Development Sparks Fly at White Flint Metro

The first building of LCOR's $850 million, 32-acre, four-architect North Bethesda Center project will open its doors this Sunday. The "luxury rental" Wentworth House apartment building is the first of four residential towers in the ginormous project that will encompass eight city blocks, and will include 1,274 multifamily housing units at its completion. With 930,000 s.f. of office space designed by HOK, a 220,000 s.f., 320-room Westin Hotel, and 202,000 s.f. of retail space designed by Cooper Carry, including a Harris Teeter grocery store, the former golf course above the White Flint Metro welcomes the first of its many occupants this weekend. Despite the ambitiousness of the plans, tenants in the 18-story, 312-unit building, designed by Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue, may be a little lonely in the short term. Developers said it will be another two-and-a-half years before we see another residential tower on the site; the team hopes to break ground by the end of the year. The second and third towers, Westmoreland House and Winthrop House, designed by WDG Architecture, will come around the same time as the first office building - in the last quarter of 2010. 

Developers will treat half of the new tenants to a view of the first green-roofed Harris Teeter in the chain, when the store opens in October, giving them something nice to look at until they have neighbors. "The green roof is really an amenity to a lot of the residents in the first tower. Half of the units will overlook that instead of a normal unsightly roof with mechanical equipment. It really will be very nicely landscaped," said Mike Smith, Project Executive at LCOR. "We came up with L-shaped design so there were minimal residential units right on top of the grocery store. Visually, it helps the majority of the residents because it looks out on a nice green roof. We also wanted to give the main entrance a strong identity because the lobby faces the central green. The mezzanine level faces the park, in the Harris Teeter that is the prepared food and buffet area. Tenants in the office space will eventually come and use that," said Sandy Silverman, Partner at Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue. "We used a variety of masonry to break up the scale and give it more of an urban look in a mid-suburban area. We want to make a more urban-looking area surrounded by office and retail. It will have a very different feel as more of the project is delivered," Silverman added.

"The notion was to create a center for North Bethesda, an emerging neighborhood at the intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Nebel Street adjacent to the White Flint Metro Station. It has been a catalyst to stimulate development near the Metro. An early indication of success was the conference center built by the county that opened three years ago across from the station. The hotel that was built with it will double in size from 250 rooms to 450 rooms. So, there is a big push to put more density near the metro," Smith said.The massive project will also go green. Shooting for a Silver LEED rating, the project received a Smart Growth Recognition Award from the Urban Land Institute/Smart Growth Alliance in 2002 and was recognized as the Smart Growth Project of the Year in 2003 by the DC/Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks. But all that recognition hasn't gone to the developers' heads, "We've been buying a lot of green paint for the project, for some reason people give us credit for that" said Smith, referring not to the color of the paint, but its environmental qualities. "We do have the first green-roofed Harris Teeter in the chain of 160 stores, so that led the effort to embrace LEED within our company, but we have also able to broaden that to include tenants." Located on Rockville Pike, the project will also include an eight-screen, below-grade movie theater/restaurant complex or a 43,000 s.f. health club as well as a 7,500 s.f. day care center and community room on the ground floor of the Wright House. The project will also feature a "Wishbone" suspension bridge over the metro tracks. The developer specializes in large-scale, complex urban development with offices in the New York, Philadelphia, D.C., and San Francisco areas.

White Flint commercial real estate news

White Flint Public Forum From MoCo

Lead planners for Montgomery County are inviting interested members of the public to an advisory planning meeting for discussion regarding the mixed-use design plans for White Flint. The meeting will be held November 5, at the Park and Planning Headquarters in Silver Spring, and will follow a long list of open forums arranged to discuss development of North Bethesda along Rockville Pike.

Montgomery County has initiated a full-fledged attempt to immerse public opinion into every step of the planning process. County planners have reached out for public comment in a variety of ways, holding more than a half dozen meetings of the White Flint Citizens Advisory Committee, devoting an entire episode of its insanely popular public access show “Montgomery Plans” to the future of White Flint, and taking a comprehensive look at the 15-year-old North Bethesda/Garrett Park Master Plan together with the community.

With the early design phase nearing its end, tomorrow's agenda is expected to include discussion of both revisions to Route 355, which is proposed to be beautified and tailored to be less pedestrian-hating, and the sporadic construction of new mixed-use sectors along the Rockville Pike corridor. The next step, after the current hodgepodge of community meetings has reached its end, will be to obtain approval from the Montgomery County Planning Board. The Planning Board's review will require a new phase of public work-sessions, although their decision is rumored to be due by the end of January, 2008. The final step in the design phase requires the Montgomery County Council and County Executives to hold yet another set of public hearings, after which the Council will infuse their input into the plan. Once the anthology of community input forums has come to a halt, an overall development guide for White Flint will be distributed; the tentative date is for the last quarter of 2008.

Planners are still working the initial kinks out of the design, however the over-arching goals for White Flint have been established for some time. When asked in a televised interview what the proposed design would include, Margaret Rifkin, lead planner for the White Flint Sector Plan said "We're especially going to be focusing on how to integrate more residential [space] and make this area around the metro station a really fabulous place to live and a great place to work." Rifkin added that "The community has embraced the big idea that's in the current plan, which is that White Flint will be the main urban center for North Bethesda."

Apparently the community has also agreed that Rockville Pike is ostensibly similar to an airport runway. Rifkin discussed this in a televised interview, proclaiming that she hopes that the major form-giving elements of the new White Flint will be of public domain; her vision is that open public space and new streets will help re-define the area. Route 355 would need special attention, she admitted, involving a complete character overhaul that integrates a more beautiful streetscape with the functionality of a main thoroughfare.

North Bethesda Square's First Building Tops Out

The nearly $900m North Bethesda Town Center project saw its first building topped out this week as the Wentworth House, an 18-story, 312-unit apartment building, reached its full height last week. The apartment building will house a swimming pool deck above the 18-story-wing and a “sunset” terrace above the 15-story wing, green roof, and 65,000 s.f. Harris Teeter for the "Whole Foods effect" on the neighborhood. Construction on the building began in June 2006, completion on both the supermarket and apartment is scheduled for July of next year.

LCOR, a large east coast development team headquartered in Pennsylvania, was chosen by WMATA as the master developer for the 32-acre North Bethesda Town Center Project, developing a master plan that includes approximately 930,000 s.f. of office space, 1,275 residential units, a 320-room full-service hotel, and 202,000 square feet of retail space at the White Flint Metro station. LCOR anticipates this project will generate 5,400 new jobs and almost 6,500 additional daily Metro trips, citing it as "the largest joint development project ever approved by WMATA." The project received a "Smart Growth" award from the D.C. chapter of the Urban Land Institute and The Smart Growth Alliance.

The Wentworth House was designed by Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue Architects (DHPY), with offices in DC, Cleveland and Fort Lauderdale. DHPY is also designing the Midtown Bethesda North condo project by Kettler.

White Flint View Moves Forward

On July 12, the Montgomery County Planning Board approved the preliminary plan submitted by builder Naples Commercial LLP for White Flint View, its proposed development for the 1.87 acres located at 5511 Nicholson Lane (at the north end of Huff Court) in North Bethesda, just east of Rockville Pike and the White Flint Metro station. Naples intends to construct a 16-story tower with underground parking containing 183 residential units (about 23 units will be reserved as moderately priced dwelling units), as well as 29,500 sf of retail, including a sit-down restaurant. The plumbing supply store now on the lot will be torn down. In addition, Naples will contribute to the County’s planned extension of Citadel Avenue from Marinelli Road south to Nicholson Lane, where it will connect with Huff Court. No timeline is yet known for this project.