Despite local opposition, plans for a mixed-use apartment building with 390 units to be built at the corner of Forest Glen Road and Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring have won approval from the Montgomery County Planning Board on Thursday.
The board approved Dallas-based JLB Realty’s proposal for the development at 9801 Georgia Ave. which would include 5,000 square feet of commercial space as part of 425,000 square feet of total development. The 80-foot-tall development also would include a seven-level structured parking garage with more than 450 spaces. Fifteen percent of the units, or about 60, will be moderately priced dwelling units, as required under county planning rules.
The plans also call for a small “civic green” space on Forest Glen Road that is “envisioned to become a public gathering space where commuters and residents of the adjacent community can interact and socialize,” according to planning documents.
In addition, the green space will serve as the background for the future construction of a new underground entrance to the Forest Glen Metrorail station – a project that the county’s Department of Transportation is leading. The entrance will be a tunnel under Georgia Avenue that brings Metro riders directly to the station without having to cross the seven-lane road.
Approval for the project comes almost one year after the Planning Board approved the sketch plan for the project in March 2023.
The number of parking spaces as well as the proposed vehicular access points to the parking garage on Woodland Drive have been two main points of concern for residents of nearby neighborhoods. According to planning documents, Montgomery Planning staff “received substantial community correspondence … including a petition against the Woodland Drive access point that has received 317 signatures.”
Nearby residents also conducted their own traffic experiment and got an independent traffic study done to demonstrate “the extent to which Woodland Drive backs up during the morning peak hour due to the difficulty of turning right onto Forest Glen Road from Woodland Drive,” according to the documents. Residents were also concerned about the proposed development’s size and the loss of forest area.
In response to the community concerns about the access point, JLB Realty will be required to fund two major transportation improvements:
- The “signalization of the intersection of Tilton Drive and Georgia Avenue, which will provide routing alternatives that allow traffic to avoid the congestion that exists on Forest Glen Road”; and
- Contribute $1,275,636 towards an MCDOT project to improve the north side of Forest Glen Road with a sidewalk to address pedestrian safety.