Galaxy Ready To Go At Light Speed?
By Silver Springer • Aug 21st, 2007 • Category: Real Estate
With new financing in place the Galaxy could be moving dirt in the near future. Developer RST Development moved through the planning dept at rapid to from preliminary to site plan approval in less than 6 months. Submitted in July 2005, the plan was approved in January 2006.
A lackluster condo market halted the first phase with Building ‘A’ to be constructed first. Previous starting price was at $232,900 for a one bedroom but then leaped almost 100,000 to the next spot in pricing.
The project has an eight year build out.
Right now the Galaxy lot is just an empty space with a County parking lot purchased by the developer to the south east and the Aurora Condo parking lot (also by RST) to the west.
RST is purchasing the County parking lot and the County has also abandoned the King Street Alley for this project. RST plans a 200 space public garage in its place.
The Galaxy leaves a lot to be desired with architecture that tries to be chic but ends up looking economical in 60’s vernacular fashion.
The project is also not mixed use but 100% residential in three separate buildings totaling well over 300 units. It lies amongst over 1,000 residential units already built in the last 5 years in the immediate vicinity.Â
Galaxy could become either apartments or condo but with out a mix of uses the Galaxy only perpetuates South Silver Spring into some kind of high-rise residential ghetto.
Rendering by way of MC-MNCPPC
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Dude, that sucks that there isn’t any ground-floor retail to this project.
What are the chances (no matter how remote) that the Planning Board would reject this project based on its impact (or lack thereof) on the community?
They already approved it back in early 2006.
One more thing …
Does the rendering above depict the view from 13th Street? Eastern Avenue?
I know South Silver Spring is jonesing for parking, but is there any way to unapprove this project?
The perspective is actually from the “back” or King Street from the 7-Eleven gas station.
I still don’t understand developers’ fascination with single-use development. Wouldn’t the properties sell faster if there is attractive retail on the first floor or office jobs that you only need to take an elevator to?
If we’re not going to get ground-floor retail in the Galaxy, I hope someone’s listening when I keep saying someone needs to doze the motels and build high-rise offices with ground floor retail.
Penguin,
The view is from King St. You can see the bank and the Aurora on the left edge of the rendering and the Ramada on the right edge. The building pictured would be in the current King Street lot.
It’s already approved and now it is really only up to the disatisfaction of the residents (which was stated in lengthy letters before approval) to do anything about it.
What is the planning board going to say “Oops! Our bad… disapproved” and for what reasons?
Only if the developer builds it “too tall” will they bring out the knife.
You would think. There are enough residents around to support retail along 13th street, even the Subway has survived somehow all these years before redevelopment.
A Grocery store would have made sense with the public parking garage there. With such a large lot and project, I wonder why there wasn’t any angst like with the City Place Office Tower.
Perhaps he need to cough up $100k.
I don’t get all the dislike of the design. I actually think it looks pretty cool and modern and sleek. The corner balconies look really cool, and even the regular ones look nicer than the small ones on MICA and Silverton.
And maybe I’m just numb to the overpriced condos in the area, $232,000 for a one bedroom actually sounds reasonable.
Zoning 101
Zoning regulations can stop something from happening but it can’t make something happen. Decisions about mix and types of uses are decided by the developers perception of the market and the perceived risk of the development type. Some developers focus on one type of development because that is what they know.
Comment by Silver Spring Penguin
Dude, that sucks that there isn’t any ground-floor retail to this project.
What are the chances (no matter how remote) that the Planning Board would reject this project based on its impact (or lack thereof) on the community?
RE: It looks like another non-Montgomery County(non-Maryland) Resident is trying to pull out another trick from its dirty sleves to try to Stop Further Development in Silver Spring………….
Rob wrote:
This isn’t about stopping growth. It’s about having intelligent growth.
South Silver Spring is poised to become the most densely populated neighborhood in Silver Spring. Mixed-use development (ie, housing, office space, and ground-floor retail) allows that density to thrive.
Without intelligent, mixed-use development, South Silver Spring is at risk of becoming — as Springer wrote — “a high-rise residential ghetto”.
Is that what you want, Rob?
Normally, this type of urban infill development (especially of this size) includes a mix of uses, that was the intention of the CBD zoning (although improvements can be made) it’s happening all over the D.C. area. Perhaps RST is simply not as ambitious as the other developers?
I think adding mixed use and quality shows a developers commitment to their investment and the neighborhood.
RST is dumping 321 residential units onto South Silver Spring, in total the company will have developed over 600 units in the small stretch of 13th street.
Mixed use neighborhoods have the long term vitality that single use neighborhoods (which are more vulnerable to many negative aspects) lack. South Silver Spring neighborhood is dead during the day. Without office workers, who is going to patronize all the retail that’s wanted in downtown Silver Spring? Urban District just did a study through the ULI to find out ways to get more retail in Silver Spring but it seems to be putting the cart before the horse without the office workers it isn’t feasible on a large scale. The great thing about office workers is that they have the high incomes needed to sustain the “upscale retail†wanted by the Urban District but they are not a drain on County services and resources.
Other neighborhoods have influenced developer decisions are you telling us to just give up and accept whatever is thrown at us?
Why do developers in the Washington, DC area continue to propose residential-only buildings or blocks and why do planning boards continue to approve them? This is a common problem shared in other high-density districts in the DC area (i.e. Arlington, VA; Crystal City; Bethesda; Rockville).
Whenever I visit East Coast cities such as Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and even Baltimore, I notice many residential buildings that have ground level retail, eateries, and clubs.
Heh, I had forgotten about this picture.
Silver Spring Penguin: “South Silver Spring is poised to become the most densely populated neighborhood in Silver Spring. Mixed-use development (ie, housing, office space, and ground-floor retail) allows that density to thrive.”
Plaza Residences in Columbia is ready to begin construction. 23 floors, 275 feet, ground floor retail. Awfully dense for a much more rural area. Current concepts call for demolishing the Mall in Columbia within 20 years, creating a grid of retail/residential mixed-use streets. And a rail/monorail system linking the village centers. Urban sprawl is choking the roadway system in Columbia, so instead of continuing to build out, they are looking up. Of course, many residents are upset, and want things to stay the same way they always have been.
In my opinion, if you choose to live next to the capital of this country, you are living here because you appreciate progress and you are investing in the future. If you just want to live out your life day after day in the same way, move to a farming town in Nebraska.
Silver Springer, what’s currently the tallest building in Silver Spring? In Montgomery County? How can we let Howard County compete with us on height? And why do they get the concept of urban mixed use while our county does not?
Jimmy, I believe Silver Springs tallest building (In the CBD anyway) Is the former AT&T building, which is in the 230’s probably. I think Montgomery’s tallest building is technically the Mormon Temple.
Jimmy wrote:
I agree. I chose the downtown Silver Spring area because of its urban attributes.
However, it’s a pity that The Galaxy’s developer hasn’t considered the community’s input. Developers of the recently approved 814 Thayer Ave and Moda Vista projects seemed to have really worked with East Silver Spring residents to address their concerns.
Too bad Galaxy’s developer isn’t doing the same.
Batman, what about the Washingtonian (existing 245′ Washingtonian building located at 9701 Fields Road in Gaithersburg) - you can see that thing for miles and miles away - now a lot being built up around it, but I remember back in my grade school years going by there and it being surrounded by the country club golf course and empty fields - was so bizarre and out of place - like the end scene of Planet of the Apes.
The Mormon temple is almost 300 feet. Regardless, it would make sense to build taller in SS.
For Silver Spring, the former AT&T building is 240 feet tall (not including utilities on the roof..and unfortunately it stands at the bottom of a hill). There are 5 buildings in downtown Silver Spring over 200′ tall, with 7 more in the pipeline (not including whatever happens with Falkland Chase or the Rite Aid site). On average, downtown Silver Spring has the tallest buildings in the county.
The Naval Hospital in Bethesda north of downtown is 262 feet tall, the tallest buildings in downtown Bethesda are the twin Chevy Chase Bank towers at 250 feet, and the Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg is 275 feet tall–the current MoCo tallest, and IMO, ugliest.
For Montgomery County, the best bet for the tallest buildings now would be within the White Flint Sector Plan. There are already 3 buildings in the area that are at LEAST 200 feet tall, and a few new projects, including White Flint Crossing, that will hit the 280-foot mark (I’ll check my mapping tool tomorrow which lets you determine building heights). Today at the Commission several of my colleagues as well as the division chief were deciding what densities and types of zoning should be implemented within the White Flint Sector Plan. Most of it will be TOMX2-3 (transit-oriented mixed use) which should allow for fairly decent heights and densities around the Metro stop.
Who knows if the building in Columbia will ever get built to the height the developers would like, and I highly highly doubt that the mall will be replaced with an urban grid within 20 years.
We are SO far ahead of Columbia when it comes to planning mixed-use centers that Howard County looks to US for help in planning for the future. Not only do they not really have any public transit around which they could base their development, but they do not have any sort of grid network that would promote mixed-use development in the way that Montgomery County and Arlington have been able to.
Comment by Jimmy
Made Wednesday, 22 of August , 2007 at 11:12 am
Silver Spring Penguin: “South Silver Spring is poised to become the most densely populated neighborhood in Silver Spring. Mixed-use development (ie, housing, office space, and ground-floor retail) allows that density to thrive.â€
Plaza Residences in Columbia is ready to begin construction. 23 floors, 275 feet, ground floor retail. Awfully dense for a much more rural area. Current concepts call for demolishing the Mall in Columbia within 20 years, creating a grid of retail/residential mixed-use streets. And a rail/monorail system linking the village centers. Urban sprawl is choking the roadway system in Columbia, so instead of continuing to build out, they are looking up. Of course, many residents are upset, and want things to stay the same way they always have been.
More on that coming in a full report.
I’m late to the conversation, but the South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association will most definitely discuss this project at the first meeting of its Redevelopment Committee. We’re also hoping to get a representative from the Gateway project to attend the meeting so we can discuss the retail component of that building. Once we confirm the guest speaker(s), we’ll publicly post the meeting. Stay tuned…