Bethesda construction update: 4831 West Lane (Photos)

Construction of a seven-story, 120 unit apartment building at 4831 West Lane in downtown Bethesda is well underway. The SJG Residential project will offer 15% affordable units. Small, quiet streets around the project have made it controversial among existing nearby residents. But the development could also be considered modest, given that it is only a block from the Bethesda Metro station.

New project getting started on West La. in downtown Bethesda (Photos)

Heavy equipment is being positioned on West Lane in downtown Bethesda, as a demolition team gets ready to knock down four single-family homes on this tiny street off of Montgomery Lane. They will be replaced by a 120-unit, seven-story residential building at 4831 West Lane. That project will include 15% affordable units.

The developer of the project is SJG Residential. As you can see in the photos, they have applied for the demolition permits.

On the left ahead is
4825 Montgomery La.,
a recent condominium
addition that appears to
have pre-sold its 4 units

4831 WEST LANE APARTMENT PROJECT HEADING BACK TO PLANNING BOARD (PHOTOS)

Montgomery County planners are recommending approval of the reworked luxury apartment project at 4831 West Lane in downtown Bethesda. Originally approved as the Holladay at Edgemoor, a six-story building with 48 units, the project has been upped to seven stories and 120 units. Nearby residents have expressed concern about the size of the building, and the potential for the small access roads to be overwhelmed by traffic.

The building will include 15% affordable units, which exceeds the County's minimum requirement, but alone will not achieve the total number of affordable housing units originally envisioned for the Arlington Road corridor. It is also in very easy walking distance to the Bethesda Metro station.

Architecturally, it will not feature the house-like roofline previously recommended by planners for buildings in this corridor. That recommendation was also not enforced for other projects previously approved, such as 4825 Montgomery Lane. The developer is SJG Residential.

Yellow outlines the
project area

The lobby entrance will be at
the corner of West and
Montgomery Lanes

PRE-SUBMITTAL COMMUNITY MEETING FOR WEST LANE DEVELOPMENT IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

A pre-submittal community meeting will be held for a planned, multi-family residential project on West Lane in Bethesda. The meeting will be on Wednesday, January 22, at 7:00 PM, at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, located at 4805 Edgemoor Lane. There has been much concern among nearby neighbors about development planned for West Lane. A house at 4831 West Lane is already planned to be demolished for new development. The Preliminary Plan and the site plan amendments will be discussed.

4831 WEST LANE HEADS BACK TO PLANNING BOARD FOR APPROVAL (PHOTOS)

Dissatisfying all-around, future luxury residential building 4831 West Lane is heading back to the Montgomery County Planning Board with 2 minor adjustments from planning staff:

A 15' setback from the property's western boundary, and a 15' setback from the northern boundary.

This is unlikely to satisfy nearby homeowners who have expressed concerns about the project's size, and the possibility that traffic volumes will exceed Montgomery Lane's capacity.

Transit-oriented development folks could ask, on the other hand, how planners who claim to be "smart growth" gurus could approve a 7-story building only a football's throw from Metro.  While a 10-story building is going to loom over single-family homes in the Sacks subdivision. Does that make any sense?

The Arlington Road corridor was always going to be a huge challenge, and someone was sure to be dissatisfied no matter what, for that reason.

You have a residential neighborhood right behind the library. And homes and townhomes new and old.

That part of town was once claimed to be where affordable apartments would be provided. Developers and their buddies on the County Council made sure that didn't happen. Instead, boutique luxury mini-hulks and $1M+ townhomes began to pop up.

There are only so many sites around Metro, and so many in that spot have now been wasted in that fashion.

On the other hand, if you approve so many townhomes, don't you then have to rethink the idea of a 7-story building right next to them? This is what happens when you have a County Council beholden to developers: a complete hodgepodge mishmash.

Maybe they should call 4831 West Lane "Hodgepodge Lodge."

This particular building has a small section of glass at the entrance, but the rest is simply mundane. I cut-and-paste, therefore I am.

And, man, get a load of that sketch of the future building at Hampden and Arlington Road. Holy Berlin Wall, Batman!

Let's hope that's not the finished product. Yikes.