most important with its proximity to NIH and reputation as among the most luxurious and desirable places to live and work in the nation. That’s why Bethesda Magazine lays claim to a vast swath of Montgomery County from Rockville to Silver Spring.