Redevelopment Projects
Montgomery County continues to support the redevelopment of downtown Silver Spring with important projects.

CIVIC BUILDING and VETERANS PLAZA
A 42,000 square foot civic building will face the retail-entertainment center across a large open plaza. Construction will begin in 2007 and the building will be ready for use in 2008. The open area, known as Veterans Plaza, will honor the people of Montgomery County who have served in military campaigns. Individuals, groups, and the community will use the Great Hall, Grand Foyer, and several smaller rooms for events and meetings, or to enjoy a quiet contemplative moment. The County’s Silver Spring Regional Center will be based in offices in the building. Round House Theater School will occupy the lower level.   Click here to view project plans.

SILVER SPRING LIBRARY
A site in downtown Silver Spring is being assembled for construction of a new downtown public library to begin in 2008. The 41,000 square foot building will fill a corner across Wayne Avenue from the redevelopment project. The library will prominently face Wayne Avenue, with exposures on Fenton and Bonifant Streets. Ample parking will be easily accessible across the street at the new Wayne Avenue garage. A new library has been needed for a long time to replace the existing 1950’s library building, the oldest in the library system. In order to accommodate the expanded circulation needs of the present population, a larger building with modern library facilities is being designed.

MONTGOMERY COLLEGE EXPANSION
Montgomery College began on a small campus in the City of Takoma Park which, today, adjoins the Silver Spring Central Business District. In 2003 the College inaugurated a new era of expansion into the Silver Spring CBD with the opening of a Health Sciences Building on Georgia Avenue. A hiker/biker bridge across the railroad tracks followed in 2004, connecting the old campus to the new CBD campus. In 2005 a new 95,000 sf Student Services Building is being completed on the Takoma Park Campus and attached to the new bridge.

Also in 2005, the College began to convert the former Giant Food, Inc. bakery plant to create the King Street Art Center, a space for the School of Art and Design at Montgomery College. Upon completion in 2007 the King Street Arts Center will house classrooms, studios, offices, and gallery space.

In 2008 the final phase of expansion will begin with the opening of two performance spaces in the new Cultural Arts Center to be built on Georgia Avenue at Burlington Street. Both the larger 500 seat music and dance theatre and the smaller 100 seat instructional theatre will be available for rental to performing groups.

For more information, please visit http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/news/hottopics/takomaparkexpansion/.

SOUTH SILVER SPRING REVITALIZATION
South Silver Spring is triangular shaped and is bounded by Newell Street and Blair Mill Road on the northwest, the B&O Railroad right-of-way on the east and the District of Columbia line on the southwest. The South Silver Spring area is a part of the Silver Spring Central Business District (CBD). It is a combination of small scale commercial buildings and a scattering of high rise office buildings. After years of decay, South Silver Spring is being transformed into an exciting mixed use neighborhood with high tech businesses, arts oriented enterprises, new restaurants and over 1,000 new housing units. The new housing is the result of several large, adaptive re-use projects and several new residential development.

For more information, please visit the Division of Community Development Commercial Revitalization.

PEDESTRIAN LINKAGES
South Silver Spring is becoming a neighborhood of 2300 new residential dwelling units. The County’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs envisioned a network of pedestrian linkages to move people efficiently to destinations throughout the community. The existing street blocks date back to industrial/warehouse uses, and are far larger than normal. The long distance to go around the block is a barrier to walking. A network of paths will create more direct and useable connections. The paths are being designed to be visually inviting, with features and lighting that encourage use. The first to open was the “Arts Alley” from Georgia Avenue, past a coffee house, ice cream shop, and restaurant, to the new Silver Spring Gateway condominium site.

For more information, please visit the Division of Community Development Commercial Revitalization.

FENTON STREET VILLAGE REVITALIZATION
The Fenton Street Village project area has experienced physical deterioration of commercial properties and a decline in business activity. Issues of major concern are: the perception of crime, lack of customer parking, inadequate street lighting, blight, and lack of investment by property owners and merchants. The Fenton Street Village Project area is located on the eastern edge of the Silver Spring CBD with boundaries that include Wayne Avenue on the north, Burlington Avenue on the south, Fenton Street on the east, and Georgia Avenue on the west.

For more information, please visit the Division of Community Development Commercial Revitalization.

TRANSIT CENTER
The Silver Spring Transit Center will bring together the full spectrum of transportation uses: MetroRail (subway), MARC Rair (trains), intercity buses, regional MetroBuses, the county’s Ride-On buses, and bicycle paths. The new center will replace a 30 year old transit center that is one of the busiest Metrorail stations in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) system. The existing Metrorail Red Line center serves over 25,000 Metrorail riders, 20,000 Metrobus riders, and 12,000 Ride-On riders on a typical weekday, with over 1250 buses per day. At the peak, the Silver Spring Transit Center accommodates 145 buses per hour. This level of activity makes the Silver Spring Transit Center the busiest in the WMATA system, even busier than the recently constructed Pentagon Transit Center.

Significant improvements are necessary to accommodate future increases. Beginning in 2006 the open surface lot used for bus loading will be reconstructed as a multi-modal, state of the art facility that will include bus bays, an urban park, pedestrian promenades, road and traffic improvements, kiss and ride facilities, bike path and storage.

The platform for the Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) passenger trains has already been relocated to the transit center location. The new structure is being designed to accommodate the future Bi-County Transitway (Purple Line) connecting from Bethesda to College Park, whether the system is selected to be Bus Rapid Transit or a rail alternative, and for at least three potential routes. Inter-city buses are also included in their own depot adjacent to both the train and subway stations.

When the Transit Center is complete in 2008 the “air rights” above will include a 40,000 square feet of public open space, 20,000 sq ft of retail, 450 apartments and condominiums in two residential towers, plus a 200 room hotel.

COMMERCIAL
A 48,000 square foot research building is being constructed at Spring and Cameron Streets by United Therapeutics, a local bio-technology firm, as the first phase of a major office-research complex.

A 152,000 square foot office building will be constructed on a private parking lot on the east side of Georgia Avenue in the 8700 block.

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