Two sections of the Falkland Chase apartment complex will be designated historic structures, while a third likely will be redeveloped, the county council decided Tuesday afternoon in Rockville.
The council’s unanimous vote to preserve the southern and western parcels, and to allow redevelopment to roll on the northern parcel, puts to bed a long-roiling argument between preservationists and smart growthists. The former wanted all three parcels of New Deal-era buildings preserved; the latter wanted more housing around Silver Spring’s Metro station.
“This project represents the nexus of the past and the present,” council member Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At large) told her colleagues. “I recognize the historic significance of the Falkland property, but it’s an opportunity to put into action our vision of the future while respecting the past.”
So now what?
Home Properties, which owns the entire complex, plans to demolish about 185 units on the northern parcel, which sits on the northeast corner of East-West Highway and 16th Street. Up to 1,040 new rental units might be built there, with 266 of them moderately priced, according to council member Nancy Floreen (D-At large).
The redeveloped parcel also could get a Harris Teeter supermarket, if Home Properties can milk 50,000 square feet of retail space out of its redevelopment plans.
As for the western and southern parcels, reps for Home Properties say the company will work to revitalize the park-like setting by improving water flow through a small stream, and by pimping out the landscaping.
Photo by J. Deseo/SSP.
Read 
What the hell are they building now? Learn more from 
Boxed wines and rosés are back in vogue. Just ask The Penguin's sommeliers.
“Home Properties, which owns the entire complex, plans to demolish about 185 units on the northern parcel, which sits on the northeast corner of East-West Highway and 16th Street.”
WHEN?
I have friends that just moved into an apartment on the Northern Parcel and they signed a 1-year lease.
Not sure, but I predict years. The redevelopment project has LOTS of regulatory hoops yet to jump.
Oh yeah, quite some time. They don’t even have a final concept design worked out, much less approved design.
I wouldn’t be surprised county worked something out with Home Properties so they don’t build anything that looks like their original (massive!) concept. I really hope they are able to do something more along the lines of the county’s suggestion that they break the site up into smaller blocks and make the building sizes & architecture fit more into the neighborhood. It all boils down to the numbers, though: qty of units X rent potential – cost/expenses. I also wouldn’t be suprised if the county eventually offered them some type of tax break to help them make a less massive development do-able.
I’m not crazy about any new development in DTSS. The traffic is already a nightmare. I’m ok with sinking part of the EW highway or better yet, 29, but that’s still less than 50% of the problem. Bringing in more people, even if close to Metro is only going to make it worse. Solve the traffic then do the development.
The traffic problem will never be “solved” and will only be less bad when more people get out of their cars and start walking/using public transit.
Woodsider,
I am not worried about the heavy-duty traffic during the weekday. You’re right, I think most people will use Metro for commuting purposes. However, I cringe in horror with how bad the weekend traffic will become. People use vehicles for errands on Saturdays. If Harris Teeter plants itself on the northern parcel of the former Falkland Chase property then we are in real gridlock hell since customers will be driving to the store from DC, Bethesda and other points.
IHY
I agree with you Woodsider. The traffic problem will only get worse in DTSS. It will NEVER be solved. The only thing that people can do is to avoid the problem by walking or using public transit. Folks need to ask themselves if it is worth having a car living in the DTSS area. There are many folks living in the DTSS area without cars. It is quite doable.
I understand this viewpoint is not sympathetic to the cause of those not close enough to DTSS comfortably walk around; however, since I AM, I agree that an increase in ped traffic is the silver lining of increased vehicular traffic. I own a car yet rarely drive in DTSS. Walking is quicker for me.
Montgomery County for all its progressive-ness and best practices and buildings full of planners just bought a bunch of hollow rhetoric. The council is either blindly pro-growth or is so consumed with its own sophistication that it does not realize when it is being snookered. As I have said on this page before — Council can you hear me — putting a auto-traffic magnet, such as a super market, in a place where you are ostensibly fostering “smart growth” or “transit oriented development” is self-defeating. You can not have auto-centric development and be “smart growth” at the same time in a downtown environment.
If the developer is serious about a super market then it will have to do what the supermarket insists upon to get it to lease, and will include ample parking for its customers, truck access for its suppliers and plenty of room to store its trash until a truck picks that up.
Can the Penguin get each of the Council Members to explain what s/he thought it was approving and how that supports the objectives for DTSS?
Craig… Sooooo… Where do people who live in a place without cars buy their food? Living in downtown Silver Spring, without a car, I can tell you that the choices of grocery stores here sucks. I mean, it’s not enough to make me move away, or to get a car just for grocery shopping, but grocery stores are a completely necessary aspect of an urban, walkable environment so that people don’t have to drive to buy their food.
As far as supermarkets go, 50k sq. ft. is not particularly huge. The big, suburban, auto-magnet ones are regularly 90-100k sq. ft., or more. This Harris Teeter would be an appropriately sized store, adding to competition in a fairly uncompetitive downtown Silver Spring grocery field.
Eric, Just a thought: perhaps you ought not live in downtown Silver Spring. I have for more than 20 years & have never had a car (in my life). It’s a pain in the neck sometimes, I admit, but never having been hooked on it, this probably conferred advantages such as patience, planning. I’m able to do it with a disability (for now). So have others (take a look at some folks–especially wounded veterans–at Lenox House & Summit Hills.
Giant+WF+farmer’s markets+Metro for sales at Magruders=food. (If I’m walking near Safeway, I might pop in for something on sale.) Factor in coupons, sales, cooking-for-yourself & it can be done & done with flavor, style, & grace. People all over the world, including those living in your neighborhood have done this forever.
In theory, I admit it would be great to just amble over to an H-T. But I pick up what I can use from there when I’m near one while visiting friends (on the Metro) in Virginia. It’s not ideal, but it works out just fine. It’s better than cramming something in where it just does not fit. I hope I’m wrong, really. I hope if it’s going to happen that it’ll be a help. But after so many years of experience, I’m not betting on it. (I’m not betting against it either.) Just a thought.
Best,
Susan
If traffic is perceived to be bad around Harris Teeter, then some potential customers will not drive there or they will alter their visits to coincide with periods of less traffic. Case in point: how many people avoid that Whole Foods parking lot during the busy times? We need more grocery options in DTSS and we need more pedestrians.
Susan, I grew up somewhere where car-free living was not an option, and living in Silver Spring, without a car, has been amazing. That said, I think I can like Silver Spring while really, really disliking the poor service and high prices of its existing grocery stores, and supporting a new addition to the marketplace. Of course, I’m just a recent transplant, so I guess I’m not in a place to judge the area.
Eric, if you’re a recent transplant, make sure to check out the farmers’ market on Ellsworth Ave. in the warm-weather months. Looks like it starts up April 18. http://www.freshfarmmarket.org/
Eric – I’m totally with you on the need for more grocery options. We’re quite lucky to have the ones we do and I’ll never argue another. Look at so many urban areas like sections of NYC, downtown DC, etc.. where it’s soo soo hard for the residents to eat right because everything except convenience stores has fled from those neighborhoods. I’m not saying DTSS is in that case – quite the contrary, we’re a financially well off neighborhood and no retailer in their right mind is fleeing DTSS – I’m just saying, urban doesn’t have to mean no grocery stores and in fact, before 30-40 years ago it didn’t. All that being said – Harris Teeter is not going to come close to helping the high price problem you mentioned there… We occassionaly go to HT, either when we’re in VA or up on the Pike anyway, and it’s routinely $30 more at least than the same trip to Giant. We’ve found Giant to be the most reasonable option around… we tried Safeway a couple weeks ago after they finished putting lipstick on that pig and amazingly came out probably $20-30 over the equivalent trip to Giant… and the quality is still worse. Before the “renovation” the quality stunk but the prices were good… now they don’t even have the good prices going for them anymore.
And to respond elsewhere.. I’d say MoCo is quite progressive. To say no-growth is just denying the simple facts that populations are increasing, if counties like MoCo that HAVE neighborhoods like DTSS don’t house those people there, they’ll just end up in other counties with sprawling suburbs and few regulations to keep them from sprawling more (i.e. lots of NoVA). I think from a larger, more encompassing perspective, massive development in accessible place like DTSS is VERY smart and progressive. It’s only when it’s viewed from the narrow-minded viewpoint of ones own back yard does it no longer look progressive.
Paul wrote:
I can’t speak for DC residents, but I was a far healthier person when I lived in NYC. That’s because we had plenty of green grocers (vegetable stands), bakeries, butcher shops, etc. One didn’t need a supermarket to buy staples, and walking everywhere was the norm.
Not knocking Harris Teeter, but maybe Silver Spring would be better off with smaller specialty stores. That’s how many big cities operate.
We need both…small specialty stores and grocery stores like Harris Teeter. When I lived in upper NW, there was a Magruders on one side of Connecticut and a Safeway on the other side. Both are still there and flourishing, each offering something the other one doesn’t while at the same time having some overlap of products. Things don’t have to be all or nothing in SS. One new grocery store doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world for smaller specialty stores. In any retail environment, if service, quality and perceived value are consistently delivered, then customer will buy the products. Basic capitalism.
“Living in downtown Silver Spring, without a car, I can tell you that the choices of grocery stores here sucks”
We have three (3) grocery stores in downtown Silver Spring. Giant. Whole Foods and (a crappy) Safeway. We are absolutely spoiled when it comes to shopping options. I lived on the Hill for a few years and if you think we have a problem, then you’ve never lived in an area where you had a real shopping problem. That being said I’m fine with a Harris Teeter built here, it will only be good for the future of Silver Spring. If you don’t like traffic, don’t drive! Walk instead.
The Safeway is no longer crappy. It has been renovated, and carries a larger selection. Do not forget the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Food Coop over in the shopping center on Washington near Grubb Rd. It is bus-able from DTSS, and probably walkable from many of the apts. Also, the Giant on Arliss has a remarkable selection, and its prices for many items, including tea, are lower than I have seen anywhere. Ride-On stops on Piney Branch Rd., about a block from the grocery’s front door. And there is a Farmer’s Mkt in Silver Spring on Sat.morning. With a cart, one could walk to the Takoma Park Farmer’s Mkt. on Sundays.
Keep your fingers crossed and you’ll be able to take a quick Purple Line ride from DTSS that will drop you off immediately next to that Giant on Arliss. Or to Bethesda to the Trader Joe’s.
Woodsider, If the Purple Line is built, I expect that Giant to be wiped out, along with the apartments near it. It would be replaced with a high-end deli/specialty grocery. The apts. would be replaced with hi-rises with, yup, granite countertops. Of course, the hi-end grocery and hi-rises would probably soon be plastered with desperate-looking sale signs, but the damage would already be done.
I can already take the J2 Metrobus to Trader Joe’s. I choose not to. I don’t need to pick from dozens of different items covered in chocolate. Grocery-wise, I’m a happy camper in Silver Spring.
I don’t think the Giant would be wiped out, but the PL might just be the impetus for redeveloping that site more efficiently without acres of surface parking. MoCo planning department had a great vision of what that area could be and it was featured a while back on this blog.
Woodsider, are you sure you are referring to the Giant on Arliss? I thought P&P had a plan for burying the Giant at the Blairs, and making the roof a park.
BTW, I was at the Blair Giant this a.m., and found lots of great stuff at great prices. That store went through some hard times after the Royal Ahold deal (wasn’t that worth 51% of the Giant chain?), and during the renovation, but it now has an excellent selection of well-priced groceries. I was able to check out quickly with a human being. There were lots of self-checkout stands for those who like such things.
Sorry, I didn’t read your post closely enough…I was referring to the Giant at The Blairs. MoCo does have big plans for the area where the Giant at Arliss is, however. That entire superblock bordered by Arliss, Piney Branch & Flower would be re-zoned to make much more efficient use of the site because. There will be a Purple Line station somewhere near Arliss & Piney Branch, making this area a prime candidate for higher density, pedestrian and transit oriented development. Massive surface parking lots like the one in front of the Giant (and the lesser lot in front of Bestway) will be a thing of the past.
Woodsider, that parking lot is not THAT huge. Would it be replaced with a parking garage? And what would become of all the delivery trucks that park on Arliss (I suspect their drivers or owners live in the apts nearby? Do you have a plan # or something that we can use to look this up in P&P’s records?
Actually, it is pretty big and a huge waste of space for a site next to a transit station (not to mention very un-green–massive runoff, heat reflection). See the aerial view on Google Maps–more than 60% is surface parking
There isn’t a specific plan for development, but there were planning studies and concepts prepared by MoCo to envision how this area could be redeveloped at the higher density that could be justified by the proximity to a transit station (much like what they did for the EW Hwy Giant). Generally, the most efficient way would be to put a 3-5 story parking deck in the center of the site and wrap it with buildings containing retail & services on the ground level w/3-4 stories of housing above. The parking spaces on public streets like Arliss would likely not be effected since they are not on private property.
People praise the farmer’s market downtown a lot, and when I first saw them doing it I was excited. However, as someone who moved from Mennonite country to here, I have to say that I was seriously disappointed in all areas – selection, price and quality. This area needs more Buy Local options. I don’t think HT will solve that, but more power to them if they’ll succeed as a business here. I would rather have a better farmer’s market, though.
Robin, check out the Takoma Park Farmers Market on Sunday mornings in Old Town. Dupont Circle also has a FM on Sunday mornings, at the Q St. exit. If you go, take bags that you can close. Nothing line a tomato rolling betwen the feet of tourists on the subway.
Woodsider, I thought Long Branch was developed already, that the Purple Line would spur development in Prince George’s County, you know the one with the no-name bus system? Literally, the official name of PG’s answer to RideOn is “The Bus.”
The structure you describe would tower over the townhouses, and even over the apt buildings nearby.
Long Branch is developed, but the parcel adjacent to the station is relatively low density. Redeveloping the area would put much more housing next to a transit station, grocery store(s) and services/shops. Question LuvMyHood: How would a 4-5 story structure “tower” over the adjacent three story apartments and two story townhomes?
Woodsider, the site is a hill. It goes all the way from Flower, down to Long Branch Library. If 4 stories were built at the bottom, it might be equivalent to the townhome height. But that is a small section. It would be better to break up the asphalt with large medians containing trees, and to put in a couple of rain gardens.
If more housing/commercial were built, it would increase the need for parking. Everyone cannot take transit 100% of the time.
I’m confident the county will make a good deal with any developer to ensure that the development is environmentally responsible, i.e. with all runoff handled on-site, green roofs, etc. A fantastic example of how to do housing environmentally correct is the new Gables Takoma Park apartments. This is NOT a comment on the affordabiility of the apartments or their pricing before I get my head cut off for promoting luxury apartments on the Long Branch site.
Woodsider, I would repair existing buildings in the area first. Isn’t the old theater on Flower vacant at the moment? It has real potential. Anyone who recalls the old Biograph or Key knows that there are loads of quirky and ethnic films out there. Not, not all of them are shown at AFI or Landmark. And the theater could be a rental for other events.
I bet someone is going to point out that the county is eying the old Blair Auditorium for renovation. That is great. We need more places for performances and meetings, and for people to rent for their own events. When I hear “retail” I usually think “store.” How much stuff can people buy? People need places to do stuff.
LMH, just repairing old buildings first really isn’t what the county is looking to do since it would take far too long. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if as part of any redevelopment the Flower Theatre would be restored. And though I said ground floor “retail”, there would likely be services in those storefronts as well, given the neighborhood. There is still plenty of retail opportunity in a neighborhood that is underserved. Yes, there are grocery stores, but where is the CVS, for example? Maybe even another Co-op.
CVS? For the record, I am still steamed about Wild Bird Center getting kicked out of Four Corners so CVS could expand. Wild Bird is now in a somewhat ped-friendly location across from Wheaton Plaza. Which is great if you are looking for a suet cake. But for those who are driving to pick up big bags of birdseed, well..
By the way, speaking of the Biograph, it was booted from its lovely old retro Georgetown spot…for a CVS.
Spaces without big pillars that can be used for performances or studios are rare.
Restoring old buildings can be much better environmentally than ripping them down to put up something new. If a building is to be torn down, it had better be on the verge of falling down first.
This discussion started with a story about the Falklands. This plan to bulldoze 1/3 of that beautiful site, with those lovely apts. amid the trees, is a travesty. The people living in them would be displaced. Maybe they would get to move elsewhere in the complex, but how often do units become available? And the “affordable” units in the huge hi-rise planned would still cost much more per month.
I would be curious to hear more opinions from folks living at the Faulklans as to how they feel about the construction. The area is gorgeous with the folliage and trees and the apartments do have an unmistakable charm to them. However, many reviews on Apartment Ratings dot com list the place as falling apart, cite problems with mice and mold, complain of old breaking appliances, the lack of washer/dryers in every building, etc. I’d be curious to hear from more people who live there now and see what they think about the proposed development. For the record, I feel like improvements made to the existing structure, while nice and ideal, would still lead to the high rents that the new building will command.
I live in the north Falklands. Have for the last three years. I chose to live there for the interesting buildings and to have nice green space around me while being 5 minutes from the Metro and DTSS.
I have a mixed opinion of the place. Home Properties has done the minimum of maintenance to keep the occupancy up, since they started planning to redo the whole section. It was an old property before and had a lot of problems. That said, the apartments are decent and have some nice quirks about them.
I have no problem with Home Properties doing whatever they please with their property (within reason). I won’t be taking an apartment in the south or west sections, since I don’t want to live next to a major construction site for a year plus. I’m going to start soon to look for something new in the SS or Bethesda area – don’t like high rises and want to be able to walk to the metro so my choices are few – and that’s what I regret the most about this.