The housing type Montgomery County elected officials and planners insist is the most-needed and most-popular has few takers on the actual real estate market. Developers have been unable to fully lease-up the new rental apartment towers delivered in the post-recession era with traditional tenants paying full freight. Instead, building owners have converted varying numbers of units to hotel, dorm-room, corporate housing and other uses. With hotel uses, some owners have resorted to unofficial airbnb rentals, while the owners of others like The Elm have sought legitimacy by having the County approve an official hotel designation for a set number of apartments. Developer MACAW 100, LLC is now seeking to take the latter approach.
MACAW 100 had previously received approvals for a 12-story residential building with 76 units at 4824 Edgemoor Lane, a property currently occupied by a single-family home. Now it is requesting amendments to its Preliminary and Site plans that would increase the total number of units to 111, but designate up to 65 of them as hotel rooms. Montgomery County planning staff asked the applicant to refer to the hotel rooms as "Short-Term Residential Rentals" (STRRs), which are regulated more like airbnbs than traditional hotel rooms.
22 units will be designated "co-living" units. This means they will have several bedrooms leased by individuals or couples, who will all share the common kitchen, living and bathroom areas of the apartment.
With 111 units, the applicant will provide 45 parking spaces, the minimum required by Montgomery County at this location. That is because of the proximity of the site to the Metropolitan public parking garage, which is located diagonally across the street. Interestingly, when the project was approved for 76 units, the plans included 65 parking spaces. One short-term parking space will be provided for deliveries and ridesharing pick-ups and drop-offs. 54 long-term bicycle parking spaces will also be provided.
Residents of adjacent residential buildings have submitted letters and emails to the County Planning Department, raising several concerns about the revisions to the project. These include traffic circulation, the proposed location of the building's garage entrance, the minimal setbacks from the property line for the building's footprint, the lack of space between the building and next-door neighbor The Chase, skepticism over the adequacy of the drop-off parking space, the lack of new public meetings for the community prior to the upcoming public hearing on the proposal, the fact that the new traffic measurement numbers are showing only two additional vehicle trips for the 111-unit building than had been estimated for the 76-unit building, and proposed windows that will face The Chase.
The Montgomery County Planning Board will review the amendment requests at its Thursday, March 9, 2023 meeting. Planning staff are recommending approval of the amendments with conditions.
Despite promises by the Montgomery County Council and Planning Board over the last two decades, apartment rents in Bethesda have continued to rise, not fall, as thousands of new units are built. There is very little demand for such expensive apartments, leading developers to find new uses such as hotel rooms. Much like the $2+ million duplexes and $1 million condos that will result from the controversial Thrive 2050 County master plan, the reality of Montgomery County's developer-enriching buildapalooza growth policies doesn't match up with the "deeply-affordable," "missing middle," and increasingly-desperate race-baiting hype that surrounds it.
The new rental housing - when tenants can be found - is for the well-off, and the privileged business traveler and tourist. If you live downtown - especially in or near a new apartment building - you're probably familiar by now with that Bethesda post-recession phenomenon, the luggage-on-wheels brigade: the folks you see walking into the lobbies of new apartment towers pulling a rolling suitcase behind them.
Renderings via Montgomery County Planning Department
So you are suggesting that something is inherently wrong with the idea of short term residential rentals? This seems like a cross between an extended stay hotel and renting a furnished apartment. This seems like a great way to offer a variety of options for many residents.
ReplyDeleteYou suggest that developers are building un-leasable apartments, but in fact six high-rise apartment buildings are currently under construction, and about two dozen more are fully entitled, or in the approval process. Perhaps they know more that you about multi-housing development and leasing.
Regarding co-op housing, where tenants rent a bedroom, and have shared access to a living room, dining room, kitchen and bathrooms, this is a new trend in affordable market rate rental housing. Offering single tenants a very affordable lifestyle in a luxury apartment tower. In many ways, it’s not unlike student housing. Certainly not for most folks, but this seems like a nice interim option for recent graduates testing the water on where they might like to live and work.
I believe the developer is still required to provide 15% or 17 MPDU apartments as part of their approval, so even more affordable housing will be available, where none exist on the site.
I can understand some of the arguments of the Chase condo owners regarding loading, but I would imagine that these STRR’s and co-living residents likely own very little furniture, and as you say, move in with just a few roller suitcases. So much parking in downtown is provided by nearby county parking decks, I’m surprised the county requires any parking on site at all. Having fewer spaces in the new plan would seem to reduce the concerns of the neighbors.
The question of massing, setbacks and tower separation was resolved and approved several years ago. The developer and architect provided many elements to help mitigate these issues on this small site. I still think the best option would have been to work directly with the Chase and negotiate benefits for both, like shared parking and loading access, and shared amenities like a new roof terrace, lounge and fitness rooms available to Chase residents, and pool and tennis court access for the new neighbors. A unified design solution could have benefited both existing condo owners and new apartment tenants.
The building will be obstructing The Chase’s view. Why would Chase residents want to share their parking, loading dock, swimming pools, tennis court, and other amenities?
DeleteGirl in md
DeleteAre you suggesting that there’s a problem with st rentals and an exit off woodmont and no place to park or unloadš¤£
DeleteWith all the new deliveries and several more projects already underway, I have a crazy idea.... Maybe just don't build if the demand isn't there? Crazy I know.
ReplyDeleteThe other issue is the degradation of the quality of existing residents due construction noise.
ReplyDeleteIt never ends. I remember one office project that went on through the night because they did not want to disturb THEIR tenants with no though to the tenants next door.
Learning
I sold a unit in a nearby high-rise condominium building and moved to another state. Apart from the high taxes and rising crime in MoCo, one of the things that motivated me was seemingly limitless construction of luxury high-rise apartment buildings and mystery surrounding the business model on which they were based. Where were all the people able and willing to rent these apartments going to come from? This post confirms my skepticism, but I still don't understand why you characterize this growth policy as 'developer-enriching.' If there is insufficient demand for these apartments and the costs of building and maintaining them can't be covered, who ends up holding the bag? Another thing -- I used to be in the field of socialist economies, and the so-called 'co-living units' remind me of the communal apartments in the former Soviet Union. Yet another sign of the Sovietization of American life.
ReplyDeleteThe nearly brand new Elm has only 21 of its 456 units vacant, so it is 95.4% leased. The older Flats at Bethesda Avenue has 7 of its 146 units vacant, so it is 95.2% leased. I am told that the ideal vacancy rate for multifamily apartments is 97%, which allows the management company a few vacant units to show potential tenants, and get them on a wait list, instead of simply turning folks away with a full building. Most buildings no longer have furnished “model” units to show potential tenants, as leasing is so high.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I buy the idea that these apartment buildings are being built, but are not in demand.
10:32: The question is, how many of the occupants are paying the full advertised rent, and how many are in there via another private process, such as contract housing, college dorm use, airbnb, etc.? That information is not available to the public. I wouldn't know about any of this, except for meeting people around Bethesda who live in these buildings who have told me - or fall into these alternative categories themselves, and seeing the airbnb listings and actual hotel room reviews of some of the new luxury apartments(!) online.
ReplyDeleteLook. You can only build so many apartments in Bethesda. There is not unlimited demand when D.C. and other parts of Montgomery County also offer hundreds of options. This must be why Artena Bethesda is having trouble getting off the ground.. The Banks are probably questioning whether they can reasonably fill up the apartments there..........and what do we have instead. An abandoned block right on Wisconsin Ave ! This also doesn't bode well for the NEW Apartment Building planned for the derelict gas station in the middle of downtown Bethesda on Wisconsin Ave, although I would personally like to see that Apartment Building go up !
ReplyDeleteYou must realize that the Elm and the Flats at Bethesda Ave are 2 very high end buildings that routinely charge over 3K starting rent for 1 Bedrooms. You cannot measure all of the apt demand in Bethesda simply by the 2 of the Highest End Apartment Buildings. There are much higher vacancies in the middle end and at the lower end of the spectrum.............
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why the obvious demand for hotel rooms in Bethesda is seen as a negative.
ReplyDeleteUnless you are involved with the moribund AirBNB business model.
Presumably there isn't demand for regular apartments, otherwise they'd go with that rather than this Airbnb model. More work trying to fill rooms days at a time rather than locking someone in for a year lease.
ReplyDelete12:25 PM
ReplyDeleteI don’t think many developers purposely try to build “middle end and lower end of the spectrum” housing, at least not in downtown Bethesda. Robert’s argument has been that many of these new towers have high vacancies or are somehow filled with short term Air B&B rentals, subsidized corporate housing, neither of which I think is a negative leasing idea. All these so called alternative categories still support local restaurants and shops and help make the city a vibrant and diverse place. Not everyone can afford a high end condo in downtown Bethesda.
At my former Bethesda high-rise condo, the HOA rules restricted renting to a minimum 1-year lease. The reasons are obvious -- to safeguard building security against use of units by potentially violent transients and for activities such as prostitution. Why would you want to invest in a condo or pay high monthly rents for luxury apartments with an elevated risk of dodgy neighbors? Commenters who question why the demand for short-term Air B&B rentals or hotel rooms is seen as a negative must be thick or disingenuous. Blurring the distinction between condos and long-term rental apartments, on the one hand, and short-term housing like hotels, on the other, is just another sign of societal decline.
ReplyDeleteResidents of the Chase would gain access to the new rooftop terrace on the new building, a new fitness center and lobby spaces. A single shared loading and trash area would reduce the amount of curb cuts, as would a single entrance point for shared access to underground parking. By eliminating the expensive robotic parking system in the new building, a larger shared lobby could be shared by both towers.
ReplyDeleteThis would be similar to how the Edgemoor Apartments was enhanced by the Edge Apartments, sharing a new roof terrace, fitness center, and the existing pool. Sharing the parking entrance and loading area reduced curb cuts. Yes I know this was all one ownership, so quite different than the Chase and their new neighbor. Sometimes it is better to work together for a common gain, instead of opposing the inevitable and gaining nothing.
By the way, anyone who bought a north facing condo in the Chase should have been well aware that their views would some day be impacted. Both properties have been zoned for 12 story towers for quite some time. The Downtown Bethesda Plan clearly allows reduced tower separation when adjacent buildings are 12 stories high or less, as long as certain conditions are met. I would say that the developer made quite a few compromises to their design to get their project entitled.
@ 12:54 PM - An actual hotel is not "this AirBNB model".
ReplyDelete8:19, are you the officially designated flak for the builders and property developers, or is the position self-appointed?
ReplyDelete