The Tallest Tower in Silver Spring, Solaire 8200 Dixon, Now Open for First Occupancy

Washington Property Company (WPC) has delivered its latest luxury apartment community, Solaire 8200 Dixon, a 403-unit, 27-story tower in the heart of the Ripley District in downtown Silver Spring, MD. WPC Residential has leased about 30% of the building and residents began moving in last month. They are currently accepting applications for the remaining studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments. Information can be found at www.solaire8200.com

Per the press release: The building will also be home to Solaire Social, a food and beverage cooperative featuring nine local eateries and bars, opening to the public in the spring of 2023. Additional amenities include a high-end fitness center and yoga studio, an onsite pet spa, a rooftop pool deck and sky lounge, a club room with catering kitchen, guest suites, flexible working spaces, electric vehicle charging stations, indoor bike storage, and 24-hour concierge, dry cleaning, and package service. Apartments are pet friendly and offer private balconies, quartz countertops, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a full suite of energy-efficient, stainless-steel appliances. The building is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.

The project, developed through a partnership between WPC and the Cresset-Diversified QOZ Fund I (the Fund), was built by Clark Construction Company and designed by leading architecture firm Design Collective. Solaire 8200 Dixon is the tallest building in Silver Spring and features sweeping views of the city’s vibrant, growing downtown and beyond. Located just steps from the Silver Spring Metro Station with a Walk Score® of 98, Solaire 8200 offers residents a 20-minute commute to downtown D.C. and easy access to the best of Montgomery County.

“The opening of Solaire 8200 Dixon represents the culmination of nearly two decades of work to bring to life Washington Property Company’s vision for a compelling, thriving neighborhood now known as the Ripley District,” said WPC’s Janel Kausner, Vice President of Development. “Solaire 8200 Dixon offers a dynamic lifestyle where residents can work from home in one of the many flex spaces, enjoy high-end amenities, and connect with the larger community at Solaire Social, which we believe will become the de facto living room for the Ripley District.”

In the early 2000s, WPC realized the potential of the Ripley District, which was then a declining industrial area along the railroad tracks in Silver Spring. WPC envisioned a lively destination neighborhood with an energetic mix of dining, housing, and entertainment possibilities. WPC led the neighborhood’s transformation, delivering the Ripley District’s first residential tower, Solaire 1150 Ripley, in 2012, followed by Solaire 8250 Georgia in 2019. With the opening of Solaire 8200 Dixon, the Ripley District is now home to more than 1,300 apartments and 30,000 square feet of retail. Over the past decade WPC has also invested in and constructed roughly $20 million of community infrastructure to support the area, including new roads, storm drain facilities, water and sewer pipes, and power upgrades.

Solaire 8200 Dixon is located on the former site of Progress Place, a facility owned by Montgomery County offering services to the homeless in the Silver Spring area. Through a public-private partnership with Montgomery County, WPC relocated and developed a spacious new building for Progress Place, which hosts the nonprofit organizations Shepherd’s Table, Interfaith Works, and Mobile Med. Since the completion of the new building, Shepherd’s Table has been able to expand its client base by over 20 percent.

The Cresset-Diversified QOZ Fund I, the first of three qualified opportunity zone funds managed by Cresset Real Estate Partners, includes investments in seven institutional-quality, core real estate projects in qualified opportunity zones (QOZs). QOZs are communities across the country identified by state and local governments as economically distressed neighborhoods that could benefit from economic development and capital investment. As of September 2022, more than 40,000 permanent and temporary jobs have been created through Cresset’s QOZ investments.

“It’s been wonderful working with the highly experienced team over at WPC to develop this project, and we look forward to seeing folks start to call Solaire 8200 home in the coming weeks,” said Jeff Cherner, co-founder and managing director at Cresset Real Estate Partners. “Our qualified opportunity funds have been met with immense market appetite from investors, partners, and tenants since the launch of Fund I, and we’re excited to start seeing the Funds’ projects come to fruition while also creating jobs in fast growing urban centers.”