Friday, February 19, 2016

Ambassador Apartments redevelopment appears to be at least another year away in Wheaton

Several readers have been asking for an update on the planned redevelopment of the Ambassador Apartments at 2715 University Boulevard. The Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County's most recent action on the property was at its December 2, 2015 meeting.

On that meeting's agenda, staff recommended extending the third-party management contract HOC has with Residential One, LLC through January 15, 2017. The minutes for the meeting are not yet posted to indicate if the board voted to approve the extension, but the proposal would suggest any demolition or construction are not imminent.

The former Best Western hotel was built in 1965, and became low-to-moderate income housing in 1994.

8 comments:

  1. HOC Demolition request discussed (funding for / timing of) Item 2 during the 2/22 meeting: http://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=132&clip_id=11048

    PDF here: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/cm/2016/160222/20160222_PHED2.pdf

    The Ambassador
    The Ambassador Apartments are located at the corner ofVeirs Mill Road and University
    Boulevard in Wheaton. The building was originally constructed as a hotel but turned into a 162
    unit apartment building in 1994. It is an expired Low Income Tax Credit building. Given an
    aging structure and significant maintenance, HOC has stopped leasing units and has been
    relocating current tenants in order to redevelop the property.
    HOC has provided the following update on the Ambassador:
    • A relocation plan for The Ambassador has been developed. Staff will meet with the
    Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development to outline and seek
    approval of the plan as required under the low income housing tax credit program.
    Once approved, staff will continue to work with the owner of retail condominium
    concerning demolition and redevelopment plans. HOC expects the demolition ofthe
    property to occur in 2017/2018.
    • The outside date to commence the construction is 2019 for a two-year duration.
    • HOC expects the cost of demolition to be between $1.3 and $1.5 million.

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  2. Great, thanks for the update!

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  3. Looks like the redevelopment was accelerated to 2017 based on the latest HOC report http://www.hocmc.org/images/files/CommissionAgenda/Briefbook-June172016-rev1.pdf

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  4. it would be nice to get an update on this. thanks!

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  5. Robert pretty please an update!!

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  6. I'm sure people are squatting there.

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  7. what is the latest on this property?

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  8. It's February 2020 and the demolition has just started.

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