SILVER SPRING, MD – On Thursday July 10, the Montgomery County Planning Board will consider whether a 1930s-era complex of one- and two-story garden apartments in downtown Silver Spring should be considered eligible for historic designation. Called the Falkland-Chase apartments, the complex straddles East-West Highway at 16th Street near Metro’s Red Line.
Planners recommend that the board designate two of three parcels – the blocks south of East-West Highway as historic – but not a 7.5-acre north parcel being considered for redevelopment.
Of the total 445 units in the complex, 182 are located on the north parcel. Planners recommending partial historic designation cite language in the Silver Spring Central Business District Sector Plan calling for new, high-density housing on the north parcel because of its close proximity to the Metro station.
Last December, the board voted to find the full Falkland complex eligible for listing on the Master Plan for Historic Designation. The action was triggered by an application by the owner of the Falkland Apartments to redevelop the north parcel, which would require building demolition.
The July 10 hearing is the next step in the process where the board will consider the merits of placing the entire complex on the Master Plan for Historic Preservation against broader public objectives, such as density near public transit and affordable housing. Should the board recommend adding the complex to the Master Plan, any significant changes to the buildings would be required to go through a detailed evaluation process that would generally prohibit any major redevelopment.
County officials considered the Falkland site for historic status in the mid-1980s, but both the Planning Board and the County Council decided not to designate the entire complex. Instead, they specified only the Cupola Building on the south parcel be placed on the Master Plan for Historic Places.
In 1993, the Silver Spring Sector Plan specified how the site could be redeveloped for residential uses, and the north parcel was rezoned to allow redevelopment. The parcels south of East-West Highway were rezoned to preserve the apartments.
The Historic Preservation Commission, a county advisory body, voted to include the full complex on the historic list. Historic preservation staff point to the merit of buildings designed by prominent local architect Louis Justement in the early garden apartment style, which clusters groups of units around a courtyard.
Built in 1938, two years after the other apartments, units on the north site contain a different architectural style. The northern property lies in the path of the proposed Purple Line, planners point out, meaning some demolition of the apartments would have to occur regardless of the board recommendation and council action.
Redeveloping the north section would provide a means to not only increase residential housing but, potentially, bring retail and better pedestrian and bicycle access to the downtown, planners say.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Board
WHAT:
Falklands Apartments historic designation
WHEN:
Thursday, July 10, approximately 3:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD