Small changes to Edgemont II high-rise plan, some action on Christopher condo's complaints (Photos)

Attendees at a required public meeting for the proposed Edgemont II residential building last night didn't hear any major changes to the plan introduced last year. Most notably, the number of units was reduced from 175 to 160. Several small changes and clarifications by developer Equity Residential were in response to comments made at that previous meeting, however.

Equity Residential's Ben Stoll said the facade treatments for the south side of the building were revised, the Woodmont Avenue sidewalk will get Bethesda Streetscape-design upgrades, and power lines will be buried. The building will still be 15 stories, but the gap between it and the existing Christopher condo tower is now described as being 43 feet. Several illustrations showed how the building will look from units in The Christopher that will face it.

Many in the audience were residents of The Christopher. Stoll had some news regarding their complaint last time that the rooftop machinery on the existing Edgemont building was generating excessive noise. He said they have done some maintenance on the equipment with those complaints in mind. Stoll added that they are also considering adding a screen to reduce the noise level as heard inside The Christopher.

Stoll said Equity's project, and the nearby ZOM project, will improve the pedestrian atmosphere. There still is no street-level retail to activate the area, which is quite dead after business hours, and fenced in by many walls - and buildings that present themselves onto Woodmont as walls. The design does have a graceful curve that mirrors the bend of Woodmont in front of the property.

Shadow study representing
9:30 AM on September 21

Equity expects a 2nd Quarter 2019 groundbreaking, followed by two years of construction.

September 21 shadow study
from a different angle

Shadows at noon on
March 21

Sample views of the Edgemont II
as seen from The Christopher