Development boom poised to be biggest since the 1960's
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| Skyline of Downtown Silver Spring in 2012 Photo Credit: Dan Reed via flickr |
With the completion of Fenwick Station this past July and the upcoming delivery of the Residences at Thayer this fall, the current wave of building construction in downtown Silver Spring is now tapering to an end (the publicly-funded library and transit center projects are exceptions). The lull in development will be short-lived however, as downtown Silver Spring is on the verge of seeing yet another development boom in the coming years. This next wave of construction is poised to be even bigger than the last wave, which was already the urban hub's largest in nearly half a century.
A History of Development in Downtown Silver Spring
Silver Spring was originally 'founded' in 1840 when Francis Preston Blair and his daughter discovered a spring flowing with chips of mica on land just north of the Washington D.C. border. Blair later purchased the land surrounding the spring to create a summer estate which he named "Silver Spring."
By the early 1900's Silver Spring had begun to grow into a small suburban town on the B&O Railroad's Metropolitan Branch. During the 1960's, the growing commercial hub experienced it's first high-rise construction boom, along with other lower county communities. Between 1961 and 1971 an impressive 23 high-rise buildings were constructed in downtown Silver Spring. However, following the boom was a long dearth of building activity, and the downtown area entered into a period of economic decline from the mid-1970's onward. Even the arrival of Metro's Red Line in Downtown in 1978 did little to rejuvenate the area.
Downtown Silver Spring didn't really see any significant construction activity again until the arrival of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) headquarters in the late 1980's and early 1990's. NOAA's massive complex along East-West Highway added four high-rise office buildings to the urban center's skyline, including two of its tallest buildings. Despite the economic boost brought by the NOAA headquarters, the development lull in downtown Silver Spring continued throughout the 1990's.
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| The center of Downtown Silver Spring |
At the beginning of the 21st century, signs of new life began to emerge in downtown Silver Spring. Several city blocks near the decades-old City Place Mall were completely demolished to accommodate a new 440,000 sq. ft. outdoor retail/entertainment center. In 2003, Discovery Communications completed construction of its new headquarters in the center of the business district, a move the really accelerated Silver Spring's resurgence. Between 2001 and 2010, nearly 15 new high-rise buildings were constructed in Silver Spring compared to the 6 built during the previous decade .
In addition to the surge of private investment, heavy public investment from Montgomery County, as well as the nationwide 'back to the city' movement, also played major roles in Silver Spring's rejuvenation. However, with the still depressed office market, nearly all of the new development in downtown Silver Spring has been residential (with retail components). Between May 2013 and July 2014 an unprecedented six residential apartment buildings (the same total number of buildings completed over the entire decade of the 1990's!) were completed in Silver Spring.
The Next Wave
As huge as the recent development blitz has been, the upcoming wave could likely surpass it, and possibly the massive 1960's boom. There are over 20 planned or approved high-density projects currently in the pipeline for downtown Silver Spring, with 12 buildings projected to be completed by 2018.
Below you can find detailed information on every development project currently in the works for downtown Silver Spring:
*Remember to check my comprehensive Urban Development Map for more details on these development projects as well as every project completed since 2005 in Downtown Silver Spring.
