Business & Tech

Mixed-Use Development to Offer Affordable Housing Near New Silver Spring Library

About 130 units of both market rate and lower-income housing is planned in downtown Silver Spring.

Yet another mixed-use development will combine residential units and retail space in downtown Silver Spring—but this time, with a twist. 

Montgomery Housing Partnership, a nonprofit developer that creates affordable housing, and Donohoe Development Company are working together to build an apartment complex with units reserved for lower-income residents adjacent to the new Silver Spring library at the corner of Bonifant and Fenton Streets.

The proposed property will include 9,000 square feet of retail and between 130 to 150 housing units, said Robert Goldman, president of Montgomery Housing Partnership. Goldman said he hopes that about 75 percent of the units will be made available to people earning 60 percent or less of the median area income for the Washington, DC region, which is $103,000 for a family of four. The remaining 25 percent of units would be rented at market rate. 

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Goldman’s vision for the facility would be multi-generational, so some young families along with some units rented to senior citizens. The 12-story property would feature one floor of retail, one floor of community space for residents and 11 floors of housing.

This property, which is awaiting approval from Montgomery County’s Park and Planning department, would provide an important balance to the downtown rental market, according to Goldman.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

“There’s a lot of high-end residential that’s been built in downtown Silver Spring, so there’s a big need for some affordable housing and this will serve that purpose,” he told Patch.

Offering less expensive rental options in a transit-friendly neighborhood like downtown Silver Spring will help ensure that service professionals continue to choose to work in the area, Goldman said.

“When you think about Silver Spring, you’ve got a number of retail stores, you’ve got schools, so those folks who are providing those services to all of us everyday,” Goldman explained, “they need a place to live.

“If it’s all high-end and the teachers and retail workers and construction workers, they can’t live where they’re working, then they’re on the road, it’s leading to terrible congestion on the road and it makes it harder to recruit those folks who provide those services.” 

The property would also encourage residents to get out of their cars by providing only 25 parking spaces. Residents would also be able to use the county lot across the street from the apartment.

“The goal in many ways is to encourage people to use transit and we’re finding more and more that buildings in Silver Spring, right near the transit, don’t need as much in terms of cars,” Goldman said. 

Right now, Montgomery Housing Partners is still at the beginning phase of planning—putting financing together as the organization waits for its site plan to be approved by the planning board. Goldman said he hopes to break ground sometime in early 2014. 

The Silver Spring Library building, located at the corner of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street, . It's estimated to be complete in late 2014. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here