Development partners advance nearly 1M-square-foot project in Wheaton

A trio of private and public developers is moving forward plans to build nearly 1 million square feet of mixed-income apartment buildings in Wheaton.

A joint venture of PS Ventures LLC, The Duffie Cos. and Willco — in conjunction with the Housing Opportunities Commission, Montgomery County’s affordable housing agency — has filed preliminary and site plan applications for three buildings at University Boulevard and Veirs Mill Road. They would total 800 to 900 units and represent an investment in the “hundreds of millions” of dollars, Shane Pollin, PS Ventures’ founder and principal, told me in an interview.

An earlier sketch plan put the total development at up to about 910,000 square feet, including up to 65,000 square feet of nonresidential uses and 30% affordable units, which Pollin said would be priced for a broad range of income levels. Final numbers could fluctuate as details are honed through the entitlement process, Pollin said.

The project, if approved, would advance in two phases. Pollin anticipates the first phase, including two buildings on the 5.2-acre site’s northwestern half, would break ground within the next two years or so. Renderings Pollin shared with me show one reaching seven stories and the other rising 11. The second phase, comprising what renderings depict as a roughly 14-story building, “will be built when the market demands it,” Pollin said.

A preschool and some grocers have expressed interest in taking ground-floor space in the first and second phases, respectively. The development group is also considering integrating coworking space, Pollin said.

The assemblage, pieces of which the JV acquired as recently as 2020, is currently home to an auto dealership, collision repair shop and vacant lots where a hotel and mattress store used to be. The Red Line's Wheaton Metro station and Westfield Wheaton Mall are both within less than half of mile.

About four miles to the east, PS Ventures, The Duffie Cos. and HOC have also partnered on a similar mixed-use project called Hillandale Gateway in Silver Spring, currently underway. It'll include about 460 units in two buildings and a stand-alone retail pad.

Both projects will be of higher quality than what code requires, Pollin said, pursuing LEED Platinum, Energy Star and Passive House certifications.

“They’re going to be exceptional buildings,” Pollin said, “built to the next standard of sustainability and resiliency and durability.” That’s a big plus for the bottom line, he added, noting that “having more robust, durable, resilient buildings make a lot of sense to folks who own over the long term; we're the ones who receive the benefits.” Environmental friendliness is a “corollary benefit,” he said.

HOC couldn't be reached immediately for comment details about financing plans, which aren't finalized. But Pollin said he “can't stress enough how important HOC has been as a partner,” for its access to unique financing mechanisms, such as the county’s Housing Production Fund, a revolving bond fund that provides construction loans for mixed-income projects.

“Working with HOC gives us a lot of confidence that, at the end of the day, we will be able to finance and build” Wheaton Gateway’s first phase, he said, noting that trying to secure strictly private sector financing would prove a heavy lift.