WPC Breaking Ground on Wheaton Residential Project

Washington Property Company breaks ground on the Solaire, a 232-unit residential building at 10194 Georgia Avenue, next week.  Located on the former site of the First Baptist Church, WPC acquired the 1.65-acre parcel in 2005 and, as part of the deal, relocated the church to Olney, adding to the long list of projects approved in a quickly developing Wheaton town center.

Montgomery County approved the site plan last October for a Preston Partnership-designed six-story, u-shaped structure, opening to the south, with a swimming pool and greenspace in the interior courtyard.  Designers used a "variety of masonry and glazing" as well as "small parapets and height variations ... to minimize the sense of building mass." Beneath, developers will build a two-level parking garage with 230  spaces. A public statement notes such ubiquitous amenities as "granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, fine cabinetry, wood laminate flooring."  

According to a WPC press release, the developer owns more than eight million square feet of commercial space in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and currently has over 1.6 million residential square feet under development.Clark Builders Group is the General Contractor, Gables Residential will provide property management and leasing services.  Leasing is expected to begin in September of 2013.

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MoCo Planners Ponder Move to Wheaton

Talk about walking the walk; Montgomery County planners may promote the redevelopment of Wheaton they have been pushing by moving their own headquarters to downtown Wheaton.
The county council approved a redevelopment plan last month that would build a new 150,000 square foot headquarters for M-NCPPC at Grandview Avenue, Reedie Drive, and Triangle Lane, a site now used as a surface parking lot.  The project would be financed by the county's Capital Improvements Plan.

Financing sunk the planning department's previous attempt at building a new headquarters - the now-defunct SilverPlace.  First conceptualized back in 2006, SilverPlace was to include 300 residential units, lush public greenspaces (below right), and the planning headquarters on 3.24 acres.  Details were exhaustively worked out in conjunction with community members, only to falter when it came time for the county council to approve the financing plan.

"On SilverPlace, we worked very hard with the community," recalls Dan Hertz, project manager at Montgomery County Department of Parks, who worked on the project.  ""We wanted to respect concerns about an office building next to an existing neighborhood.  The plan we came up with called for two wings; a low-rise next to the existing community, and then a taller component facing Crown Plaza.  But we were going to fund it by borrowing money with certificates of participation (COPs), which had to be authorized by the county council.  But there was concern about the recession, so it didn't get the votes."


With the economy kinda sorta turning around now, has there been any talk of reviving SilverPlace?

"No," says Hertz.  "The county has been really encouraging us to go into Wheaton."  And this time, the financing plan is structured differently, in such a way that the county council might find more much more palatable.  "This new plan would be funded with general obligation bonds, which is like the county itself is taking on the debt."

Wheaton, which has lagged behind the rest of MoCo despite a surplus of developable real estate and the presence of a metro station, has seen a major wave of redevelopment as of late.  There were virtually no residential units in downtown Wheaton near the metro station before 2004; now there are nearly 700, with many more in the pipeline, from Patriot Realty's Safeway/residential project on Reedie to Washington Property Company's 221 units on the former site of the First Baptist Church of Wheaton, to B.F. Saul's Wheaton Triangle project that could potentially bring a million square feet of office/retail/hotel space to the area.


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Lowe Enterprises to Convert Wheaton Office Building to Residential High-Rise

Continuing Wheaton's rapid transformation from a withering suburb to a residential development hotspot, California-based Lowe Enterprises submitted a sketch plan to Montgomery County planners at the end of January that would transform the 5-story Computer Building at 11411 Georgia Avenue in Wheaton from a modest five-story office building into a 14-story residential high-rise.

The site, which Lowe purchased last fall for just over $8.2 million, is nestled between the Archstone Wheaton Station Apartments and the Metro Point Apartments, and across Reedie from the already approved 17-story Safeway/residential project from Patriot Realty. Two blocks down, Washington Property Co. is building 221 units on the former site of the First Baptist Church of Wheaton. Up a block is the Wheaton Metro station, whose bus bays are to be converted by B.F. Saul into an office complex. B.F. Saul is also consulting with the county about converting Wheaton Triangle, right across Georgia, into a massive mixed-use development that would bring nearly a million square feet of office space, retail, a hotel, and a public plaza to the area.

Interestingly, developers plan to build onto the existing building 11411 Georgia, rather than demolish and start from scratch.

"The building has very good bones," says Mark Rivers, Senior Vice President at Lowe Enterprises, by way of explanation. "The concrete structure can easily support the additional floors. It would just be a waste of time, money, and landfill space to tear it down and rebuild. Also, this building is narrow for an office building - about 60 feet wide. Residential buildings are generally narrower than office buildings, so that was a nice bit of luck."

The sketch plan application promises to "substantially transform the building aesthetic through comprehensive facade changes," listing balconies, vertical bays, and a "strong vertical element" at the northwest corner of the building, to lend it a "distinguishable identity." Developers intend to convert the building from glazed brick and boxy to "a contemporary slender tower clad in composite panels, glass and masonry." The Bonstra Haresign-designed tower will include up to 200 studios and one-bedroom dwellings, as well as 60-plus parking spaces on-site (though zoning doesn't require any).

Developers haven't yet decided if they'll include retail space on the ground floor, though they have plenty of time to decide, as construction is targeted for the beginning of next year. Though another residential tower in the area might seem excessive, developers, following a familiar blueprint, are confident that the expanding housing market in Wheaton will organically lead to an increase in demand for retail. Since county planners adopted the new, updated Wheaton Sector Plan in 2010, which aimed to revitalize the moribund area, development in Wheaton has revved up to high gear, even leading local uberdeveloper Leonard Greenberg to compare the area to Adams Morgan.

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WPC's Wheaton Residential Project to Break Ground In May

Washington Property Company's 245-unit residential building at 10194 Georgia Avenue is on target for a spring groundbreaking, adding to the long list of greenlit revitalization projects in Wheaton. "We're out to bid now [for a general contractor], and hope to start construction in early May," said Daryl South, Vice President of Development for WPC. "Everything's ready to go."

Washington Property company acquired the 1.65-acre parcel, which is just steps from the Wheaton metro station, in 2005.

According to a site plan approved by Montgomery County planners in October of last year, the Preston Partnership-designed building will be a six-story u-shaped structure, opening to the south, with the interior space used for a swimming pool and greenspace. Designers used a "variety of masonry and glazing" as well as small parapets and height variations ... to minimize the sense of building mass." Underground, developers are shooting for at least 230 parking spaces spread over two levels, and will be required to offer 12.5% of the dwellings as (subsidized) MPDUs. The site is the former home of the First Baptist Church of Wheaton, which has relocated to Washington Christian Academy while construction on their new building in Olney is completed.

WPC's residential tower is just one of several projects that have gained recent momentum in downtown Wheaton; just a few blocks north is the already approved 17-story Safeway/residential project from Patriot Realty, and across from that is the Computer Building, set to be converted by Lowe Enterprises into a residential tower. At the Wheaton Metro station, bus bays are to be converted into an office complex by B.F. Saul, which is also in talks with the county about converting nearby Wheaton Triangle into a massive mixed-use megadevelopment that would bring nearly a million square feet of office space, retail, a hotel, and a public plaza to the area.

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Montgomery County Planning Board Gives Wheaton Safeway Go-Ahead

Create a landscaped terrace and art installment, or fork over nearly a million dollars to County Planners: thanks to a Montgomery County Planning Board ruling last Thursday, developers at Patriot Realty will do both. Last spring a "favorable" staff report concerning Patriot's mixed-use "Wheaton Safeway" redevelopment proposal across from the Wheaton Metro questioned whether their efforts to satisfy the "20 percent public amenity requirement" was satisfactory. Apparently not quite, as the Planning Board gave developers the green light to move forward with the plans for the 50,000 s.f. Safeway and 17-story apartment complex, but required that Patriot contribute $961,161 to a public amenity fund in addition to its proposed public terrace. But pay to play seems

de rigueur, as Patriot and local urbanists are just happy the large-scale, transit-oriented project is finally moving forward.

Designed by Baltimore-based architecture firm Hord Coplan Macht, the new building will shoot what appears to be 3 vertical towers skyward, dwarfing all the other buildings in Wheaton. But the towers are simply a visual ploy to avoid the appearance of a mammoth monolith of a building, as each column is connected at the center. But the break up of the massing does succeed in this capacity, as the giant structure does not at first glance appear to be a singular integrated building. Lee Driskill, a Principal with the firm and the lead architect for the project, explains that "the skin" of the building "has been organized to have these three tower elements come to the fore." The result is not a bland block, but a "tall and elegant" building.

The 195-foot building will feature a new Safeway on street level, an underground parking garage for shoppers, a 486-unit apartment complex (60 of which will be offered as "moderately priced dwelling units"), and three levels of residential parking above the store. A cutback in the massing in between each tower offers the luxury of a fifth-floor courtyard atop the parking garage. Here residents will be able to simply enjoy the view or take advantage of the pool, outdoor lounge area, fire pit and/or open lawn. In total, some 70 percent of the roof will be green, which is expected to assist the project in earning LEED Certification (upon completion of course). The approved 59,000 s.f. of ground-floor retail space will house not only the expanded Safeway, but also a Starbucks, SunTrust, and a Bergman’s Drycleaners (everything a Maryland suburbanite knows and loves all in one place).

Although the planned on-site, public-use terrace offered by developers only totals 7,615 s.f. and 9.9% of the net lot area (10.1% too little), Patriot will make amends for their shortcomings with a $961,161 "donation," which will assist in the redevelopment of 13,800 s.f. of off-site public green space. A public art installment also helped woo the Board into approving the proposal, as several bronze figures ranging from 14 inches to 28 inches tall will be arranged throughout the public terrace. Judy Sutton Moore, a Silver Spring artist, will craft the statues that are set to be welded to a stainless steel pole and "float, as it were, above the flowers, grasses, and shrubs in the planters." Planning Board members specified that the public statues must "avoid depicting art as a commercial expression of Safeway-life."

But before the meandering grocery shoppers can enjoy cute puppy statues, the public amenity funds must be released into the escrow account, demolition and building permits must be secured, and 17 stories of concrete and glass must be amassed; with Board approval at last in had, developers will look to keep things moving as construction is set to commence by early Spring of next year.

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Centex Feeling Confident in Wheaton

Planners have been busy working on all the new developments getting ready to launch near the Wheaton Metro station, but walk a half mile north to the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Arcola Avenue and you'll find a busy construction site. Where eager students once sat glued to their physics texts at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School (since relocated to Olney), bulldozers now rule as townhouses rise to completion. The high school was demolished in 2007, with the Rafferty gymnasium the only original structure remaining. Centex Homes of Dallas, TX began building on the 14-acre site in 2008, and have now completed 85 of the originally proposed 190 homes. But in late July, the Montgomery County Planning Board approved Centex's request to raze the Rafferty Center to make way for an elaborate open field, intended for the "general play" of their new residents. The total approved number homes will now soar from 190 to 194, as Centex proposes to add new townhouses to abut the new parkland. As now planned and approved, the completed Leesborough Townhomes will consist of 143 townhomes, 45 condominiums or "garden units," and six single family homes.

Local residents were holding out hope that the county would maintain the gymnasium as a recreational facility or that Centex would develop the building into a mixed use space involving community amenities and additional office space. But the County announced in June that is was scrapping its plans for renovation of the Rafferty Center, and clearly Centex wants nothing to do with it as well. However, the County does have plans to develop another full service community recreation center on the southwest quadrant of the Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road intersection. The $20 million project will be fully stocked with basketball courts, a state-of-the-art gym and other recreational amenities. But as expected, there will be a significant time lapse separating the leveling of Rafferty and the opening of the new facility; planners can't begin the project for at least another four years, when the Randolph Road site, now serving as staging area for Inter-County Connector highway construction, opens up.

Looks ready for a pick up soccer game.

All in all, this is a positive sign that Centex is confident in demand for more housing. With development plans stalled across the metro area, it remains one of the few active site. It is a welcome reverse from the direction Centex was forced into several years ago, as it pulled the plug on a few large projects scattered about the metro area. The completed townhouses are currently being offered from the upper $300's.

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WMATA Gives B.F. Saul OK to Develop Near Wheaton Metro

Already a major player in the District's real estate development game, B.F. Saul will now head a team of developers charged with bringing a mixed-use project near the Wheaton Metro station to life. This is just another materialization of a well-established effort by WMATA and its Director of Real Estate Steven Goldin to promote increased density, mass-transit-directed residential, retail, and office space through the Metro's Joint Development Program. "Selection of the B.F. Saul team for the Wheaton redevelopment project mirrors the successful strategy Montgomery County employed with Silver Spring," Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett said. The parcel is part of 10 that were offered up as development opportunities just last January.

The new development will certainly help address many of goals set out by Wheaton Central Business District and Vicinity Sector Plan, including their hopes to: "Reinvigorate Wheaton’s downtown by creating a walkable community with a distinct identity; create a vibrant mix of jobs and housing; design quality public spaces inviting to pedestrians; and foster an environmentally sustainable community." Sounds delightful. Developers will also be expected to do all of the above while "preserving Wheaton’s ethnic diversity." The original plan was laid out in 1990, before the red line had surfaced in Wheaton. Since 2006 the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) has taken it upon themselves to update the plan; the augmented plan is to be unveiled at a Montgomery Planning Board public hearing today.

While Metro has successfully completed a total of 21 transit oriented development projects so far, including notable Maryland-based developments such as Bethesda Metro Center, Grosvenor, Twinbrook and Wheaton (east), others like Greenbelt Venture's plans around the Greenbelt stations have wallowed in the rubble of inaction for years; just this year plans set for the area surrounding the Largo station were put on hold after the group of developers filed for bankruptcy.

In an effort to make this 8.2 acres only one working part of a more comprehensive and expansive redevelopment of downtown Wheaton, B.F. Saul will look to cooperate with existing local businesses and land owners such as the Westfield Wheaton Shopping Center to peacefully incorporate the new projects into the established community.

Wheaton was listed by Governor Martin O'Malley as one of the initial projects in a newly unveiled state Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) program, which will continue to encourage similar developments by bolstering them with funding, tax credits and other financial incentives and tools.

B.F. Saul will spearhead a team that includes Silver Spring-based Torti Gallas and Partners Inc. as lead design architect, as well as Rockville-based Loiederman Soltesz Associates Inc. as civil engineers, responsible for levelheadedly carrying out the architectural plans.

The Wheaton project will be the beneficiary of $200,000 in planning funds, compliments of the deep-pocketed Maryland Transportation Department.

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