Demolition of 8787 Georgia Ave., the former home of the county’s Planning Department, is slated to begin by the end of the year in preparation for a 2021 groundbreaking of the redevelopment of the property.
The county chose partners Bozzuto and StonebridgeCarras in 2013 for a two-part redevelopment effort, according to Devon Hastie, development manager for Bozzuto.
The first part, construction of a new office building for the county in Wheaton, has been completed. The Planning Department has begun to moving into the building; the Planning Commission held its first meeting there on Sept. 10.
“We have a period of about 90 days that they have to fully move out,” Hastie said. “After that, we will plan toward the end of the year to close on the purchase of the property, which will align with the time period in which we think we’ll get our first construction permit.
“So the plan from here is, end of the year, to work on site, which will likely involve basic utility disconnection, abatement work in the building and begin [demolition],” she continued. “We’ll do that over the course of December, January, early February and begin construction in earnest first quarter of next year, and construction would go until spring of 2023.”
Plans for the yet-to be named development were first presented in 2017. The complex will include two buildings with 375 apartments, walkway, pedestrian bridge, and underground parking garage.
The units will include studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments (some with two bedrooms plus a den) and nine townhouse-style units along Spring Street; 12.5% will be Moderately Priced Dwelling Units.
Amenities for residents will include two clubrooms, a fitness center, demonstration kitchen, indoor-outdoor/coworking lounge, two courtyards with pool, bar, movie screen, grills, fire pits, and a variety of lounging spaces, according to Hastie. The walkway between buildings (see below) will serve as a pedestrian path and bike trail to downtown Silver Spring.
The plan includes retail outlets along Georgia Avenue, anchored by Rockville-based MOM’s Organic Market on the corner of Spring and Georgia (first reported by Washington Business Journal).
“MOM’s is a wonderful anchor to have at our building,” Hastie said, “a grocery store, in particular a grocery store focused on sustainable, healthy food for our residents.”
In addition, the developers are targeting up to four other retailers, either full-service or fast-casual food and beverage, boutique fitness, or other kinds of neighborhood-serving businesses. Additional leasing is set to begin this fall.
Renderings courtesy Bozzuto
