In the Works: 3 Lower Montgomery County Projects To Watch
The Collection
Area: Chevy Chase
Developer: The Chevy Chase Land Co.
In April, The Chevy Chase Land Co. submitted the application for a site plan amendment to the Montgomery County Planning Board with the proposal to reposition and rebrand Chevy Chase Center and The Collection at Chevy Chase, just across the Maryland-DC border. The board approved the project in September.
CCLC hopes to revitalize the stagnating retail corridor and make it a lively, experiential retail destination. Some of the larger parcels will be sliced up to accommodate smaller boutique restaurants and shops, like recently confirmed NYC eatery Little Beet Table, which will occupy 5k SF. CCLC is collaborating with retail strategy and brokerage firm Streetsense to find tenants more representative of local residents' needs.
CCLC plans to cater to the immediate community with placemaking in the reconfiguration. It is conducting a nationwide search with Streetsense for tenants that appeal to nearby residents, rather than ones intended to attract people from miles out, which has proven unsuccessful recently since the construction of CityCenterDC downtown.
United Therapeutics
Area: Silver Spring
Developer: United Therapeutics
Silver Spring-based biotech firm United Therapeutics has acquired land previously owned by Montgomery County adjacent to its corporate HQ for $10.2M, and plans to demolish the parking garage there to make room for a six-story, 121k SF office.
The approved plan includes 10k SF of ground-floor retail, an 11k SF public plaza and 152 parking spaces in a private underground garage, triple the 49 housed in the one that exists on the site now.
The new space, located at the southwest corner of Spring Street and Colesville Road, will be home to approximately 100 medical researchers and office staff, and expands the local presence of United Therapeutics, which occupies 315k SF in the area. This marks the company’s fourth expansion since establishing its Silver Spring HQ.
The Ewing Cole-designed building is futuristic to match the ethos of the firm, focused on commercializing the innovative treatments for chronic and life-threatening conditions that it develops. The modern facility will have floor-to-ceiling curved glass, more than 2,500 solar panels and a geothermal heating and cooling system.
8008 Wisconsin
Area: Bethesda
Developer: Toll Brothers City Living
In September, the county planning board approved Toll Brothers City Living's plans for a 14-story, 106-unit luxury condo complex at 8008 Wisconsin Ave. in Bethesda.
Pennsylvania-based Toll Brothers purchased the project rights last year from DC-based Douglas Development, which had already made significant headway with approvals for the 0.62-acre site, which encompasses the former Ranger Surplus store, a dry cleaners and the recently closed Beer House on Woodmont Avenue. Douglas was stymied by right of way rules included in the county’s 2013 plan providing for rapid bus transit.
According to the plan, 16-units are designated “moderately-priced dwelling units,” and half will be one-bedroom with the remaining half two-bedroom. Additionally, Toll Brothers will add parking, pay $700k toward the Battery Lane urban park, and 6k SF of the ground floor will be designated nonresidential. According to Bethesda Magazine, a lawyer representing the developer anticipated a 2017 construction start with a late 2018 or early 2019 delivery.
