LCOR Breaks Ground On 294-Unit White Flint Project
The next phase of LCOR's North Bethesda Center mixed-use development is underway.
The developer announced Wednesday it broke ground on a 294-unit apartment building at 5410 McGrath Blvd., less than a half-mile from the White Flint Metro station.
The six-story building, branded as Arrowwood, will feature 10K SF of amenities on the ground level, including a clubhouse, a fitness center, a 24-hour coworking center and two music rooms. It will also have a landscaped courtyard with a water feature, grills, a lounge area and a separate section for leisure activities such as yoga.
LCOR received a construction loan from M&T Bank for the $90M project. It will be built on WMATA-owned land through a ground lease with the transit agency.
"This competitively priced project boasts unique architectural details that distinguish it from other wood-frame developments in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region," LCOR Vice President Matthew Hard said in a release.
Arrowwood is the third apartment building the developer is constructing on the site. It previously built the 341-unit Aurora and the 312-unit Wentworth House, which features a 63K SF Harris Teeter grocery store. It also built a 362K SF office building for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
But WMATA let its agreement with LCOR expire for a piece of the White Flint site that includes four undeveloped commercial parcels closest to Rockville Pike. LCOR's Bill Hard told the Washington Business Journal in 2017 he would consider competing for the site again in the future, but acknowledged the prospects for landing a large office tenant for the site are weaker than when the agreement was first struck in 2001.
Montgomery County has sought to spur commercial activity by allowing high-density mixed-use development around the White Flint Metro station. The largest project thus far has been the Pike & Rose mixed-use complex, but its developer, Federal Realty Investment Trust, has voiced concern over the level of public infrastructure investment in the area.
The North Bethesda Center project is one of several large developments in LCOR's pipeline. The developer in January completed the first of seven planned buildings on a 20-acre site near the McLean Metro station. It is also planning a second apartment building in Pentagon City near the future Amazon HQ2 campus. Additionally, it is working on its second apartment building near Union Market, and it recently acquired a 50% stake in the Eckington Yards development.
