City Place proposes new approach
for drawing customers
New plan includes offices on top of existing mall
by Janelle Zara
April 2007
City Place, Silver Spring's struggling downtown mall, may get the jumpstart it needs with the addition of new office spaces above the shopping center.
The Georgelas Group, the developers who manage the mall property, presented a plan to the Urban Advisory Committee last month proposing the construction of 160,000 square feet of office on top of the existing mall. It would be Silver Spring's tallest building at 192 feet, just shy of the 200-foot maximum, according to Valerie Berton, media relations manager of Montgomery County Park and Planning.
| Courtesy Morris & Richie Associates, Inc. |  | | View of the proposed "new and improved" City Place Mall from Colesville Rd. |
The vacant movie theater on the mall's top floor would also be converted to office space, and the office entrance would sit on Colesville Road, said Gary Stith of the Silver Spring Regional Center.
The new offices would also potentially bring new tenants into the retail space and more customers for the stores, Stith said.
Getting mall patrons to go beyond the shops facing Ellsworth Drive and into stores inside City Place has been a major barrier to the mall's success, according to At-Large Councilmember George Leventhal, who sees City Place lagging behind the downtown revitalization trend.
"I think that as much as downtown Silver Spring has had remarkable success, there's still a feeling of disappointment, particularly for the retailers inside who haven't been benefiting from the overall upswing of activity," Leventhal said.
"It's a big challenge," Leventhal added, but he cited the success of Mazza Gallerie after "turning itself inside out."
The Georgelas Group presented its plans to the Development Review Committee, who suggested the developers also work on the mall's entryway and improve the sidewalks. The group plans to meet with the Planning Board on May 3.
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