Maryland’s First Net-Zero Energy Development Nabs Full Funding

Maryland’s first-ever net-zero energy multifamily development just secured full funding, snagging more than $303 million in public and private financing.

The Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County (HOC) closed on the financing for Hillandale Gateway, a two-building, 463-unit mixed-use complex at 10110 New Hampshire Avenue in White Oak, Md. The funding is the culmination of a nearly 10-year effort by the HOC to redevelop the former Holly Hall Apartments, a public housing complex converted under the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s rental assistance demonstration program, which allows public housing agencies to transform public housing into long-term projects.

The project’s financing comes from a variety of private and public sources, such as more than $52 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity, $16 million from Montgomery County Housing Initiative Funding, $10 million from Montgomery County Green Bank financing, and state grants totaling more than $2.5 million. Montgomery County’s Housing Production Fund will also provide $35 million in construction financing.

Developed in partnership with The Duffie Companies and PS Ventures, and designed by Torti Gallas + Partners and Nicholson Kovalchick Architects, the project will feature two high-rise buildings: Radia at Hillandale Gateway, comprising 155 units for seniors ages 62 and up, and Lumina at Hillandale Gateway, comprising 308 multifamily units. Fifty-four percent of the project will be designated as affordable for people earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income. 

Construction on the project is expected to finish by early 2027.

The project is part of the White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan, a long-term revitalization project by Montgomery County that covers almost 3,000 acres in central Maryland, north of Washington, D.C. The Hillandale project will therefore also feature public and private green space, an amphitheater, a new bus transit center and electric vehicle charging stations, as well as commercial, retail and restaurant space, according to an HOC spokesperson. 

“Hillandale Gateway, HOC’s largest new construction project to date, will provide hundreds of much-needed affordable and market-rate homes in Montgomery County,” Chelsea Andrews, HOC president and executive director, said in a statement. “It will foster economic growth in line with the White Oak Science Gateway master plan and be a catalyst for revitalization in eastern Montgomery County. Hillandale Gateway also will set new benchmarks in sustainability and high-performance development in the County.”

Meanwhile, HOC, Duffie, PS Ventures and developer Wilco are also in the process of gathering approvals for a 910,000-square-foot, mixed-income apartment complex, dubbed Wheaton Gateway, in nearby Wheaton, Md. That project is planned to feature 800 to 900 units, 30 percent of which would be designated as affordable. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.