SILVER SPRING – Two historic buildings at the National Park Seminary, a mixed housing project in Silver Spring built on what used to be a historic girls’ finishing school, were among four projects in Maryland to earn a rehabilitation tax credit last week.
On Friday, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced the tax credits, which will qualify the National Park Seminary builders for nearly $2 million in recognition of the developer’s efforts to preserve a unique part of Montgomery County history.
The governor’s announcement highlights a housing development that showcases the economic and cultural value of historic preservation. The redevelopment of the National Park Seminary adds to the local economy, preserves a quirky slice of Montgomery County history, and demonstrates sustainable building practices by recycling interesting historic buildings.
It also represents a success story for county planners, who reviewed the redevelopment project when the developers, the Alexander Company and EYA, submitted an application to the Planning Board. To ensure that the developer preserved the historic character of the campus, and to work through the details of building on a complex site, staff guided the National Park Seminary project through the Historic Preservation Commission and the Planning Board review process.
Other groups, such as Save our Seminary, which promoted historic preservation of the seminary site, and the Maryland Historic Trust, which holds a historic protection easement on the property, also played key roles. Today, the National Park Seminary is a community of historic and new townhouses, single-family homes, condos and apartments.
Other projects that received part of this year’s $5 million state rehabilitation tax credit program are in the city of Baltimore and Bel Air, Harford County. Over 12 years, completed rehabilitation projects have generated more than $1.74 billion for the Maryland economy, according to a study by The Abell Foundation. Tax credits to rehabilitate buildings result in a return of $8.53 for every public dollar invested, the study says.
At a press conference, Gov. O’Malley indicated he would introduce legislation seeking to expand and broaden the historic preservation tax credit program to include “green” projects that are close to transit, re-use existing infrastructure and conserve energy. The governor’s efforts mirror the Montgomery County 2009-2011 Growth Policy, which seeks to provide incentives for developers for similar “green” efforts. Unless reauthorized during the state legislative session, Maryland’s rehabilitation tax credit program will end in June. Montgomery County ranks second in the state for receiving rehabilitation tax credits for residential projects, behind Baltimore.
The National Park Seminary project, located near the Forest Glen Metro station north of downtown Silver Spring, was placed as a district on the county’s historic preservation list — known as the Master Plan for Historic Preservation — in 1979. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
In 1890, the Forest Glen Inn was built as a resort hotel. When the inn failed, it was converted into the main building of the school, which opened in 1894. Most of the other school buildings were built between 1894 and 1915. In 1942, the property was requisitioned by the U.S. Army for the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Later, many of the little-used buildings fell into disrepair. In 2004, the Alexander Company in partnership with EYA initiated the rehabilitation of the campus.
The tax credits will offset the costs of rehabilitating two more buildings on the site – the gymnasium and power plant that were part of the girls’ school. The developer plans to turn them into 27 residential units.
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