Bethesda Condo Gets the Go-Ahead

Plans for Rugby Avenue Condominiums at 4851 Rugby Avenue went before the Montgomery County Planning Board for a second time this morning and were approved. In the fall of 2007, developers Polinger Shannon & Luchs (cleverly disguised as 4851 Rugby Avenue LLC) were denied their application for a 10-story, 71-unit condo building with 1,250 s.f. of public art studio space and told that the plans exceeded the nine-story (90 feet) zoning limit. The new plan shows a lower height and increased art space.

The Woodmont Triangle project will now include only 61 condominium units, 8 of which will be affordable, 2,000 s.f. for four art studios, and a 3,277 s.f. outdoor public plaza. Now nine stories, the building will replace two small office buildings on the north side of Rugby Avenue at the intersection of Auburn and Rugby Avenues, and will include two and a half levels of underground parking.

"Obviously we are in the Bethesda Central Business District – which is a dynamic market in and of itself," said Elliot Schnitzer, a manager at Polinger. "Walter Reed is relocating to Bethesda Naval. Our site is between the Medical Center and Bethesda Metro stops and in walking distance to Bethesda Naval," he said.

Schnitzer also told DCMud that the developers will now work with Guy Martin of CORE Architects on construction drawings. When asked about the likelihood of joining the go-rental trend, Schnitzer said the company was standing by their condo plans. As DCMud reported last week, Triumph Development canceled its plans for 4901 Hampden Lane in the center of the Bethesda shopping district just last week, citing the approval process and market factors.

“People who have changed to rental have already broken ground. We hope to time it to hopefully hit the market on the rebound,” he said. A construction schedule has not been set, though the project will certainly beat out its neighbor - 4823 Rugby Ave. - which has submitted plans for a 24-unit building but remains in the 'concept' phase.

Bethesda’s Rugby Condominium Project Back on Track?

Last Fall, after months of discussion, the Montgomery County Planning Board denied the application submitted by developer 4851 Rugby Avenue LLC to build The Rugby Condominium, a 10-story, 71-unit building with 1,250 square feet of public art studio space planned for 4851 Rugby Avenue (on the north side of Rugby, at the intersection of Rugby and Auburn Avenues) in downtown Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle, saying that the planned building height of 101 feet would exceed the nine-story (90 feet) zoning limit. But now the developer is back with a revised application – to be considered by the Planning Board as early as May 3 - that has a lower height and larger public arts space. The Planning Board is expected to grant approval to this new application. The new application proposes 61 condo units (eight being affordable housing) and 2,000 sf for four art studio spaces (plus a 3,277-sf outdoor plaza) all in a nine-story building. There will also be three levels of underground parking. If approved, the developer hopes to begin construction in 2008.

Bethesda's Battery Park Gets Recharged?

Can large condominium projects improve the aesthetics of an urban park? In the case of Bethesda's Battery Lane Urban Park, the answer may be yes. Montgomery County has approved a plan to renovate and improve the degraded Woodmont Triangle park, at the expense of local condominium developers. Planning is complete, with upgrades that will retain the general feel and facilities of Battery Park, while seeking to "enhance both active and passive recreation opportunities" within. Potential enhancements include a widened bike path, more attractive park entrances, relocation of utilities underground, a new gathering area for picnics, enlargement of the playground, and, less predictably, adding an "art and science theme into the site furnishings." Landscape architect Oculus has already prepared a detailed project plan, which the county approved, though the project would still require construction documents. The wrinkle? The $2.1m price tag for planning and construction. The initial planning documents were picked up by Polinger, Shannon and Luchs, the developer, on paper, of the nearby Rugby Condominium, a 61-unit project at 4851 Rugby Avenue that has yet to break ground, in lieu of public space amenities the developer would have been required to build. The Rugby condo developer had been rebuffed in its efforts to build a 10-story, 71-unit building to the immediate southeast of the park, but a little shrinkage (to 9 stories) and a donation for park love helped cement approval, but construction on the condo shows no signs of commencement. But that still leaves the county to come up with the remainder of the $2.1m, which, according to MNCPPC, the county is not even close to. Perhaps a few more condo projects could overcome the shortfall. Architects envision regrading the layout and replacing weed trees with native hardwoods, while removing some of the trees that block sitelines through the park. The extreme makeover also foresees acquisition of the two properties at the southern end of the park for better frontage along Rugby Avenue. Planners will likely close the park for the duration of construction, but that has yet to be determined. "The trick was to add and improve features to the park without damaging the things that people enjoy" said Justin Aff, a landscape architect with Oculus, who noted "alot of drainage issues" in the park at present. Oculus has also designed southwest waterfront metro plaza, which is in the final stage of construction. Polinger would not comment for this story.

Washington DC commercial real estate

A New View in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle?

Montgomery County will decide tomorrow whether a lot on the northern edge of the Woodmont Triangle section of Bethesda can do the impossible: build a residential project in the city's low-rise neighborhood. Okay, not technically impossible - but seemingly difficult, and a slew of competitors have failed to pierce the heavy veil of financial gloom. With developers for the Monty, Trillium, Rugby Avenue, 4900 Fairmont, Auburn Avenue, 4851 Rugby Avenue all unable or unwilling to move forward in Woodmont Triangle, developer Laurence Lipnick and Battery Lane, LLC will try for site plan approval of Woodmont View at the Thursday meeting of MNCPPC.  The question is whether to allow 46 two-bedroom condominium units in a 9-story building, replacing the small office building on the corner of Battery Lane and Woodmont Avenue, and turning the single family home on the north end of the site into a "philanthropic" venue. The county's planning staff report has recommended approving the project, but with a few catches. The plan began with an approval in March of 2004 for construction of townhomes on the site, but with a 110-foot building going in across the street, or at least the prospect thereof, and lots of low-income and multi-family housing in the vicinity, building townhouses no longer seemed like such a good idea, and so the developer made a plea for the extra density. 

Complicating the plan - please mind the arcanery - is the Bethesda-Chevy Chase school district's moratorium on new construction that began July 1st, intended to stop development until the school system catches up with population growth. The open-ended moratorium clearly proscribes the subdivision of lots, but may less obviously affect the conversion of an office building into a residential tower. Woodmont View does not subdivide the existing lot, but still raises the fur on the neck of planners who see it as breach of the meaning of the moratorium, and the county has to rule on the matter of its school impact before it will issue a construction permit. All this "for 1.9 children," according to Debra Borden, an attorney with Linowes and Blocher, referring to the number of children the study deems will need accommodation as a result of the development. No 1.9 children left behind, it seems. The height issue is the developer's Hail Mary to get 90 feet out of the site, originally zoned for 65 feet, and granted a 14 foot exception due to the provision of 8 subsidized units. The developer has requested an additional 10 feet 8 inches, an addition which would keep the building at 46 units but increase the size of each. A county synopsis of the project notes approvingly that the new design facilitates transit-oriented development, "help[s] provide a northern gateway to the Woodmont Triangle," contributes to urban planning guidelines with streetscape improvement and three levels of underground parking, and that 9 full stories would "be compatible with the surrounding buildings." Nonetheless, their Spidey sense tells them its still just too darn high. According to project architect Eric Morrison of Morrison Architects, who has designed renovations to local embassies for the Czechs and Argentinians, and was the local architect for the much vaunted Finnish Embassy, the apparent height of the building will not change, but will only add to the stepped-back level of the ceiling behind the ornamentation. Morrison says that the peaked facade is due to Bethesda's mandatory inclusion of attractive rooflines. The design will also be broken up so as to appear "not as one monolithic structure," according to Morrison, who also likens this and its twin on the other side of Woodmont Avenue, to "a nice gateway" to Bethesda. Oh, and Lipnick must provide and maintain a bicycle on the premises for travel to NIH (not for other purposes, mind you), along with pump, (not making this up) tube, bike lock, and both kid and adult helmet (color not specified). In perpetuity. Which seems like a very, very long time. 

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