Silver Spring's Adele Likely to Get OK This Week

Montgomery County looks ready to approve the Adele, a 96-unit building in the Easley subdivision of downtown Silver Spring. Fenton Street Development LLC (FSD) - a partnership between the Freeman Group and Bloom Builders - will bring a new 9-story, mixed-use project to the intersection of Thayer Avenue and Fenton Street if the team receives final approval from the Montgomery Planning Board (MPD) at a hearing this Thursday.

The Adele would stand at the current site of an auto repair shop at 8260 Fenton Street. The SK&I-designed plans on hand call for 96 units - either apartments or condos - 18,200 square feet of office, and 15,020 square feet of retail stacked atop each other on a half-acre parcel. Fifteen of the apartments and/or condos on site will be reserved as affordable-rate MPDUs – a requirement that sets the Adele apart from other nearby, similarly-scaled (and not yet built) Silver Spring residential projects such 814 Thayer and Moda Vista. Additionally, the development team is throwing in an ever-popular green roof and a public plaza on the northeastern corner (to be furnished with “streetscape improvements” at their own cost) to sweeten the deal.

FSD initially received concept approval for the Adele back in 2006. Since that time, the developer has made some not so minor changes in order to get full authorization, like axing 3-stories off the building’s proposed height. But having received concept approval on its first try and having been signed off by MPD staff, an affirmative decree from the Board seems likely.

That would be just the latest in a string of MPD approvals for downtown Silver Spring. In addition to 814 Thayer and Moda Vista, nearby projects include 8711 Georgia, 8227 Fenton Street and, of course, the MPD’s own new headquarters/residential development, SilverPlace are all within spitting distance of the Easely subdivision. The Adele is scheduled to join its new neighbors by mid-2011.

Silver Spring "Adele" Site Fails to Sell at Auction

The half-acre parcel at 900 Thayer Avenue in Silver Spring, formerly touted as the prospective site of the 96-unit Adele, failed to sell at auction last month.

According to Bill Hudson of Atlantic Auctions, there were several interested parties at the auction, and bids were made, but ultimately American Bank, present owner of the property, put in a token high bid and retained ownership. (Identities of the bidders and the amounts of their respective bids are confidential.)

American Bank is the holder of the property's note, which dates from November 2006, in the original principal amount of $5.15 million. American acquired the property after original developers Fenton Street Development LLC - a partnership between the Freeman Group and Bloom Builders - presumably defaulted. Fenton Street had gained approval in 2008 for an SK&I-designed mixed-use project, christened "the Adele," that featured 15,000 square feet of ground floor retail, 18,200 feet of second-floor office space, and 96 residential units, as well as a green roof and a public plaza. But when the recession hit, the project stalled (probably the most-typed phrase in real estate blogging), and eventually the property changed hands.

The 28,500-square-foot corner lot, located in downtown Silver Spring at the intersection of Thayer Avenue and Fenton Street,

seems like it would still be a viable location for the right project, and was already approved by the county. Zoning (3.0 FAR for mixed-use) and a location in the Fenton Village Overlay Zone (which confers certain building height exceptions) seem conducive to high-rise construction. The most recent listings for the property (which are over a year old) peg it at just over $7 million. Take note, prospective future bidders. (And don't forget to bring your $100,000 deposit to the next auction.)

Silver Spring, MD real estate development news

The Adele Approved in Silver Spring

As expected, Fenton Street Development's mixed-use project in downtown Silver Spring, the Adele, was approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board this afternoon. The development at 8620 Fenton Street will add 96 units of housing - including 15 affordable - 18,200 square feet of office space and 15,020 square feet of retail to the Silver Spring Central Business District. The project is being designed by the SK&I Architectural Design Group and expected to open for business in 2011.

Silver Spring real estate development news

Bonafide New Residential for Silver Spring

There's yet another residential project in the works for downtown Silver Spring. Independent developer Theo Margas hopes to deliver his Bonifant Plaza project to so-named Bonifant Street in the heart of the suburban city's Central Business District. Since filing plans with the Montgomery County Planning Board more than two years ago, progress on the Bonifant has been slow coming due to traffic issues - but that's something that could begin to turn around as early as next month.

Located on an unaddressed parcel within a stone's throw (approximately 135 feet) of Georgia Avenue, the Bonifant Plaza would measure in at roughly 115,000 square feet and sport new 72 new rental apartments with the same number of private parking spaces. (As required by Montgomery County statutes, 12.5% of those units must be devoted to affordable housing – which amounts to 9 sacrificial units for the developer.) The 9-story project is being designed Silver Spring-based architects AR Meyers & Associates and, though current plans don’t include a retail component, Margas has still not discounted an alternative that would allow him to service the heavily trafficked Silver Spring corridor. “The zoning…doesn’t allow for ground floor retail,” he says. “If for some reason that changes, then we would pursue putting ground floor retail in. But at this point there’s no retail in the designs for the project.”

Per recommendations made by Planning Board staff and the Maryland Department of Transportation, Bonifant Plaza has been on hold pending a design adjustment of the of alleys intended to service the new building. At one point, there had been concerns that the recently resolved issue of Purple Line’s prospective route could also impact the site, but with both matters now headed towards a speedy resolution, the project will return before the Board next month. ““[That meeting is] only for the budget plan, and we still have the site plan,” says Margas. “We’re not going to be at [the final] stage until sometime after budget approval.” Meanwhile, Margas concedes that a final timeline and cost analysis for the Bonifant project will be contingent on the next phase of the approval process, but seems confident that 2009 will be the year that Bonifant Plaza joins its fellow Silver Spring CBD projects – like SilverPlace, 1050 Ripley, the Adele, 8227 Fenton, and 8711 Georgia – on the docket of County-approved developments.