Developer Foulger-Pratt received the green light Thursday from the county to build a 225-foot residential and commercial building with 330 apartment units on Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda.
The Montgomery County Planning Board approved the developer’s plans for the building to be constructed at 7126 Wisconsin Ave., across the street from the Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market.
The project includes 130 units that can be converted to short-term rentals and 15%, or about 50, of the proposed units will be moderately priced dwelling units as required by county planning rules. In addition, the project includes up to 11,487 square feet of commercial space on the first floor. According to county planning documents, the proposed height of the building varies from 200 feet on the western façade and up to 225 feet along Wisconsin Avenue.
According to Foulger-Pratt Senior Vice President Jay Kelley, the project will cost about $220 million and the company is likely to break ground in the next year or so, the Washington Business Journal reported.
The planning board initially approved the development plans in September, but a neighboring property owner, Seasons Apartments, filed a request for reconsideration due to improper notification of the development applications, planning documents stated.
In October, the board approved the reconsideration and the Potomac-based applicant, Wisconsin Avenue Properties submitted an amended Site Plan in February. Modifications to the plan included adding more windows and pulling back the building’s western façade, as well as reconfiguring the green roof.
The development is one part of a multi-phase commercial redevelopment project called Bethesda Market, that encompasses the east and west side of Wisconsin Avenue about a quarter mile from the Bethesda Metro station. Plans for the redevelopment project include updating the historic Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market and creating a new park on the county parking lots behind the market.
Documents state that the 2017 Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan recommends the building to be allowed to reach the maximum height (225 feet) if the property develops in a way that “benefits” the Farm Women’s Cooperative Market and the must demonstrate their contribution to the market.
To merit the maximum height, the applicant has contributed $1 million to the Farm Women’s Market owners and is proposing the addition of a visual art piece that commemorates women’s history and contributions to agriculture in Montgomery County and funding a study and application to list the market on the National Register of Historic Places.