Post article about fading and emptying suburban office parks in Montgomery County (Silver Spring: real estate, 2015)

[phoenixmike11]

What dying office parks are doing to Montgomery County - The Washington Post

looks like Montgomery County's fading suburban office parks (along with its lack of interesting suburbs like Alexandria, VA) is damaging the economy in Montgomery County and its appeal to college educated millennials who probably rather be in DC or a more lively suburb than say Gaithersburg or Rockville.

[DistrictSonic]

This is happening throughout the suburbs nationally. It is not unique to Maryland, it is not unique to the DC area, and it is not unique to the US. Northern Virginia has the exact same issue. The office park vacancy is over 50% in many of the non-metro accessible areas of Northern Virginia, so the problem is even worse there. This article said nothing about the lack of interesting suburbs in Montgomery County, it should be noted Downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring are doing fine. The office vacancy in Silver Spring is below 1%. Downtown Bethesda has similarly low vacancy. The problem is poorly designed office parks which require a car to get there. It also should be noted Silver Spring is far more popular with millennials than Alexandria. It should be noted the vacancy in Virginia is 20% in the metro accessible areas, and 40%+ in the areas which are not, Montgomery County has a vacancy of 14.9%. But the areas which are in TOD places are below 10%. Point being is good design saved Montgomery County from being much worse off.

The suburban office park is dying in the DC area in general. It was a poor design that deserves to die. No reason to keep it alive, let the market do it's work, and shift towards communities with better design, that are less car dependent and more walkable. Thankfully, Montgomery County is already moving towards that direction with places like the White Flint redevelopment, and has been a general leader in moving towards TOD. But these suburban office parks are on the way out.
Hopefully it is the death of poor single use suburban planning.

[AeroGuyDC]

I've said it once, i'll say it 100 times more. Montgomery County has seen its peak and is now on the downhill slide. It was only a matter of time that a critical mass was reached where the wealthy can no longer prop up the parasites that now infest the county. As a de facto Sanctuary City, Montgomery County is now relegated to figuring out how it will pay for more school lunches, more English as Second Language classes, fewer homeowners, more renters, and an big increase in poverty up the 270 corridor. When you put up a figurative "Illegal Aliens are Welcome Here! Come one, come all!" sign, what else do you expect to happen?

The people who can afford to live where there's walkable commutes to work will find what they want elsewhere. MoCo doesn't offer that, so it's a natural haven for folks who could care less about walking to work and care more about what kind of social services they will be handed at taxpayer expense.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for MoCo. It's easy to see for all those who are paying attention.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC

I've said it once, i'll say it 100 times more. Montgomery County has seen its peak and is now on the downhill slide. It was only a matter of time that a critical mass was reached where the wealthy can no longer prop up the parasites that now infest the county. As a de facto Sanctuary City, Montgomery County is now relegated to figuring out how it will pay for more school lunches, more English as Second Language classes, fewer homeowners, more renters, and an big increase in poverty up the 270 corridor. When you put up a figurative "Illegal Aliens are Welcome Here! Come one, come all!" sign, what else do you expect to happen?

The people who can afford to live where there's walkable commutes to work will find what they want elsewhere. MoCo doesn't offer that, so it's a natural haven for folks who could care less about walking to work and care more about what kind of social services they will be handed at taxpayer expense.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for MoCo. It's easy to see for all those who are paying attention.

What does this have to do with fading suburban offices? What's the connection? Is it lack of mass transit? The increase in telecommuting?

I agree with DistrictSonic. Suburban Office parks that are isolated from transit and mixed-use amenities are declining. for example, look at Marriott. They aren't looking for a new HQ because of Spanish speaking population growth. They want more to offer their employees in terms of quality of commute and work environment.

[AeroGuyDC]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

What does this have to do with fading suburban offices? What's the connection? Is it lack of mass transit? The increase in telecommuting?

I agree with DistrictSonic. Suburban Office parks that are isolated from transit and mixed-use amenities are declining. for example, look at Marriott. They aren't looking for a new HQ because of Spanish speaking population growth. They want more to offer their employees in terms of quality of commute and work environment.

It's part and parcel of the rapid decline of Montgomery County. Illegal immigrants, rapidly expanding social services, and empty office buildings. Sounds wonderful!

[gomason]

Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC

It's part and parcel of the rapid decline of Montgomery County. Illegal immigrants, rapidly expanding social services, and empty office buildings. Sounds wonderful!

The same thing can be said about all the suburban counties in the area. By the way, Prince William County, is infamous or famous for their crackdown on illegal immigrants, and the economy still sucks in that county (actually one of the worst in the area).

[DistrictSonic]

Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC

I've said it once, i'll say it 100 times more. Montgomery County has seen its peak and is now on the downhill slide. It was only a matter of time that a critical mass was reached where the wealthy can no longer prop up the parasites that now infest the county. As a de facto Sanctuary City, Montgomery County is now relegated to figuring out how it will pay for more school lunches, more English as Second Language classes, fewer homeowners, more renters, and an big increase in poverty up the 270 corridor. When you put up a figurative "Illegal Aliens are Welcome Here! Come one, come all!" sign, what else do you expect to happen?

The people who can afford to live where there's walkable commutes to work will find what they want elsewhere. MoCo doesn't offer that, so it's a natural haven for folks who could care less about walking to work and care more about what kind of social services they will be handed at taxpayer expense.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for MoCo. It's easy to see for all those who are paying attention.

You do realize that Montgomery County has these two places called Bethesda and Silver Spring right. Both of which are doing very well right now, especially in terms of office vacancy rates.

Part of what is happening is urban inversion. It is not happening everywhere, but in cities like DC where the urban core has recovered it is happening in a major way. As DC is improving and there is a move towards walkable neighborhoods, some suburbs do in fact find themselves slide backwards.

Streetcar suburbs though, because of their proximity to the urban core, and often because in many ways they are part of it, do fairly well. This is part of the reason why Silver Spring has basically become a boom town, and Bethesda continues to thrive. They end up being major beneficiaries of the inversion.

This is not happening everywhere in the US, one can easily pick out a mostly suburban city in the south, or decaying rust belt city and say it's not happening there. But in the Northeast and West Coast it is without question happening in major ways. This is in a group of urban elite cities.

Does this mean every suburb does poorly, no, but it does mean some formerly common suburban land uses begin to become less popular. The suburban office park is probably one of them, and I would place the suburban mall as another.

I also would not see this as a 'slide downhill', because of the fact the county has done quite a bit in terms of encouraging more transit and walking friendly downtown communities. But those places which are essentially suburban office parks will struggle, and likely have to be repurposed and redeveloped.

[LynchburgLover]

Why do you suppose WaPost wrote the article about Montgomery County if it is also true of other counties in the area? Why wouldn't they just write about office parks in the Metro area?

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

Why do you suppose WaPost wrote the article about Montgomery County if it is also true of other counties in the area? Why wouldn't they just write about office parks in the Metro area?

They have.

Reston, not Tysons, begins to dominate Northern Virginia real estate - The Washington Post

Office vacancy rates:

[JamesInDC]

Isn't all this cyclical anyways? 100 years ago there was a big move to the urban centers of big cities. Prior to that we we were mostly an agrarian society that lived in rural areas. Then about 60 years ago there was a push out to the suburbs by the parents of baby boomers to raise families. What'll happen 50 years from now? I expect people to soon move back to the suburbs for one reason or another.

Personally, I like having the best of both worlds by living in suburban developments with walkable amenities including great shopping, dining, and public transportation.