Features: Everybody's Business • Bruce Johansen

A tale of two development projects
What does a shopping district say about a town?
August 2006

This is the first article in a series focused on small business in Silver Spring.

This is a tale of two cities told in two parts. Make that a tale of one city, Minneapolis, and one unincorporated “census-designated place,” Silver Spring.

As most readers are well aware, the core of Silver Spring’s downtown central business district has undergone a radical transformation since 2000; this following an extended, often contentious decision-making process. At roughly the same time, people were negotiating and debating, and ultimately plans were made, for a major overhaul of the old Sears building in Minneapolis—which, by the way, is Minnesota’s second largest retail space. Only the Mall of America is bigger.

While there are several parallels between these two projects—both incorporate historic structures, are products of public-private financing arrangements, are located in areas that had been widely written off by developers, in designated “Enterprise Zones”—there are some instructive differences as well. You see, one of the developments is comprised almost entirely of chain businesses, while the other is filled exclusively with local businesses, most of which are immigrant-owned.

This month’s story, the first of two installments, may be very familiar. If it is, consider it a trip down memory lane. Regardless, it should be useful background for what follows.

How the new downtown Silver Spring came to be

Unless you’ve moved to the area in just the past few years, you’ll remember that the 1938 Art Deco-style Silver Spring Shopping Center at Georgia and Colesville sat empty for a very long time.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the structure has been cited as one of the most important regional examples of its kind. “When it opened this was the largest drive-in, integrated retail development in the region,” writes Richard Longstreth, Professor of American Civilization and Director of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at George Washington University. “Of its type, the Silver Spring center was the most ambitious and well resolved of the period.”

Even so, it almost met the wrecking ball some 20 years ago, its popularity with shoppers having declined sharply, as had the rest of downtown’s, beginning in the 1960s. Identifying it as part of downtown Silver Spring’s “blight,” developer Lloyd Moore sought to raze the shopping center, Silver Theater, and other nearby properties, including the Tastee Diner, to accommodate plans for a massive mixed-use project known as the “Silver Triangle.”

Moore’s plan met a varied response. One resident wrote to Montgomery County Council President Rose Crenca: “I applaud Lloyd Moore’s vision and dedication. Silver Spring needs revitalization now, or we are going to end up in a slum area where indigents wet the walls.” While another wrote to then-County Executive Sidney Kramer that the buildings slated for demolition were “gems” and “important pieces of architectural evidence of its (Silver Spring’s) former glory.” Failing to secure agreements with Macy’s and J.C. Penney, the two national retail anchors that Moore had desired, the plan went down in 1994 after eight years of often fierce debate.

Next up was the “American Dream,” a proposal advanced by the Ghermezian brothers of Mall of America fame. A wave pool, ice rink, and fantasy hotel suites would have been part of this 2.1 million square foot project. When Triple Five, the development firm, failed to secure financing, County Executive Doug Duncan pulled the plug. Most people today find it laughable to think that such a plan was ever given serious consideration, but at the time it was no joke.

Finally, a new proposal was unveiled. Everything came together for this proposal when the County and primary developers Foulger-Pratt and the Peterson Companies wooed the American Film Institute with a generous incentives package in 1998. Nonprofit AFI was offered a $10-a-year lease on the Silver Theater, with Montgomery County paying for its $20-million overhaul. After AFI signed on, the following year, local officials again approached Discovery Communications. Sizable incentives helped convince the international media conglomerate to relocate its headquarters and 1,500 employees from space leased in six buildings in Bethesda.

Modest, safe, and attracting crowds

Incorporating a restored Silver Theater and renovated shopping center, the development that ultimately went forward is more modest than either the Silver Triangle or American Dream would have been. It’s less conventional than the former and more restrained than the latter.

With Discovery and AFI providing a solid foundation, developers signed a number of retailers, all popular, national chains. Whole Foods and Strosnider’s Hardware were first. Then, a litany of other familiar names followed. Among them: Borders Books, Red Lobster, Starbucks, Pier One, Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

As Fantasy City author John Hannigan observes, the decision to sign leases with chain businesses demonstrates one thing above all: that investors and lenders do not like surprises. Evidence of this is found in Bethesda, where the developers of Bethesda Row—a highly successful retail project that features several independent businesses and local artisans’ shops and galleries —have announced that they will no longer do projects of that kind because they entail more risk than cookie-cutter suburban shopping malls.

There is no denying that scores of area residents are flocking to the core of newly redeveloped downtown Silver Spring, that on many counts it may be heralded a success. Its scale is suitable for its surroundings. It draws a much more diverse clientele than Bethesda, the suburb residents had feared Silver Spring would become (although it still could). It features well-used public spaces, including a popular fountain, and eventually will house a civic building. And while there are those who are unhappy with the generic architecture of the new buildings that have appeared, nearly everyone is pleased that the theater and shopping center were saved.

Still, there are those who wonder if things couldn’t have proceeded differently; they wonder if there aren’t alternatives that could have incorporated more of the flavor and textures of Silver Spring.

"Any Place, USA"

As things began taking shape four years ago, the late Judy Reardon, a stalwart preservationist, commented: “You walk downtown and that could be ‘Any Place, USA.’ There’s nothing that says, ‘This is Silver Spring.’ You lose that sense of identity.”

Longtime community activist Virginia Mahoney, now a DC resident, recalled how small, independently-owned businesses like Jamaica Joe’s, along with her favorite Greek carry-out, had given the Silver Spring she first knew in the 1970s “a sense of place.”

Manny Hidalgo, who heads the Latino Economic Development Corporation in DC, told me that “sense of place” was one of the chief reasons he and his wife were drawn to Silver Spring initially. “Part of Silver Spring’s allure for us was its de-emphasis on strip malls and on prefabricated commercial districts.” His hope was that Montgomery County would resist following the traditional model of development and “have plenty of set-asides for the smaller businesses.” Hidalgo added: “People really miss those days when there was a closer connection to merchants.”

Cynthia Rubenstein, a Long Branch activist, echoed those sentiments. “I don’t want Silver Spring to be another chain city or franchise city. I want it to reflect its community.” To her, businesses like Kefa Café, Silver Spring Books, Roadhouse Oldies, the Quarry House, and Bombay Gaylord “are quintessential Silver Spring.” Today, many residents are concerned that those quintessential businesses remain vulnerable and that Silver Spring’s identity is getting lost in the redevelopment process, concerns shared by some local politicians.

In a recent forum, County Council candidate Valerie Ervin recounted taking a visiting friend of hers to downtown Silver Spring. Her friend “noted all of the corporate entities in downtown Silver Spring and said it reminded her of a Hollywood movie set.” Ervin went on: “It has a flavor of all of a sudden we plopped this thing into the middle of our downtown area and it doesn’t feel like Silver Spring, because Silver Spring isn’t there.” Small businesses, she stressed, are “the heart of a vibrant community.”

Hans Riemer, Ervin’s opponent, concurred, calling on the County to “foster a culture of small business through the redevelopment process.” He faulted it for doing a poor job of marketing, planning, and training, something he illustrated by recounting the story of an independently owned salon on Fenton Street. One family member, he said, had told him that the County had done nothing for them in the way of assistance and that the permitting process “was a total nightmare.” This echoed stories heard by a number of participants who surveyed small business owners for a project conducted by current District 5 Council Member Tom Perez’s office.

Loss of small businesses = loss of local flavor

When candidates for the Montgomery County Council District 5 seat publicly stated some criticisms regarding how things had been handled in Silver Spring, some of us took notice. “In Silver Spring,” said Ervin, “we missed some opportunities to hold onto the flavor of Silver Spring by losing the very businesses we should have been working very hard to sustain.” Tom Perez, who is vacating that council seat, has made various efforts to hear from and assist small businesses, but often it has seemed like his is a lone voice, and he has never been able to offer the level of assistance he’d hoped.

In coming issues of the Voice, I’ll examine how one urban retail project, the previously mentioned development in Minneapolis, evolved differently. From there, I’ll begin profiling specific small businesses and how they are faring in the new retail environment of downtown Silver Spring.

I’ll look at some, like Half Moon Barbecue and Eva’s Alterations, which have disappeared. I’ll tell the story of others, like Roadhouse Oldies and Speed City on Fenton, that find themselves vulnerable to the impact of current and future development plans. I’ll also feature independently owned restaurants like Jackie’s, Taqueria El Mexicano, Cake Love, and Georgia Blue, all of which have opened since redevelopment began. And I’ll turn to other businesses, such as the Quarry House, DaMarco’s, and Kefa Café to see how their owners are adapting. I plan to talk not only with business owners and patrons, but also with people involved in various aspects of development, historic preservationists, and other civic activists.

To widen the conversation, I urge you to click this link and sign up for the Big Acorn—the Silver Spring Voice Discussion List (if you haven’t already done so) and share your thoughts.

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