Mandel Apartments Slated for February Groundbreaking

The Mandel Group has plans to break ground on its proposed luxury apartment development on Feb. 1.

At Tuesday night's Plan Commission meeting, Mandel's senior vice president Dick Lincoln said construction on the $27 million, three-building development containing 100 high-end apartments will begin on Feb. 1, assuming it receives all the necessary village approval. The developer expects to start excavating on the east end and working west, always leaving one lot open for public parking at Silver Spring businesses.

The development would be built in the parking lots north of Silver Spring Drive, between Santa Monica and Consaul Place.

Last week Mandel finalized the purchase of the smaller 45-stall parking lot behind Starbucks. That lot was once owned by New Land Enterprises, but was reacquired by Anchor Bank earlier this year.

Also, last week, the Community Development Authority made a recommendation to the Village Board to approve a tax incremental finance (TIF) district for the development. The TIF would require a $4.9 million contribution from the village. A TIF allows the village to borrow and spend money on public improvements, and then recoup the money through the growth in tax revenue generated by those improvements.

Once the project is built and stabilized, the developer estimates the property will be valued at $14 million, and return an additional $320,000 in annual tax revenue. The developer expects the TIF will close by 2040, one year earlier than the 27-year maximum prescribed under state law.

Lincoln said the developers are still finalizing the TIF and the development agreement. He said the developers will present the certified survey map to the village's Plan Commission in December.