The Blairs, a 1,400-unit apartment complex along Colesville Road and East-West Highway, is on the market, The Gazette reports today.
The complex’s owner will throw in a 69,000-square-foot office building and 83,000 square feet of retail space, including the Giant supermarket on East-West Highway, The Gazette writes.
‘‘It’s time for it to undergo a whole redevelopment,” Bill Collins, managing director of real-estate dealer Cassidy Pinkard, tells The Gazette. ‘‘You could double the size.”
That could bring the total number of apartments to 2,800, Cassidy Pinkard’s website estimates. Almost 300,000 square feet of commercial space could be added as well.
Residential rents at The Blairs go for 30 percent below the going rate, Cassidy Pinkard claims. This gives a buyer “tremendous upside potential,” with rent hikes of more than 3.8 percent anticipated over the next few years, the company says.
The Blairs is a hot piece of property, based on its location, location, location. The complex sits along major transit routes — Colesville, East-West and Eastern Avenue — and is one block from Silver Spring’s Metro station.
Along with Giant supermarket, retail tenants include Oriental East, Mama Lucia, and a CVS Pharmacy. The Blairs is also home to The Silver Spring Penguin’s corporate headquarters.
“Tower Cos. put Silver Spring’s Blairs complex on the market” (The Gazette)
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Interesting development. I wonder who, if anybody, will bite.
According to Cassidy Pinkard: “Residential rents at The Blairs go for 30 percent below the going rate. This gives a buyer ‘tremendous upside potential,’ with rent hikes of more than 3.8 percent anticipated over the next few years”.
Huh? If you ask tenants at the Blairs, the sky-high monthly rental prices don’t seem like they are 30 percent below the market rate. I think most one-bedrooms there go for at least $1,400 per month. Also, many apartment complexes in downtown Silver Spring are very aggressive about rent increases. Summit Hills has raised rents about 10 percent on its tenants in the last year.
This is just another example of the Bethesdification of Silver Spring. Jack up rents to squeeze out people making low-to-moderate incomes.
Too bad we live in a capitalist country, IHateYuppies. While I support the construction of MPDUs, raising rents in existing apartment buildings in Silver Spring is justifiable not only because of its continuing renaissance, but also because the land they sit on is obviously incurring a much higher property tax than it was just a few years ago.
Maybe a 10% increase in rent at Summit Hills seems like a lot, but before jumping to conclusions, maybe you should ask the owners of these properties which way their profits have been going over the last 5 or 6 years. I’m certainly curious and would venture to guess that if profits have increased at all, it probably hasn’t been by much.
Yep and you know what, Pennster? I happen to know that Summit Hills is having a tough time filling vacancies.
Also, the new condo projects are not doing that well either. MICA Condos units are not selling. The Crescent isn’t exactly hopping with sales either. Most condo prices are out of reach for moderate income earners. And I don’t see Yuppies jumping on the Silver Spring train.
Real estate markets are a real bitch, huh Pennster. Too bad we live in a capitalist country, indeed.
Hopefully they’ll tear some of those buildings down are start new. If they try and convert all those buildings to condos like the Mica, we’re in trouble.
I actually live in the Blairs and, with regard to the expensiveness/inexpensiveness of living there, for the area, I think the price is good. I pay on the order of $1400 for a one bedroom, which is fairly common around the downtown area. What makes it a ‘deal’ is that the price includes both utilities and parking, which other apartments charge extra for. Oh, and my rent is only going up $20 when I re-sign (~1% increase). Not too shabby. For the ideal location, I feel like the Blairs is the best deal around. (but I wish I had a washer/dryer!) :)
And I agree about MICA. They’re nice and everything, but you could buy a small home for the price of a two bedroom condo + fees. Definitely NOT for the moderate income.
A) Watch your language. B) You complain about apartment rates changing, IHateYuppies, and sound like you’d like the county to somehow subsidize more and more, which you would probably also complain about. I guess unfortunately for you, the yuppies are moving into the downtown Silver Spring area. But they’re just renting, not buying condos.
Play nice, people.
Funny how Pennster lectures about language when he hurled the “F” word at me in a Silver Spring Scene blog comment. That was completely uncalled for by the way. Perhaps, if some people demonstrated some maturity with internet message posts, then we would have more civil exchanges.
While I haven’t seen the report, the 30% below the ‘going rate’ is probably referring to the property’s potential. For example, if the building and apartments were renovated and brought up (as close as possible) to new construction finishes and amenities, that the owner could reasonably increase rents by about 30%.
It doesn’t mean that The Blairs could increase rents by 30% on their existing product.
It could also be referring to rent increases for existing residents who may be paying far below current market rates (down market or not). If they are paying 30% below market, they would be hard pressed to move out and find something similar for less rent.
Hello all!
Here are a few guidelines to play by when commenting on this blog:
Stay on point.
Take your personal gripes somewhere else.
That’s all. Thanks!
I thought many of the Blairs buildings had been renovated in the last few years already (aside from the new construction). The whole Blairs property could probably use the demolition of a building here or there with a newer, smarter arrangement of buildings, parks, and parking lots.
Note: This comment has been edited for content (Jul 3, 2007).
Darn Pennster, you got edited. Bad boy.
I live at the Blairs and we recently got a memo stating that the Blairs were no longer for sale and would remain under the ownership of The Tower Company. We were invited to a breakfast to celebrate this news.
Forget the breakfast…. fix my apartment!
Editor’s note: Thanks, Shell. The Penguin newsroom got the same memo. — JD (Mar 18, 2008)