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Out of the Ashes and Exhaust
Discovery, the Film Institute and the town center development with new
stores, restaurants, movie theaters, parking garages and civic spaces,
emerged after earlier proposals for a regional mall and office towers failed
because of a chilly business climate and a cold shoulder from residents who
feared intrusion on surrounding neighborhoods.
The county and state have pledged $163 million toward the $410 million
project by Foulger-Pratt Cos. of Rockville and Peterson Cos. of Fairfax,
which covers 22 acres at Silver Spring's core.
Redevelopment in older neighborhoods "always needs public money," said
James W. Todd, president of the Peterson Cos. "The cost of structured
parking and the cost of redoing the old infrastructure is more than
commercial rents [from new businesses] can support."
The developers proposed open-heart surgery for downtown to shift the draw
for pedestrians one block east of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road to the
smaller intersection of Fenton Street and Ellsworth Drive.
"The automobile has taken away ground zero in Silver Spring," said Bryant
F. Foulger, vice president of Foulger-Pratt. "There's no taking that back."
In fact, the county's master plan reinforces and expands the idea that, as
Foulger put it, "We've done for the car all we need to do." The biggest single
chunk of public money for revitalizing the commercial area is for
transportation, $48 million earmarked for an enlarged transit center to house
Metro, Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) trains, and public and private bus
lines. Silver Spring's Metro station, already the largest transit center in
Maryland with 57,000 daily trips, is expected to have ridership increase
another 70 percent in the next 20 years.
County transportation planners will ask new Silver Spring employers such as
Discovery to encourage half their downtown work forces to commute via
transit. Now, more than 60 percent of Silver Spring's workers drive to their
jobs.
To reinforce the mass transit message, the master plan proposes another $20
million worth of bike trails throughout the business district, $5 million for
broader, more attractive sidewalks and street lighting, and $12.2 million for
preliminary design of the Georgetown Branch light rail between Silver Spring
and Bethesda. The trolley-type light rail system isn't popular with Duncan,
who favors a new east-west Metro line. Council members insisted the trolley
be included in the plan.
Berlage pointed out that Bethesda and Silver Spring are the county's most
important urban centers. "For them not to be connected by transit is just
crazy," he said.
In housing, the master plan sets its sights lower, eschewing zoning for
residential high-rises in favor of town houses and low-rise apartments. It's
another break with the past, as nearly all of the central business district's
7,800 residents now live in high-rise apartments. Besides reflecting a greater
appreciation for steep construction costs, planners saw what could work.
A year ago, Arlington developer Eakin-Youngentob Associates began
constructing 57 colonial-style garage town houses on a former county
parking lot along Cameron Street and Second Avenue. Nearly 80 percent of
the Cameron Hill town houses have sold, mainly to a mix of young
professionals and older buyers without children, said Robert D. Youngentob,
president of the company. "We were all pleasantly surprised," Youngentob
said of the company's first effort in Montgomery County. "We are actively
looking at Silver Spring to do another project."
In more ways than one, redeveloping Silver Spring's commercial area will be
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