City Place Tower Chugs Along With Revised Design (updated)
By Silver Springer • Jul 18th, 2007 • Category: Real Estate
Ask and you shall receive, a few months back, when the City Place Office Tower was being presented in front of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board, some attendees questioned the 80’s vernacular architecture and afterwards requested for a design that was a little more modern. Another request made was for the office building to incorporate ‘Green’ technologies.
Whether the design was changed due to those requests is uncertain but regardless the original was thrown out by Morris Ritchie & Associates for a new one that didn’t look to the old Silver Spring for much inspiration. Instead the architecture is modern yet traditional, upscale with red masonry clashing with white columns and an expanse of glass; hold the Art Deco.
The Planning Staff notes, “The redesign remains appropriate and context sensitive, fits better with the existing façade, and provides more visual detail and interest. This is important because of the prominence of the building and its high visibility when entering downtown Silver Spring.â€
City Place Office Tower at 192’ feet (including the mall underneath) is eight feet short of the maximum 200’ feet allowed under CBD-3 zoning but up from the original 158’feet. The office building has been bumped up in space from around 247,000 square feet to a maximum 299,307 square feet minus 1,177 that already exists. Reversing a trend of decreases in commercial space in Silver Spring, the square footage is a significant increase from the 221,444 square feet approved back in 1988.
If built, the office tower would be the largest single block of space delivered in the Silver Spring CBD since the Discovery Building was completed in 2003 and the largest block of speculative, to-lease space to be delivered since 8515 Georgia Avenue was completed back in 2005.
The existing connector bridge from the Town Square Garage, over Fenton Street will be turned into an “art bridgeâ€, acting as exhibition space for artists.
The applicant also plans on renovating the public space at the malls Colesville entrance and redoing the streetscaping along Fenton to match Ellsworth drive.
The office towers entrance would be along Colesville, adjacent to the Gold’s Gym second entrance, with new elevators, planters, benches and lighting to liven up the area.
It’s uncertain how the recent purchase of City Place Mall by Petrie Ross Ventures will affect the office tower.
City Place Office Tower goes in front of the Planning Board July 26th, 2007.
Illustration provided by MC-MNCPPC
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It looks monstrous from this perspective.
It’s acceptable, much better than the previous design that looks like they dusted off from the 80’s.
It’s footprint doesn’t look like it’s going to cover the entire mall’s footprint, so it probably will look quite normal for the area. Sort of has the same general shape as the Lee Building.
Beyond classy. The top part gives me chills . . . but what about the 1947 Art Deco building it’s sitting on top of? They don’t quite gel. This could be refined further.
This is taller than the “megamall” that was once proposed for the site, and which prompted an outcry over the “huge shadows that will be cast over our neighborhood!” I have to think the civic associations ringing downtown will oppose this as “inappropriate for a residential area.” Frankly, I say, bring it on. Anything that will help get City Place get on its feet. I passed through there last night and witnessed a fight, complete with allegations that “the m-f-k-r tried to stab me!”; security says new management has them cracking down on the mall thugs, but they are getting some grief from merchants who protest that this amounts to “driving away our customers.”
Brent, what residential areas? The mall is totally surrounded by retail and office buildings. The Hilton is almost if not just as tall. Tell em to go take a hike. The office building will bring much needed jobs, an area where the County has failed us.
If you go to the MoCo web site (planning dept.) you can see the review materials and see exactly where the building sits atop the existing structure (it only covers about 25-30% at the most). Also, you won’t see much of it from the part that retains the original art deco design. The primary entry to the office component will be a new one, built next to the Gold’s Gym area.
After reading the material, I really liked that the planning department is making them completely redesign the building entry at Fenton and Colesville, as well as the streetscape along Fenton. Hopefully, this will help a lot with the crowds of (some) thugs who hang out there, especially at night.
I’m digging the design. Like SSpringer says, it’s better than that 1980s throwback originally proposed.
However, I also agree with Courtyard. It would be nice if the brick facade could match the building beneath it or the Lee properties (future Birchmere) across the street.
In comment to Brent’s post. Any business that needs thugs to stay afloat would probably find better rents, closer to their customer base. like the Benning Road Metro Station. Most of my neighbors don’t buy cheap gold chains (or gold chains period), shop at cell phone kiosks, or buy tee’s w/ Bob Marley smoking a blunt (although I kind of thought about that one). And on the flip side, what is with the Irish Pub serving Corned Beef & Cabbage for $13.00? I thought that was the poor Irishmans meal!
Cool building. I like all-glass curtains better but this will definitely do. I think City Place attracts the wrong clientele, some thugs but mostly roudy teens. I hope they dump those pre-Silver Spring busineses and put in some upscale new Silver Spring retailers. Could NPR go in this building?