Ellsworth Place unveils plan for residential addition, new opening dates for Commas food hall, Outback (Photos)

Ellsworth Place mall's owner, GBT Realty, unveiled its plan for a new residential tower that would be constructed atop the existing downtown Silver Spring retail center at a virtual public meeting last night. GBT was represented by the Nashville firm's Senior Vice-President Trey Culpepper, and its attorney, Gus Bauman of the Beveridge & Diamond law firm. Culpepper told participants online that GBT has enjoyed its ownership of the mall, and serving the Silver Spring community, since it purchased the historic building in 2018. He said GBT has expanded into mixed-use development over the last five or six years, and is currently developing a new apartment building in Nashville. 

Culpepper gave some updates on the existing mall itself. The future Commas food hall is now expected to open during Q1 2024, with a soft-opening potentially possible mid-quarter. While construction of the new Outback Steakhouse on the mall's street level appears essentially complete, Culpepper said the restaurant is likely to open "right at the beginning of 2024." He said GBT is excited to have signed DSW as a retail tenant.

GBT's architect, Brandon Bell of the Nashville-based architecture firm Gresham Smith, noted that the mall's building was designed to support an additional structure on top when it was built in the 1990s. Structural beams on the mall's roof can support building materials, and construction can be staged on the transfer slab. Previous owners had offered the platform as a potential office tower base, but GBT has decided rental apartments are more viable in the current weak office market. The company is proposing a 20-story residential tower atop the existing 5-story mall, with up to 450 apartments.

Bell directed attendees' attention to the existing alleyway on the Colesville Road side of the mall. He said that area of the structure was designed for the lobby of a future office building addition, but would now be the location of the apartment tower's lobby. Spaces on the rooftop common area will be designed to allow people "to be alone together," Bell said. The roof will also feature an indoor pool.

Ian P. Duke of GBT's engineering firm, VIKA, said that the partners expect to submit their sketch plan as early as late November. However, there is no construction timeline for the project at this point. No fully-realized architectural renderings of the tower were available last night; only some massing and sectional cutaway diagrams.

No new parking spaces are proposed for the apartment tower. GBT believes all residents will use the 1500-space Montgomery County parking garage that is attached to the mall by a skybridge. There are also other garages and street parking nearby. Bauman characterized downtown Silver Spring as "transit rich," with existing Metro subway and Metrobus service, MARC commuter rail, Flash bus rapid transit service, and the eventual addition of the Purple Line light rail.