New Renderings of MoCo's Tallest Building

After building the tallest building in Montgomery County, JBG is putting the final touches on plans for an even taller building next door.  JBG's North Bethesda Market II (NoBe II), a second phase to the development that built the county's tallest structure, will add 400 new residences, 120,000 s.f. of retail, and a 150,000-s.f. office building when completed.  Renderings, completed by ArchiBIM, show the distinctive building rising above the 24-story tower now on the site.  Although a timeline has not been determined, JBG and co-developer MacFarlane Partners have been hoping to break ground on the 4.4 acre site in the first half of next year, producing an iconic, 26-story (300 ft) apartment building designed by Studios Architecture.

Montgomery County approved the building back in March.  The project furthers the goals of increased density and design along Rockville Pike, a goal that got a shot in the arm with the recent release of plans across the street for a replacement for the White Flint mall.  JBG owns more land to the south and west of the two sites, but for now, NoBe II is its sole focus in the area.  NoBe II will be completed in one phase, taking 2-to-3 years once construction starts.

Montgomery County real estate development news

NoMa's Capitol Square Hotel to Break Ground This Summer

 Phase One of JBG's long-delayed Capitol Square mixed-use megadevelopment is finally set to break ground, with future phases scheduled for completion over approximately the next five years.

"The first phase of our Capitol Square project, a 200-room Hyatt Place hotel, is scheduled to start construction this summer and be complete by the end of 2013," said a source at JBG.  "The office, residential, and retail will follow in future phases."

Capitol Square will go up on the triangular wedge of land bounded by New York Avenue, First Street, and North Capitol Street, currently the site of the defunct New York Avenue Car Wash, nightclub Mirrors, a Covenant House youth shelter, and an older office building, also named Capitol Square (a name so catchy they had to use it twice).  Phase one, represented by the aforementioned hotel, will be located on the west end of the site, adjacent to where Covenant House is currently located.  The massive new office-residential-hotel-retail project will eventually bring over 2 million square feet of leasable space to NoMa, including 85,000 square feet of ground floor retail space.  Capitol Square is one of four properties in the District being developed under the umbrella of JBG Urban, a multibillion-dollar joint venture between JBG and real estate investment management firm MacFarlane Partners.

The project represents a major step in the continuing revitalization of NoMa which, despite all the hype, is still very much a work in progress.  While various real estate brochures and promotional literature like to cite the area's sizeable daytime population (NoMa BID estimates 40,000), this number glosses over the fact that after the proverbial closing time whistle, NoMa still becomes eerily quiet, though this and many other projects in the works will do much to amend that reality.

The area's bottleneck entrance from the north will presumably be alleviated by street improvements that are part of the Capitol Square project, as well as MRP's upcoming Washington Gateway project at nearby New York and Florida Avenues, which promises a "European plaza experience," featuring widened sidewalks, promenades, and sidewalk cafes.  NoMa has come a long way from when the term "neighborhood" could barely be applied to the area, but for now it remains a work in progress.

Washington, D.C. real estate development news

MoCo Approves North Bethesda Market II

The Montgomery County Planning Board approved plans for the JBG Companies and MacFarlane Partners' North Bethesda Market II last week, continuing the area's stunning streak of approved megadevelopments.

While the name "North Bethesda Market II" may conjure visions of one of those upscale bodegas that has prosciutto and a surprisingly good wine aisle, that is not the case here. North Bethesda Market II will consist of four separate structures offering as many as 414 residential units and 368,000 square feet of retail. The roster of tenants is stacked with heavyweights; Whole Foods, L.A. Fitness, Arhaus, Seasons 52, and Brio, with others to come. The centrally-located 4.4 acre site is a block from the White Flint metro station, across from White Flint Mall, and just west of Rockville Pike. Of course, it's also right next door toNorth Bethesda Market I (which features the tallest building in Montgomery County).

"NBM1 has been very successful," said Charlie Maier, spokesman for JBG, when asked about the follow-up project. "The site used to be a one-level motel and now it's a model for development in the Wisconsin Avenue corridor." Maier also said JBG is looking to 4Q 2012 for groundbreaking.

The centerpiece of NBMII is a 26-story, nearly 300 foot tall residential tower that will eclipse its sibling development's tower as the tallest structure in MoCo. The Stu

dios Architecture-designed monolith features a stepped facade and balconies that will look out onto a European-influenced interior plaza designed by landscape architects Olin. The eye-catching building is sloped slightly backwards to catch the maximum amount of sunlight and, like the other three buildings, will feature a green roof. Architectural journals have gushed over the design, and the Washington Post likened it to "a Mayan Temple whose glass bricks have been shaken earthquake-like out of position." Units are planned as rentals, though developers have kept the condominium option open. Elsewhere in the development, developers also plan a movie theater with 175,000 square feet of office space above.

The development continues the recent(ish) trend of transitioning sprawling 50s-style car-centric low-slung areas into dense, vertical, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly urban-style areas, leading to the question of, five years from now, will there be anything left for me to make snarky remarks about at dinner parties? Revitalization in White Flint was catalyzed (much as it was in adjacent Wheaton), when Montgomery County planners approved an updated White Flint Sector Master Plan in early 2010, and shows no signs of slowing down. Aside from the North Bethesda Markets, the Pike and Rose gained approval in February, and the Falkland Chase whole-block development was approved in January.

Montgomery County real estate development news