Innovative Silver Spring Affordable Housing Building Is Completely Leased

SILVER SPRING, MD — In an effort to use County-owned land to increase the supply of housing affordable to lower-income residents, a newly constructed apartment building called The Bonifant is the first residential property built alongside a public-use facility in Montgomery County. The building is now 100 percent leased, Silver Spring officials announced Monday.

The Bonifant is an 11-story, high-rise residential apartment building located next to the Silver Spring Library and a future Purple Line transit station. This type of land use approach is new for affordable housing and serves as a model for other mixed-income and mixed-use developments locally and around the nation.

“The projected date that The Bonifant would be leased to capacity was April 2017,” said Robert A. Goldman, President of the Montgomery Housing Partnership. “It was at capacity in December 2016. The Bonifant is definitely fulfilling a need for affordable housing in Montgomery County. Seniors aged 62 and older now have a great opportunity to blend city living with affordability.”

The leasing process opened in November 2015, and nearly 250 applications were received in the first week. Residents began moving in throughout May of 2016.

Ninety-five percent of The Bonifant's residents are from Silver Spring, and only 20 residents are from out-of-state.

Of the 149 apartments, 15 are reserved for seniors earning less than 30 percent of area median income (AMI), 43 are for seniors at less than 50 percent AMI, 81 for seniors at less than 60 percent AMI and 10 are at market rates with no income restrictions.

The average age of residents is 68, while the youngest resident is seven and the oldest resident is 94. There are 133 female residents and 43 male residents.

The most popular units were market rate, 30 percent of AMI and the two-bedroom units.

“Not only is The Bonifant a great example that shows that affordable housing can be modern, innovative, and attractive, and serve the greater community, but it also demonstrates how foresight, dedication, and planning by local governments combined with a committed and informed private sector and residency can create extraordinary change in a blighted suburban edge city,” said Clarence J. Snuggs, the director of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

Photo: Google Street View