Downtown Silver Spring Site Shoots for Green Office Building

In a plot to lure tenants away from downtown, DC, Potomac-based Willco Companies is developing a 13-story, 190,000 square foot, class A office building in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, at 8621 Georgia Avenue (the corner of Colesville Rd). The goal is to achieve LEED silver status with a green roof (increasingly common in new office buildings in DC). Is there a demand for class A office space in times like these? Willco will certainly find out...

Replacing what is currently a parking lot, the building will top out at the maximum allowed height, 143 feet, and will provide 275 parking spaces in its five-story parking garage - one level below, four above ground. Proximity to the metro was a factor in the plan which offers 40% fewer parking spaces than allowed at max; an effort to promote mass transit and reduce local traffic. The remaining 8 stories above the garage will be the office space.

In addition to trying to secure an anchor tenant to fill the majority of the office space, Willco is trying to bring in a restaurant and another service-oriented retailer for the planned 6,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor (featuring two-story ceilings). Richard Donnally, the lead architect on the project and Senior Principal at Donnally Vujcic Associates, indicated that the developers are in talks with a "few firms," but nothing is secured and in writing. Ditto on the restaurant.

The team has submitted its site plan to the Montgomery County Department of Parks and Planning. Wes Capps, an Engineering and Construction Supervisor at Willco, said they anticipate a 2011 completion date assuming the approval process moves along without any issues.