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The Glenmont Housing Market (1995)

Summary findings and recommendations

I. Introduction

The Glenmont Sector Plan area constitutes the immediate vicinity of the final Metrorail station currently planned for Montgomery County. Although Glenmont is an established community with very little vacant land, the area contains a number of properties that may be suitable for redevelopment. As a transit station locale with major redevelopment potential, Glenmont offers an important opportunity to implement County policies for transit station areas. These policies call for substantial land use intensity to achieve the greatest possible benefit from transit, while leaving it to the individual master or sector plans to determine how intense those uses should be.

Glenmont is primarily a residential community with a sizable, local retail component. Non-retail employment is limited but includes the police district office, the fire station, and Metrorail itself. One possible future for the area is to retain and enhance its residential character. This study evaluates the demand for housing in the Glenmont area if this future is selected, and assesses the market potential for various housing types. This study does not attempt to assess the ability of the infrastructure in Glenmont to support specific uses or densities.

II. Findings

  1. Is there a market for additional housing in Glenmont?
    Glenmont's central location in the County, at a Metrorail station, with land available for substantial redevelopment means that it is an excellent location to absorb some of the County's excess demand for housing generated by its expected growth in employment.
    At a minimum, 1,030 units are needed in Glenmont by 2015 to meet the County's current conservative forecast of household growth.
    An additional 1,000 to 2,000 units in Glenmont by 2015 would be consistent with the County's goal of a "harmonious balance of land uses" County-wide as expressed in the General Plan Refinement and with probable demand.
  2. What is the future for Glenmont's existing single-family detached housing?
    Given median prices for new single-family detached houses estimated at almost $320,000 in Montgomery County in 1993 and median prices for existing single-family detached houses estimated at $217,000 in the same year, Glenmont's affordable housing, a median price of $139,000 in 1992, is a very important resource that should be protected.
    High rates of rental tenancy in single-family houses which are usually predominantly owner occupied, such as those found on the west side of Georgia Avenue, tend to reduce the stability of an area. A solution that has worked well in other parts of the County is to permit well buffered townhouses in such locations. The high owner occupancy rates and solid prices of the townhouses on Epping Terrace indicate that this approach could work in Glenmont as well.
  3. What type of new housing is most appropriate for Glenmont?
    Because Glenmont is in an established transit station area, both the economic realities of land costs and County policies dictate that additional housing will be predominantly multi-family.
    The demographic profile of the County's forecast growth indicates demand for the three basic types of multi-family units: garden apartments, mid-rise apartments, and high-rise apartments. The aging of the baby boom generation and the new baby boom lead to expectations of sizable growth among the population aged 65 and older and among young adults, especially after 2010. Both of these age groups tend to generate a large proportion of apartment residents.
    The demand for high-rise apartments indicated by generally low vacancy rates and the projected growth in the County is counter-balanced by the high cost of construction, difficulty in obtaining financing, and resulting high rents for this housing type.
    Montgomery County currently has zoned capacity for an additional 24,500 high-rise units at Metrorail stations and in Rock Spring Park. Based on recent completions, this constitutes more than a 50-year supply of land zoned for high-rises.
    The largest of the redevelopable parcels in Glenmont may be able to offer a recreational setting that could be appropriate for a very limited number of high-rise units. However, this is not likely to be the most marketable or financially feasible product for the area for the foreseeable future. Zoning the property for high-rises could cause the property owner to hold the property until some unknown date when market and financial conditions would be more amendable to high-rise development.
    The Glenmont Sector Plan cannot determine whether new multi-family housing is rental or condo. The market appears suitable for both housing types. The Sector Plan will address densities and housing types.