Wheaton Gateway project details come to light

Mixed-income, mixed-use complex's

ground floor retail plan

includes a food hall

The current redevelopment of the Ambassador Apartments property in Wheaton, formerly a Howard Johnson hotel and restaurant, is currently underway with the demolition of the existing structures on the site. A later phase of the same Wheaton Gateway project will replace the Lindsay Ford dealership right next door. Now I've learned more details about the project, and have some of the first renderings of its visual impact on the gateway to the Wheaton business district, and nearby homes.

View from Veirs Mill Road looking
toward Rockville

Developers of the project say Wheaton Gateway will be a "prime example" of the type of development favored in the Wheaton sector plan, which was approved by the Montgomery County Council in 2012. The development team emphasizes that each developer is a longstanding member of the county business community, not an out-of-state or fly-by-night firm. Those partners are the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission, the Duffie family (The Duffie Companies, headquartered in Silver Spring), and members of the Cohen family (Willco).

Helicopter view from Fenimore Road
looking toward Wheaton Plaza

While Lindsay Ford's plan to move to Aspen Hill was canceled, the development team says that the HOC recently acquired the Ford dealership's property. The HOC is now leasing that property short-term to Lindsay. Interestingly, Willco has owned the former Howard Johnson restaurant structure (a mattress store of late) since 1963.

Wheaton Gateway will feature 30% affordable housing units, more than twice the standard 12.5% requirement, and twice the 15% the Council has required in recent sector plans. Ground floor retail is planned in the development, and it will be designed with the additional of the future Veirs Mill bus rapid transit line in mind.

View from Kensington Boulevard across Veirs Mill
still looking toward Wheaton Plaza

After meeting with nearby residents, developers used their feedback to modify some of the proposal. They heard that Wheaton's burgeoning status as an arts and entertainment area should be incorporated. More broadly, residents said they wanted more dining options, but restaurants that would be local and unique, as opposed to national chains. To facilitate the latter vision, the developers have fit a food hall space into the design of the complex.

If the food hall ends up happening, it will provide spaces to several eateries at a more affordable leasing rate than a full-size restaurant space. This concept has already found great success down Veirs Mill Road in Rockville at Pike Kitchen and The Spot. Outdoor patio seating is also anticipated for the dining area, which is designed to be shielded from the traffic noise and fumes from Veirs Mill.

Internal street would provide through-block access
between East Avenue and Veirs Mill Road

An internal street will provide access from Veirs Mill and from East Avenue for vehicles, and also break up the "superblock" created by the assembled properties. The plan also addresses a frequent complaint about developments in recent years, which rarely have pull-off driveways or drop-off zones, forcing delivery trucks and other vehicles to stop in traffic lanes. Wheaton Gateway will provide several such drop-off areas on the property for this reason, and with the future growth of meal deliveries and autonomous vehicles in mind.

There will be both underground garage parking, and above-grade structured parking. The precise number of total parking spaces has not yet been determined. Several electric vehicle charging spaces will be set aside. A flat plate design structure will be employed that will allow parts of the parking structures to be repurposed for other uses if parking demand drops in the future.

Helicopter view from University Boulevard,
facing northeast

Loading docks will be fully off street under the building structure. They will be accessed from University Boulevard. This is where tenants will move in and move out their belongings.

Right-of-way dedications

There will be three pedestrian routes through or around the property. A bicycle stairway is being proposed for the Kensington Boulevard right-of-way at the north end of the property, to help cyclists tackle the significant grade drop there (yellow area in the above rendering). The developers would like the Maryland State Highway Administration to add a traffic signal at Veirs Mill and Galt Avenue, to facilitate safer crossing of Veirs Mill at that location.

Phasing for Wheaton Gateway

The Phase 1 building that is replacing the Howard Johnson hotel and restaurant at the corner of Veirs Mill and University will be set back 55' from the curb to allow a larger public use space. Buildings will step down from the highest height of 154' (higher than the 130' allowable height there due to the bonus density earned by the 30% affordable units being provided) at the corner Phase 1 building to 124' at the front Phase 2 area of the Lindsay property, to 69' along East Avenue (where, without the 30% affordable, they would have been limited to 45'). A small, orphaned block of Kensington Boulevard is the closest residential development to the Wheaton Gateway property. The Planning Board has the option to cap height at lower than 45' if it determines 45 is incompatible with adjacent properties.

How many total units will be in the complex, and of which sizes, have yet to be determined. Architectural design is also still in the works - the renderings here are mainly for massing reference. But one promising sign is that Torti Gallas + Partners is on the design team.

The development partners are aiming not only for LEED certification for Wheaton Gateway, but also hope to achieve the even more stringent Passive House Certification.

All eight trees on the property will be cut down. The 15% net forestation requirement will be met not by planting more trees on this site, but by acquiring off-site forested land for preservation, or by paying a fee to Montgomery County in lieu of the other options.

The plans indicate that there will be little space left on the site for stormwater management. Therefore, all available open spaces will be employed as much as possible for stormwater management purposes. An access drive from Wheaton Gateway to East Avenue will be lined with stair-stepping bioretention areas.

Stormwater management planters will be placed wherever feasible along the Veirs Mill frontage of the development, and within the interior outdoor common areas. The developers plan to employ both green roofs and rooftop photovoltaic systems.

In conclusion, while not all details of the Wheaton Gateway project are finalized, it's clear this will be a dramatic transformation of a landmark intersection in Wheaton.

Images courtesy Wheaton Gateway partners
All rights reserved

Wheaton Gateway project to open sidewalk on weekends

Developers of the Wheaton Gateway project at the corner of Veirs Mill Road and University Boulevard East have, as promised, announced some changes to improve pedestrian safety around the property that is home to the former Howard Johnson hotel and restaurant (more recently known as The Ambassador apartments). Through the end of February, they say the sidewalk will only be closed to pedestrians on weekdays between 7:00 AM and 4:00 PM.

This should help some during the heaviest commuting times, and especially in the evening rush hours, when the sun sets early at this time of year. The developers also say that, as a result, demolition work will pause on weekends this month.

A second change, which they alluded to in an announcement last week, is that flaggers will now be present during sidewalk closures. As I reported last week, many pedestrians were walking into (or worse, with their back to) oncoming traffic to avoid the long pedestrian detour around the site.

Wheaton Gateway developers warn jaywalkers about safety, potential tickets at site

The developers of the Wheaton Gateway project on the site of the former Howard Johnson/Ambassador Apartments are asking pedestrians to obey the current detour in place around the property at the corner of Veirs Mill Road and University Boulevard West. They say that flaggers will be added at the site to assist in directing vehicles and pedestrians before the end of the month, as well as other "safety enhancements." But they also warn that police may ticket pedestrians who enter the roadway to get around the closed sidewalk.

Ambassador pedestrian detour

This has been an ongoing issue when sidewalks have closed in downtown Bethesda, and no pedestrian walkway is provided. Despite the dangers, some people will inevitably walk into oncoming traffic to avoid a long detour. Pedestrian safety advocates have asked Montgomery County officials to either bar sidewalks from being closed, or mandate pedestrian walkways on the side of the closure, to address this problem.

Photo/map via Wheaton Gateway

Ambassador/Howard Johnson Wheaton demolition update (Photos)

Demolition of the former Ambassador Apartments continues at the corner of University Boulevard and Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton. This was formerly a Howard Johnson hotel and restaurant, with the latter structure still visible in the foreground of three of these photos.

You can see the structure on the rooftop, which appeared to be an equipment room, has been obliterated. The flooring and frame girders of the ends of the very top floors that were still in place a couple of weeks ago are now gone, as well. Demolition will continue through the spring.

Ambassador a,k.a. Howard Johnson/Best Western Wheaton demolition update (Photos)

You can now see into the structure of the upper floors of the former Howard Johnson hotel at 2715 University Boulevard West in Wheaton. More recently, it was the Best Western hotel, and then the Ambassador Apartments. There are still exterior walls on the center rooms of the upper floors, and around all the floors below those. I don't believe there are currently plans to demolish the former restaurant building at the corner of the property, which has been converted to a retail use. The demolition is scheduled to continue through the spring.

Demolition of The Ambassador, formerly Howard Johnson/Best Western in Wheaton (Photos)

The exterior demolition of a building with a lot of history in Wheaton has begun. Over the last few months, crews demolished most of the interior of the former Howard Johnson motel, which later became a Best Western hotel in the 1980s. In recent years, it was The Ambassador apartments. Here is a look after the first 48 hours of demolition.

External demolition of The Ambassador to begin today in Wheaton

Crews have been demolishing the interior of The Ambassador at 2715 University Boulevard West in Wheaton since September. This morning, lane and sidewalk closures will go into effect alongside the property on University and Veirs Mill Road, as exterior demolition begins. The former Howard Johnson/Best Western hotel structure will take four or five months to bring down, according to the contractors.

Pedestrian detour around the Ambassador-related
closures along University and Veirs Mill

Here's what to watch out for starting today, weather permitting: The sidewalk will be closed around the property on both University and Veirs Mill. The far right lane of westbound University will be closed alongside the building. One potential choke point to prepare for is if you are turning right from Veirs Mill onto University, you're going to have to go one additional lane to the left in a short distance than you regularly would.

There will be signage warning of the sidewalk and lane closures on both roads. All of the closures will continue through the end of the demolition next spring.

Demolition of The Ambassador to begin this month in Wheaton

Two long-stalled Wheaton development projects have become one big project, which is being branded as "Wheaton Gateway." Montgomery County's Housing Opportunities Commission had delayed an earlier plan to redevelop the site of The Ambassador apartments (formerly a Best Western hotel) at 2715 University Boulevard West for several years. Lindsay Ford, located adjacent to The Ambassador site on Veirs Mill Road had indicated about two years ago that it was seeking to relocate, freeing up its even-larger property for redevelopment. Now the two sites are being assembled for one project by developers Ralph J. Duffie, Willco and the HOC.

To clear the way, demolition of the vacant Ambassador will begin this month, according to the development team. Interior demolition will begin first. Next month, the building's exterior will start to come down.

The news indicates the ice-cold Wheaton development market may at least be reaching a tepid temperature. However, this is one of only two projects to be proposed since the Council passed the Wheaton sector plan earlier this decade, and both have required a government entity partner, in this case the HOC (the Lot 13 project is being built by Montgomery County itself as a government office building).  But no private developer has proposed a truly-new project despite acres upon acres of available land.

It's certainly positive that a larger lot is being assembled here, which should allow for a much-more successful project scale. I'm sorry to see the venerable hotel go, but its curtain call allowed it to perform a final public service, by exposing that the County's affordable housing "crisis" may have been overstated. It turns out that the HOC not only didn't need the 162 apartments in the Ambassador, but had so many vacant units in its other properties, that it was able to relocate the entire population of the Ambassador to other sites very quickly.

Combined with the affordable Halpine View declaring it has many vacant units for which there is - according to the owners - no demand, this should give pause to the County Council's radical plan to destroy existing single-family home neighborhoods by allowing multifamily development within them. Turns out, at this former Best Western, there really was "room at the inn."

Ambassador Apartments closed down in Wheaton (Photos)

Ability to lose 162

units, low demand at

Halpine View raise new 

questions about MoCo's 

supposed affordable 

housing "crisis"

We've been hearing off-and-on about the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission's development plans for the Ambassador Apartments in Wheaton since 2012. At one point, it was said that a new building would be constructed on another part of the property, allowing current residents of the Ambassador to remain in their homes. But now, the building - a former Best Western hotel at the corner of Veirs Mill Road and University Boulevard - has been shut down and fenced off. Businesses in the ground floor have also been vacated.

Residents have supposedly been relocated by the HOC to other properties around the county. However, the HOC declined to respond to media inquiries made earlier this week by press time. From what I can find in County documents, it appears the building will be demolished at a cost of up to $1.5 million, a cost that will be picked up by County taxpayers. HOC has previously requested the funds from the County Council for that purpose.

Demolition was to have begun this year, and construction of the new development was to break ground in 2019. It appears that would still be possible if demolition occurs soon.

The loss of 162 low-income housing units near Metro - and the apparent ability of the HOC to find that many vacant units for the departing tenants - raises questions about just how serious the affordable housing "crisis" is in Montgomery County. Last year, the owners of Halpine View in Rockville off Veirs Mill Road stated that demand for their affordable apartments was declining, and that they had a substantial number of vacancies.

Beggars cannot be choosers, as they say. A modest, older apartment at Halpine View or the Ambassador would beat being homeless any day of the week. There should not be vacancies at Halpine View, and it should not have been possible to find vacant homes for 162 families before closing the Ambassador. Dogged apartment hunters would surely have found these affordable gems in their desperate housing searches. What is going on here?

County residents are being told we must now throw traditional, common-sense zoning rules out the window to address a housing "crisis," a move that will destroy existing single-family home neighborhoods. It appears further study of just what is going on here is clearly needed before making such irresponsible planning and fiscal decisions, especially with the County facing a structural budget deficit every year as far out at the forecasts go. More transparency is also needed. How many vacant affordable apartments are there countywide as of today? Taxpayers and homeowners deserve to know before accepting the new onerous costs, and reduced quality of life, that would come with adding multifamily urban housing within residential SFH neighborhoods.

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.

DRUG ARREST AT AMBASSADOR APARTMENTS IN WHEATON - SILVER SPRING/WHEATON CRIME UPDATE

A drug arrest was made at the Ambassador Apartments in downtown Wheaton this past Wednesday, according to crime data. Here is a roundup of other crimes reported across the East County on January 29 and 30:

January 29

Drug arrest. 1900 block Rosemary Hills Drive (Silver Spring).

Arrest for weapon offense. Newport Mill MS.

Theft. 9100 block Woodland Drive.

Theft. 2700 block University Boulevard.

Drug arrest. Ambassador Apartments (Wheaton).

Vehicle burglary. 11000 block Veirs Mill Road.

Vehicle burglary. 4100 block Ferrara Drive.

Burglary. 1100 block East-West Highway.

Theft. 8000 block Blair Mill Way.

Theft. 7900 block Georgia Avenue.

Drug arrest. Georgia and Eastern Avenues.

Theft. 8100 block Georgia Avenue.

Theft. 11400 block Georgia Avenue.

Theft. 12200 block Veirs Mill Road.

Drug arrest. 800 block Thayer Avenue.

Vehicle burglary. 12000 block Berry Street.

January 30

Theft. Giant Food at Wheaton Plaza.

Theft. 1200 block East-West Highway.

Theft. 11100 block Veirs Mill Road.

Theft. 5200 block Randolph Road (near Putnam Road).

Assault. 8200 block Dixon Avenue (Silver Spring).

Theft. 11200 block Georgia Avenue (Wheaton).

Theft. 8400 block Georgia Avenue (Silver Spring).

Theft. 2300 block University Boulevard (Wheaton).

CHEVY CHASE LAKE SECTOR PLAN HAS AFFORDABLE HOUSING LOSS SIMILAR TO WHEATON, GLENMONT, SILVER SPRING PLANS

Montgomery County's elected officials continue to say one thing, and do quite another, when it comes to affordable housing.

One myth postulated by developer-backed "smart growth" advocates and politicians, is that this form of planning will generate affordable housing. But in practice, Montgomery's smart growth sector plan and zoning rewrites do the opposite.

You may recall that, a few months ago, the County Council and Planning Board endorsed demolition of hundreds of relatively-affordable housing units on Battery Lane in Bethesda. In return, the county will get a handful of MPDUs it will control.

This pattern is repeating itself all over lower Montgomery County.

The typical ratio is anywhere from 10-20 moderately-priced units generated for every 100+ apartments demolished.

Just do the math.

The latest example came up at last night's public hearing on the Chevy Chase Lake sector plan before the County Council.

While the loss of affordable units in Chevy Chase Lake will be far less than in Wheaton or Glenmont, due to its smaller land area, the unnecessary inclusion of existing housing in the plan is reminiscent of those two rewrites.

Newdale Mews is - relative to usual Chevy Chase living costs - an affordable apartment complex.  Rents start around $1300-1400.  The apartments are not brand new by any means. But that doesn't mean they cannot be renovated.

But should the sector plan pass as-is, Newdale Mews will be demolished, and replaced by luxury apartments for the rich.  According to nearby homeowner Jeff Rule, who testified against the plan last night, only 10-12 MPDUs would be in the new luxury complex.

Again, do the math.

I'm still trying to do the math for the current Glenmont sector plan rewrite. With the exception of the plan to tear down the beautifully-landscaped Privacy World apartments - which has such an overkill of new units planned (1000+!), it could possibly equal the number of affordable units destroyed - several other apartment complexes have been explicitly targeted by planners for demolition.

Why?

Developer greed.

When I testified before the council last year against the zoning changes in downtown Wheaton, I presented an alternative plan.  One that would exempt existing affordable housing, and shopping centers with small businesses (many with Asian or Latino owners), from rezoning.

Instead, I suggested, limit rezoning to properties where the business owner also owns the land.  That way, struggling folks don't get forced out of their homes and shops by landlords who want to cash in on the new zoning.

The bottom-line question was, if you don't mean for these apartment buildings to be demolished, and the occupants tossed out on the street, why in the world would you apply the new zoning to them?

But, predictably, the council went ahead anyway.  They're also going to give a small fortune to a construction company, to build a completely-unnecessary government building on the current parking for Wheaton Triangle businesses. With parking difficult, customers will be turned away. And that means that - guess what? - more shops go out of business. It's an ingenious plan to speed redevelopment of the Wheaton Triangle shopping centers at the expense of taxpayers, and business owners.

And how about affordable housing? Not to long ago, I heard that a plan is coming forward to redevelop the Ambassador apartments. That is one of the affordable apartment buildings I referred to in my testimony. No one is saying it's the Ritz Carlton. But where are those folks going to go?

And which building is next?

Even an affordable complex dedicated by Eleanor Roosevelt herself, on the edge of downtown Silver Spring, is now facing the wrecking ball. What would she say about that? Don't worry, a developer could probably give a smart aleck answer that would be favorable to new development. Save it for the Planning Board.

Problems in development-crazed Washington, DC, are giving us a glimpse of Montgomery County's future, should we continue on this path.

A spike in the number of DC residents, including hundreds of children, trying to get into homeless shelters. Others are moving to Prince Georges County. Recent news stories have cited the loss of affordable housing as the primary cause of the surge.

Meanwhile, unit after unit of affordable housing is demolished in DC, and replaced by luxury apartments. Wealthy politicians, developers and residents lecture us on the success of "vibrant, walkable, smart growth" redevelopment.

Sound familiar?