The next phase of a large Montgomery County development ultimately planned for over 1,500 units near the Shady Grove Metro station is moving forward.

A partnership of EYA, Bozzuto and the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County announced Wednesday it broke ground on a 268-unit apartment building, branded as The Hurston, as part of the 45-acre Westside at Shady Grove development.

The seven-story building will include 81 affordable housing units, facilitated through the partnership with HOC. The development team also received a loan from the county's Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

The building's amenities include a swimming pool, fire pits, shared workspace and a children's play area. The mixed-use project will also include 21K SF of retail and 7,400 SF of office, which will be fully occupied by HOC.

EYA President McLean Quinn said in an interview that providing affordable housing options in transit-oriented locations like Shady Grove, where residents can commute downtown on the Metro and have access to the I-270 life sciences corridor, is especially important.

"The convenience of the location makes it really appealing for anyone who needs to get to work, but particularly for folks who have a hard time affording market-rate units," Quinn said. "The ability to be on top of a Metro in a highly amenitized building with retail on the ground floor, I think, is huge."

The project is the second apartment building EYA and Bozzuto have delivered as part of the 45-acre Westside development. The property previously housed industrial facilities for the county, which relocated the warehouses and selected EYA to develop on the site.

In 2017, the team delivered The Daley, a 333-unit apartment building with 17K SF of retail space. The developers sold that building in 2019 to Black Creek Group for $93.5M, property records show.

In February 2020, EYA sold a portion of the site to homebuilders Lennar and Stanley Martin Homes, which plan to build 358 townhouses and condos. Quinn said the buyers have begun construction on dozens of homes.

The Westside at Shady Grove development is ultimately planned to include 1,014 apartments, 407 townhouses, 100 condos, 80K SF of retail and a public library.

"This is the latest component in a project that is rapidly taking shape, and it is pretty incredible to go out there and see the amount of activity on that 45 acres," Quinn said. "Given the housing shortage and the state of the economy, it's incredibly exciting that we can have the work going on safely to accommodate the needs for Covid practices on such a large site."