Historical Preservation | Falkland North, Silver Spring, Maryland | Proposed Redevelopment

V. HISTORICAL PRESERVATION

Both the Planning Board and the County Council considered the historic significance of Falkland Chase several times between 1983 and 1993 and found it "not suitable for regulation under the Historic Preservation Ordinance," with the exception of the Cupola Building (8305 16th Street) which is currently designated on the County's Master Plan for Historic Preservation (located at the corner of 16th Street and Colesville Road on the East Parcel). The current Sector Plan, approved and adopted in 2000, continues this decision and calls for high-density residential development under the CBD R1 Zone on the North Parcel, which is located approximately 800 feet from the entrance to the Metro. In 2003, Falkland Chase, along with numerous other properties in the Silver Spring CBD, was considered for designation on the Locational Atlas and Index of Historic Sites in Montgomery County ("Atlas"). On July 28, 2003, the Planning Board voted in favor of placing Falkland Chase (North, East and West) on the Atlas. An appeal of the Planning Board's decision followed, resulting in a remand and a subsequent Planning Board hearing. Issuance of a final decision is pending.

As evidenced by the previous actions of the Planning Board and County Council, as well as the Sector Plan, redevelopment of the North Parcel as proposed herein has been anticipated for years. To balance the concern for preservation with the long-standing public policy goals of the Sector Plan and other adopted plans and policies of the County, we intend to retain the existing development on the East and West Parcels while redeveloping the North Parcel. To confirm this commitment, we will agree to the designation of the East and West Parcels as historic and will invest considerable funds for their restoration and preservation.

In 1985, the property owners (then known as Trammell Crow Residential and CIGNA) purchased Falkland Chase pursuant to a bond financing agreement with the County Opportunities Commission. As part of the agreement, the property owners made substantial concessions to restrict rents for 20% of the units and to retain the property as rentals until 2000. Given this understanding and the substantial investment of over $9 million required for preservation, the understanding and clear expectation was that subsequent to the year 2000, the property could be redeveloped as a whole with higher densities and free of historical designation beyond the Cupola building.

We have files and files of reports prepared by Historical consultants debating whether Falkland Chase is, or is not, historical. We agree that the community is very desirable and beautiful. We also agree that Eleanor Roosevelt did cut the ribbon at the opening of the East Parcel in 1937 which provided a high profile demonstration of support for her husband's New Deal policies.

However, our study indicates that Falkland Chase is just one of several projects constructed during the garden apartment boom which began in Montgomery County around 1935 and continued to 1940. There are many other examples of similar designs in the Washington area and Falkland Chase was copied heavily from garden apartments that previously existed.

We feel that our extraordinary offer to designate the original development (the East Parcel) as well as the West Parcel as historic and to agree to fund substantial capital improvements to preserve these properties is generous and should be more than acceptable. We understand the magnitude of this commitment as the buildings were designed by architects that believed that the useful life of buildings should be approximately fifty years.