Comments on just up the pike: can downtown silver spring stay relevant?

The market for residential is pretty much dead tod...

2007-04-30T09:52:00.000-04:00

The market for residential is pretty much dead today. I've talked to Bryant Foulger in person and he said he's delaying the residential component at the transit center and wish he could build more office space instead (although I'm not sure what's stopping him is really valid).

I'll take the movie theater and office space over residential development any day of the week.

In fact the theater is a striking architectural component that adds flavor to the project. So it worked out for the best.

College Park should aim for being more than a bedroom community.

Actually I spoke with folks from the FP-Argo team ...

2007-04-28T18:54:00.000-04:00

Actually I spoke with folks from the FP-Argo team that built Silver Spring and they explicitly said if they were to build that project today it would have condos and they would have buried the movie theater. There was not market for above retail condos ten years ago. Today it's a whole different story.

Dan, if the 222 units that make up the Ellsworth C...

2007-04-24T15:00:00.000-04:00

Dan, if the 222 units that make up the Ellsworth Condos haven’t broken ground yet what makes you think that we need more residential in Silver Spring?

PFA could have easily added more residential to the Ellsworth or placed it on top of the Town Square and Wayne Ave garages, they could have even placed more residential on top of the roof area where the clock is.

They didn’t do it because there’s no market for it. The only thing they’re kicking themselves for is reducing the office building from 11 stories to 9.

Data shows the project has been highly successful. How can it be a failure when it’s been noted that we have the most used Whole Foods in the country and the Majestic is number one in Consolidated’s chain. We still have the historic Silver theatre and shopping center plus AFI’s East coast headquarters. There’s nothing historic on East campus or National Harbor, there’s no AFI either.

I’m not worried about Silver Spring; we are a pedestrian friendly urban area light years ahead College Park. Residential is dime a dozen but we have a consortium of companies that keep this place on a higher level. When College Park and National Harbor snatch several private firms worth billions of dollars then call me. I wish them the best though because Prince George’s really needs it. Hopefully they can snatch some large companies outside the state.

All in all for the most part, to me, wherever economic development happens in the Maryland is good for the Maryland.

What I was really trying to get at is if Downtown ...

2007-04-24T10:36:00.000-04:00

What I was really trying to get at is if Downtown Silver Spring will remain relevant as a planned town center, and an example to other communities throughout the region and the nation. Will F-P and Peterson be remembered for Silver Spring, and vice versa - or will we just be considered a baby National Harbor?

It's not that Nat'l Harbor and East Campus are a threat to Silver Spring (though East Campus and University Town Center will snag the College Park kids who frequent Silver Spring now) but both projects will have a huge effect on where the region shops and hangs out, even reaching Downtown Silver Spring.

And, as for the residential component - if you look at just the DTSS complex, it's widely considered a failure that more housing wasn't built there. It was a risky proposal ten years ago, but if F-P were to do it again (which they are in College Park), there would be more housing in that complex.

But Dan, haven’t we learned from downtown Silver S...

2007-04-24T07:39:00.000-04:00

But Dan, haven’t we learned from downtown Silver Spring that residential is not critical and that office development will lead to a sustainable higher quality way of life in the long term?

There are over 6,625 residential units planned, completed and under construction by individual developers in downtown Silver Spring alone, that’s more than enough. I would actually advise against any more in Downtown project.

We’ve all seen what the over concentration of residential does to a community in the long run, just look at what College Park is today, Springhill Lake, Montgomery Village, I could go on. Only truly wealthy areas like Potomac are able to sustain well maintained, relatively crime free neighborhoods.

I am glad Downtown Silver Spring didn’t incorporate such a large residential component; this may not bode well for College Park years down the road. Silver Spring is not looking to become a bedroom community.

To add to the above, I don’t think Downtown Silver Spring, is anywhere on National Harbor’s hit list. The Downtown was always meant to serve the neighborhood. Those that should be fearful of National Harbor are Old Town Alexandria, Tysons Corner, Pentagon, and D.C.

The Downtown Silver Spring project has paved the way for projects like National Harbor because of its great success it has made these other projects feasible. The East Campus development looks strikingly similar to Downtown Silver Spring but even from the rendering I prefer the architecture and layout of Ellsworth drive.

Looks a lot like Downtown Silver Spring.

2007-04-23T13:25:00.000-04:00

Looks a lot like Downtown Silver Spring.

For a paper I am writing for class I have been rea...

2007-04-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

For a paper I am writing for class I have been reading DC's new comprehensive plan a lot more closely than I did last summer. Even though it's DC and not MontCo, you might enjoy reading the Urban Design element. It would give you a quick education about the broad principles.

http://www.planning.dc.gov/planning/cwp/view,a,1282,q,607547,planningNav,%7C32341%7C.asp

Great post Dan. Actually the developer predicted e...

2007-04-22T21:21:00.000-04:00

Great post Dan. Actually the developer predicted east campus would be about twice as big as Downtown Silver Spring in terms of GSP with 4000 units. They also noted that those pictures are extremely preliminary and that they were thrown together in about a month (the fountain was directly inspired by the one in Silver Spring). The facades and the site plan will look nothing like what is in those pictures.