County councilmembers said Wednesday they would peg a $1.8 million appropriation for the Birchmere project on the results of an economic-impact study.
At an economic development meeting in Rockville, council president Marilyn Praisner (D-District 4) said the conditional appropriation was necessary because financial details of bringing the concert hall to downtown Silver Spring have not yet been disclosed.
“No one should suggest that the council is anti-Birchmere,” Praisner said. “But we’re talking about a public building and a large amount of money from the county. Our support is contingent on our comfort level with information we have yet to see.”
The pending economic-impact study would have disclosed the Birchmere’s effect on the local economy and traffic, as well as potential income that the county could derive from monthly rents.
However, Peter Bang, with the county’s department of economic development, told councilmembers that preliminary results of the study were still 10 to 14 days away.
It could also be a few more weeks before comprehensive construction-cost estimates would be delivered, said Tina Benjamin, also with the department of economic development. Early estimates put the cost of design, construction and equipment at $9 million, a council staff memo states.
“I think it’s a good project,” councilmember Nancy Floreen (D-At large) told her colleagues. “But I think we need to be comfortable with the terms.”
According to a council staff memo, the plan is to recondition the former J.C. Penney site on Colesville Road into a 30,000 square-foot music hall and restaurant. The Lee Development Group would donate the land, valued at $2 million, to the county. The Birchmere’s owners would contribute $1 million to the project.
The county and the state then would split an $8 million tab to build the facility, which the county would lease to the Birchmere. The state has already proposed a bond for the first $2 million.
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So exactly what performance information does the council need in order to make a decision? Is there a certain amount of revenue that the project needs to generate or is there a certain level of traffic impacts that the project cannot exceed in order for the council to be willing to go forward? It would be nice for the benchmarks to be transparent.
Thanks for your question, David. I’m bouncing it over to councilmember Valerie Ervin’s office for an answer.
[...] exact issues are not spelled out. However, in April, the county council pegged $2 million on how the Birchmere would affect the local economy and traffic, as well as how much rental income [...]