The good news is that the old Ambassador should be coming down next month. This eyesore that’s been sitting vacant for years will be demolished down to the concrete pad. As will the structure behind it.
The less good news is that we’ll be living with that concrete pad for 4+ years as the earliest construction may start for phase 1 of this project is 2023. And the developer rep didn’t really sound optimistic about that. So it goes in MoCo. Better it get built right than fast I guess.
The meeting on Tuesday consisted of a 20 minute introduction, followed by an invitation to mill around the 5 or 6 subject tables and talk to relevant reps if you could manage to buttonhole one of them. I’d estimate 60 or 70 people showed up to participate.
The intro was mostly done by Goyer Roberts, Development Manager for the Duffie Companies. He outlined many of the same points that were made in the invite letter. Wheaton is a special place. This site is the gateway to the CBD. Opportunity to do something great. He emphasized Duffie’s expertise with LEED certification, and their longterm interest in the project — that is they plan to hold the property long term and are not the kind of company that builds and runs. I like that they’re local and emphasize environmental development but can’t help noticing that their portfolio doesn’t include much of this type and scale. Willco has larger projects to point to but it certainly felt like Duffie is the lead on this.
The HOC rep spoke briefly about how happy they are to be ridding themselves and the community of the Ambassador building. And that they view this as a forward looking way of doing HOC projects. Mixed-use, mixed-income, multi family, versus the single occupancy converted hotel rooms that made up the Ambassador. The residential portion is to be 75% market rate and %25 MPDU. (I think that’s what the slide said, if anyone was there and heard differently please correct me.)
The biggest surprise was that they already have something lined up for the commercial piece of phase 1 — Comunidad Food Hall. This was pitched as a win-win-win for the community and the development. The food hall would serve as both a career training program for food service workers, an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to open stalls at a fraction of what it costs to open a stand-alone restaurant, and a community draw for the commercial space on the ground floor. No chain restaurants allowed. Does sound like a great idea to me. (The cynic in me would say a little too utopian but I try not to listen to him.) The scale would be similar to Union Market in DC. I have all my fingers crossed for this. Sounds super cool.
The other interesting bit — an internal street grid for the space:
With a roundabout and everything. Like a tiny little Pike & Rose. Parking would be all underground. Three phases with Future Phase 2 and Future Phase 3 currently having no details that I heard. A mock up of the zoning allowed heights is illustrative of the potential scale:
My biggest concern — my hobbyhorse for all of Wheaton really — is that they can get the SHA to improve the intersection at Veirs Mill and University before this project is done. What a waste if they build something great and no one can get there on foot without taking their lives into their own hands. You know, kind of like the new library. But enough of that negativity. This is progress! If they can manage to pull off what they presented at the meeting — true mixed-use, affordable and market rate housing, interesting architecture, a food hall, all connected to the new BRT — this could be great!
Anyone have additional details or gripes, that’s what the comments are for ↓
For the Love of Wheaton 