Four Buildings, 1,340 Units: An Enormous Redevelopment Planned For Downtown Silver Spring

• September 9th

by UrbanTurf Staff

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Plans are in the works for the largest mixed-use development in downtown Silver Spring in years.  

True Ground Housing Partners has filed plans to redevelop Woodside Place, the 170-unit garden apartment complex at 1545 North Falkland Lane and 8555 16th Street (map), into a mixed-income community of up to 1,340 units. The proposal, filed with Montgomery County, for four multifamily buildings ranging from six to sixteen stories, plus 50 townhomes, to be built out in as many as five phases. Torti Gallas Partners is leading the design of the redevelopment. 

The plans mark a significant pivot from what was previously entitled for the seven-acre site. Back in 2010, the county signed off on Home Properties' vision — a market-rate, mixed-use development with up to 1,250 units and 70,000 square feet of retail, including a possible Harris Teeter. True Ground's new proposal drops the retail focus in favor of a "Mixed Income Housing Community," a use created by a 2023 county zoning text amendment that streamlines approval for developments where at least half of the units are income-restricted.

Notably, this isn't necessarily going to be a fully affordable project: the application specifies that at least 25% of the units — double the county's standard 12.5% MPDU requirement — would be set aside as Moderately Priced Dwelling Units. The first phase would bring a 16-story, roughly 670-unit building to the corner closest to East-West Highway and 16th Street, paired with a half-acre public park. Subsequent phases include a second building that could be built as either a six-story, 178-unit structure or a 14-story, 419-unit tower depending on market conditions, along with two nine-story buildings and the piggyback townhomes threaded through the center of the site. At least 30% of the units across every building would have three bedrooms, a notable emphasis on family-sized housing for a downtown Silver Spring project. 

The new plans will go before the Montgomery County Development Review Committee later this month.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/four_buildings_1340_units_an_enormous_redevelopment_planned_for_downtown/24978.