The portion of The Rae apartment building constructed so far at 10401 Motor City Drive by Montgomery Mall in Bethesda is now four stories above ground level. It will ultimately be five stories tall when it tops out. Foulger-Pratt is the developer of the 343-unit project, which is on the former site of Ourisman Ford. The Rae is on track for delivery in the 3rd quarter of 2023.
They'd better have a decent sound wall and good windows. The noise from the I-270 spur will be constant otherwise. At least it's walking distance to the Mall.
ReplyDeleteWhat you are seeing in the photos is the center part of the so called Texas doughnut. The central cast in place concrete parking deck that will be surrounded by one level of concrete to enclose lobbies, and amenity spaces, and then four levels of wood framed apartments wrapping the parking. This has proven to be the most economical construction typology, and is used all over the country when in dense areas where surface parking is not possible. Way cheaper than underground parking, and wood framing is way cheaper that concrete construction for the residential units.
ReplyDeleteThe core area creates a single loaded corridor for the apartments, and the concrete walls that enclose the deck provide lateral bracing for the wood portion.
If you ever choose to lease an apartment in this type of structure, insist on a top floor unit, as it is almost impossible to properly isolate sound between floors in wood frame construction.
Seems like a strange location for a 300+ apartment building.
ReplyDeleteWith the proposed new development at the mall adding dense housing, a hotel and more open-air retail storefront access, not to mention the redevelopment of the Marriott site to be a massive senior living center, the area is getting much more dense and walkable. The proposed BRT will also help connect the area to either the North Bethesda or Grosvenor Metro stations.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the nearby Home Depot site is more valuable as a similar project compared to a big-box store and a huge surface parking lot.
@5:49 PM: Agreed. Between a Home Depot and the I-270 Spur. I guess they didn't know what else to do with the space, but at least the Mall will get some local resident pedestrian traffic. Should help the newly rebranded AMC Theater there too.
ReplyDelete@10:52AM This complex is no closer to I-270 than The Montgomery Apartments on Rock Forest Drive or any of the single family housing that borders I-270 from there to the 495 junction. Proper buffering have made all these communities successful.
ReplyDelete@9:35 AM: Perhaps so, but buildings are built by the lowest bidder. I'm not expecting this to be quality construction. Many Texas Donuts aren't. Hopefully it isn't a fire-trap. There's a reason they're limited to five stories.
ReplyDelete