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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.
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