Last Thursday, the planning board got an update on development at 1050 Ripley St.
The building would sit on the south side of Ripley Street, sandwiched between Colonial Lane and the CSX railroad tracks (above). Here’s what’s in the works:
A 17-story, mixed-use building
At 200 feet, the building’s height exceeds the area’s 143-foot limit. To square things with the planning board, the developer proposes to construct a 250-foot-long roadway connecting Ripley and Bonifant streets dubbed Ripifant Street.
The developer also proposes to streetscape the new road’s west side. Pimping out both sides of the street would be prohibitively expensive, according to Washington Property rep Bob Delripple.
Sixty feet of wiggle room would be reserved along the building’s west side for a possible Purple Line alignment.
318 Residential units and 7,500 square feet of retail space
The developer has increased the number of apartments, which was set at 305 last summer. However, the total square footage dedicated to residential use has not increased.
Plans are to throw in 145 one-bedroom apartments , down from the 241 previously proposed. Twenty-one of those cribs will be moderately priced (36 moderately priced one-bedrooms were planned previously).
Seventy-one units will have two bedrooms, an increase from the previously planned 64 two-bedroom units. Eleven of those joints will be moderately priced, one more than previously planned.
And new to the mix are 102 efficiency apartments, 16 of which are moderately priced.
The apartments will be rentals, Delripple said last year.
The retail space has more than doubled from 3,000 to 7,500 square feet. There’s no word on who might occupy the space.
14,000 Square feet of public space, including a public plaza and cyclist pit stop
The building would sit next to the future Metropolitan Branch Trail, which sets the theme for the bike-inspired plaza on Ripley Street (above). Its pavement would resemble the spokes of a wheel, and bike racks would be available.
The developer also proposes a landscaped pit stop with a drinking fountain, bike-inspired trellises (above) and shaded seating for weary cyclists on the trail.
Underground parking for up to 309 cars
The project is within Silver Spring’s parking-lot district, meaning that on-site parking isn’t required. Still, the developer is shooting for 309 spaces. Access to the garage would be off Ripley Street.
Images courtesy of MNCPPC.
Updated Jul 8, 2008, at 1:10 p.m.
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I was hoping they would change the bland design. We’re not only in a weak condo market but now we’re getting into a weak apartment market too.
I don’t know what to think of the design. This building, along with other 200-foot-tall buildings that may go up in the area, could create a concrete canyon.
Personally, I don’t mind concrete canyons. (It would feel like my native New York.) But streetscapes like that require serious ground-level retail activity to invigorate it.
The 3,000 square feet of retail that this project offers may not be enough to cut it.
Weak apartment market? The regional avg rent increase was 5% least year, MoCo’s “guidance” was 4.2%, my personal increase was 10%…. I mean, I trust you’re getting your information from somewhere, but I’d love to know where because it certainly hasn’t been the reality facing my wallet in the past year. Oh yea, I was also on 3 waiting lists when I moved outta the building with the 10% hike. I didn’t get to see the new place until the day we moved in. Unless it has weakened considerably since a year ago (And that’d be fine with me, as my lease renewal is coming up in a couple months) I’m confused.
Well…by the time this project is done you will have a lot to choose from, the amount of proposed condos turning apartments is significant. The resistance to build an office building is alarming and borders conspiracy.
Silver Spring Gateway 457 apartments
1200 East West 247 apartments
Falkland North 1,020 apartments
Cameron House and 8021 Georgia are considering apartments.
I would like to see lower rents too but I woould also like to see more office jobs above all else.
[...] to 318 multifamily dwellings.Info on the original approval (including elevations) can be found at Silver Spring Penguin. > Full Story Silver Spring [...]