"As the city's first significant downtown high-rise offering condominium housing, the Crescent will play an important role in Silver Spring's urban evolution," Patriot Group president Leith Wain says. "It's the latest indicator of the success of the city's revitalization efforts."

Reaching up 14 stories into the air, the Crescent will house its condominium residences, as well as a three-level underground parking facility and over 1,700 sf of street-level retail space, in a 150,000-sf structure. Architectural firm Dorsky Hodgson + Partners has been tapped to design what will be an L-shaped tower hovering over a pedestrian plaza. And as with a great many residential projects going up these days, the Crescent will also feature an exercise facility and a community recreation room.

The Patriot Group has not publicized development costs for the condominium property, but numbers from Delta Associates' Year-End 2003 Apartment & Condo Report give some indication of how much money could be involved in realizing the project. According to the report, such high-rise developments cost, on average, nearly $138,000 per-unit to build. That figure includes land costs, but desirable plots near a Metro in a burgeoning area of Montgomery County would likely increase the aforementioned number. Work is expected to begin on the Crescent this December, and Patriot Group plans to wrap up construction in October of next year.