A tower crane was being installed at the JBG Smith 4747 Bethesda Avenue office building project yesterday. As usually happens, a second crane was brought in to help assemble the tower crane. Pieces of the tower crane sat on flatbed trucks waiting to be moved into position. 4747 will include a 14-story office building with ground floor retail space, and the two-story retail building already constructed next to the site on Bethesda Avenue. Dean & DeLuca will open in that shorter building in November or December.
Wasn't this in the comments on Friday?
ReplyDeleteI can't wait till we start seeing cranes in Westbard!
ReplyDeleteThis crane is almost as big as the sign Robin Ficker was holding at the Taste of Bethesda yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIt was certainly effective and noticeable. Looked like a religious but though if you didn’t know who he was.
Delete4747 Bethesda is now proposed to be a 15 story high office tower. The penthouse on the top was originally approved with an adjacent elevator lobby, small amenity space and access to the rooftop terrace. New plans have been submitted to the county to reduce the amount of mechanical space and add more office space on Level 15. I suspect this might be related to JBG Smith merger, and desire to be in a trophy building. The amended plans submitted to the county show some very tall space on the top. Perhaps a new boardroom for the mergered developer? I see that the new tower crane includes an illuminated logo and sign for JBG Smith. A great way to mark their juture new world headquarters while under construction.
ReplyDeleteThis change adds 14,500 SF of office space on top of the building, and now that occuppiable space is now located on the top, the 15th floor is now required to be included in the calculation of the building height, formerly approved at 143’, now listed at 167’ tall. The massing of the building is not changing, just the amount of usable space.
Also, amended plans propose to construct 2500 SF in a new glass clad addition in the plaza at Bethesda and Wisconsin. The amended plans show a rebuilt plaza that removes the vine covered pergola and adds several terraced seating areas and a dedicated space for outdoor dining.The proposed addition is on the north side of the plaza, and is shown as tall glass boxes adjacent to the existing mid-rise building that extends to Wisconsin. I assume this addition is indended to create a larger space to attract a nice 5000 SF or so restaurant at the corner. A nice idea to help expand Bethedsa Row all the way to Wisconsin, with Dean & Deluca, a new 7000 SF restaurant in the base of 4747 Bethesda, and the new World of Beer lining the north side of Bethesda Avenue. I wonder how soon the south side will get a similar redevelopment. Seems like the bank, Vace, Vance’s and Starbucks could be combined to form another site for a mixed use tower.
It is interesting to me that large JBG Smith / Carr block will soon be anchored by three spacious open spaces at each corner. The aforementioned reconstructed plaza at the southeast corner of the block,with a new glass clad restaurant; the rebuilt and renamed Capitol Crescent Trail Plaza with Dean & Deluca, Landmark Cinema, Hagen Diaz, And Mon Ami Gabi on the east corner, and the proposed Carr Apex Wisconsin Plaza on the northwest corner, with even more restaurants, outdoor dining,water features and the new South Entrance to the Bethesda Metro Station and the New Purple Line Station. I’m sure the Federal Realty is Planning a tower for the last triangular corner the fronts on Elm and the Remodeled CCT Plaza.
Soon to be announced will be a new 250’ or 290’ tall mixed use tower on the north ride of the Apex Wisconsin Plaza. This is kitty corner from the recently announced 22 story high mixed use office and hotel tower on the east side of Wisconsin at Montgomery’s the former police station site, which also propose a very large covered plaza area with a large scale water wall, reflecting pond and artwork. Of course we are awaiting news of the vacant gas station site, now expanded to the West by additional recent land purchases including the Pines of Rome. Another 250’ tall mixed used building, lined with retail and plaza is likely.
Awesome. Thanks for the update!
DeleteIt seems that this area east of Bethesda Row will be a very lively place in a few years, and create a new dense urban streetscape lined with shops, cafes, restaurants and open plazas. Many folks entering and exiting from the transit station (and future BRT) will help populate the street. The new two story high 250 bike station proposed in the base of the Apex Towers will create a node for bikers traveling from the existing CCT on the west side all the way from Georgetown, and the rebuilt Trail adjacent to the Purple Line that will connect all the way to Silver Spring. I predict that this intersection will become an important new epicenter in the region, and compliment the existing and expanding densities at the north Station entrance and in the Woodmont Triangle. Exciting times!
ReplyDeleteSecond time you've typed "religious but" but I agree, he looked like a religious nut. The only thing missing was the face of Jesus molded in sand. Or in his case, the face of himself.
ReplyDeleteThe sky is not that color in Bethesda, or anywhere else on Earth.
ReplyDelete#FakeNews
#Photorrhea
#OMGI'mHavingACranegasm
#ErmagerdCrerns
9:15 - You said "but but".
ReplyDeleteWhy no pictures of Taste of Bethesda, Robbie? Did Mom make you stay at home the whole day?
ReplyDelete@7:05 Thanks for the info. That's an interesting read.
ReplyDeleteI was parked on Wisconsin when the crane pieces were being trucked in. The trucks were having a hard time making the turn from Wisconsin to Woodmont as it's a tight angle. I was going to go out and direct traffic to help him, but my kids were in the car with me.
That reminds me -- how is True Food Kitchen on that corner? The idea seemed kind of kooky to me, but I haven't tried it.
7:05
ReplyDeleteInteresting info. I'm guessing the amendment would still be grandfathered under the prior Bethesda sector plan, not the new sector plan (which allows up to 250'on the site).
Interestingly enough, the full architectural height of the approved building will be around 200' when measured from the west towards Bethesda Row due to the slope. The 'official' measuring point closer to Wisconsin Ave doesn't reflect the actual height.
7:11
ReplyDeleteI believe the 4747 Bethesda height limit in the new sector plan is 170’, hence their proposed amendment to go to 167’ and use as much as possible. I believe the east side of the site, closer to Wisconsin, was raised to 250’. Not sure if JBG Smith is willing to tear down a 12 story building to put up a 22 story building at the corner at this point. Easier to buy and assemble sites on the south side of Bethesda, west of Wisconsin and build build there. That block allows up to 200’. Seems like a full block tower on that side could overlook the plaza they plan to rebuild on the north side.
Now that JBG Smith is establishing their new HQ at this location, I think they may be planning even more intensive development st the south end of town. I think this is evidenced by their implementation of a large illuminated logo and sign on the new tower crane. With all the soon to be announced activity by Bernstein in so-called “symbolic center”, it world seem JBG Smith, along with Carr, might be interested in establishing the area around the South Metro Entrance and the Purple Line Station as an important node, and perhaps even creating a southern shift in the place developers refer to as the intersection of Main and Main, being the premier address in town. With the interstion heavy rail, light rail and a heavily used biker/hiker trail all at Elm and Wisconsin, I think many real estate folks might agree that in a few years, the epicenter may shift, or at least be considered an equal to the current epicenter.
The southern end of Wisconsin, at least on the west side, has quite a few sites that are under-developed that might support this assumption. Of course as a gateway to the city, the southern end seems like an ideal entrance to town on northbound Wisconsin when driving from DC. Of course East West Highway, and Old Georgetown have already built up the density, but perhaps with a bit more dated architectural typology.
By the way, I have not seen how the “measuring point” is actually determined. Some submitted elevations show this point well above any nearby street elevation. Not sure how this point is established.