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Washington Property Co. Seeks To Raise Silver Spring's Height Limits For Grocery-Anchored Project

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A rendering of Washington Property Co.'s Solaire Ripley II project in Silver Spring

Builders in Silver Spring could soon be able to construct towers 70 feet taller, as long as they are anchored by a grocery store. 

Washington Property Co. is seeking to increase Silver Spring's height limit to add a grocery store to a 440-unit project it has planned, Bethesda Beat reports

A Montgomery County council member has introduced a change that would amend the height restrictions in Silver Spring's Ripley district from 200 feet to 270 feet for buildings with a ground-floor grocery store or similarly sized retail anchor. The code limits buildings without retail to 145 feet. 

The Solaire Ripley II, Washington Property Co.'s planned 440-unit mixed-use project, is scheduled to begin construction in 2019. The developer has not announced which grocer it has landed to anchor the project, but it described it as a "niche urban grocery store." 

Also in Silver Spring, Washington Property Co. is building the 340-unit Solaire Georgia Avenue, a 20-story project with 15K SF of ground-floor retail. 

Silver Spring would not be alone in adopting higher building limits. Cities across the country have recently begun warming up to building skyscrapers as a way to combat housing shortages in places with a lack of buildable space.