The Next Big Thing: The Fat Lady Sings

A tag team of developers would like to move the planning board a few doors down from Silver Place, a proposed mix-use development at Georgia Avenue and Spring Street.

Residential developer P.N. Hoffman and commercial developer Stonebridge Associates suggested the relocation to 8711 Georgia Ave near Cameron Street at Thursday's planning board meeting in Silver Spring.

The move, the developers said, would allow the planning board to settle into its new digs by 2009. The construction of a 13-story office building (above) has already been approved for that privately owned site.

While the board gets cozy, residential development would begin on the county-owned Silver Place site (below). Four-story apartment buildings would be constructed, including porch-lined townhouses along the Spring Street curvature. Most of the homes would be condominiums.

A private lawn set in the middle of the block would serve as a green roof for underground residential parking. Public space would consist of a paved plaza. Its development would require the partial deconstruction of an existing parking structure.

Vehicular access to the block's interior would be through the existing Planning Place and a proposed northward extension of Fenton Street. Pedestrians could reach Silver Place through a proposed path adjacent to the planning board's headquarters, as well as through sidewalks along vehicular access points.

A 90-foot office building with ground-level retail space would sit on the corner of Georgia Avenue and Spring Street. Developers said there would be enough retail space to contain a supermarket.

Thanks to P.N. Hoffman and Stonebridge Associates for the images.