Bainbridge cleans up Bethesda lot after being issued violation (Photos)

Montgomery County drug its feet for a couple of years, but its much-belated June 5 code violation notice at the future Bainbridge Wisconsin site has gotten some results. Residents had been complaining for two years about the dilapidated conditions on the property, which was formerly a gas station, located at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and Hampden Lane.

The site first had to undergo an environmental cleanup, as with any gas station property being repurposed as residential. More recently, unmowed grass, weeds, trash and debris made for a conspicuous embarrassment in a prime location in the town's Central Business District.

It took a couple of weeks, but as of yesterday, the site had been cleared and straightened up. Some oil drums are neatly stacked in front of the old gas station building. Redevelopment of the property has been delayed as Bainbridge awaited upzoning of the site in the new Bethesda Downtown sector plan, which finally occurred in May.

MoCo issues violation to Bainbridge Wisconsin property in Bethesda (Photos)

The Bainbridge Wisconsin property, formerly home to a gas station at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Hampden Lane, has received a code violation notice from Montgomery County. A County inspector cites concrete debris, dirt, and old street lights as solid waste that needs to be cleaned up. The form also exhorts the landowner to mow the grass, and something else, but the handwriting is illegible on that line. Many downtown residents have complained about the state of the property, which has been in stasis as Bainbridge awaited passage of the new zoning that would allow greater density on this site.

BAINBRIDGE SEEKS SWAP OF RETAIL SPACE FOR LARGER APTS. AT 7340 WISCONSIN (PHOTOS)

Developer Bainbridge is asking for a reduction in retail space at its 7340 Wisconsin Avenue mixed-use project, as its site plan and amendments go before the Montgomery County Planning Board on September 18. 7340 Wisconsin will be a 14-story residential building with ground floor retail, and a 4-level underground parking garage. Garage access will be from Montgomery Lane.

However, Bainbridge would like to scale back the planned retail component from the original 15,000 square feet to 5,500 SF - a substantial reduction. The architecture - particularly the way the multi-story segments of the building are laid out - is fairly impressive. One has to be disappointed with the low building height, at a project located between an eventual 3 rail transit station entrances (2 Red Line, 1 Purple Line). There are only so many plots of land near the Metro station, and once they're developed, the potential for an appropriately greater density there is gone for decades.

The pool deck will overlook
 Hampden Lane and
Wisconsin Avenue

The number of apartments will remain at 225, but now with larger units. Bainbridge will offer 15% MPDUs, higher than the required percentage by the County.

Remember the also-impressive "Point Field" LED public art installation I wrote about back in March? Boston artist J. Meejin Yoon's piece is still part of the design.

"Point Field" LED art
by J. Meejin Yoon

I'm not sure that anything can be done to change the height of the building at this point, which is less than the current height limit allows. But the idea of encouraging (if not requiring) taller buildings right at Metro - rather than shifting density to buildings that loom over neighborhoods at the edge of downtown, or worse, entirely into suburban areas like Westbard - was something I had hoped would be addressed in the Bethesda Downtown Plan rewrite. As it stands, this building at Metro will be only 2 stories higher than the 12 stories Capital Properties once believed it could build on Westbard Avenue, which is nowhere near a Metro station. That just doesn't make sense.

Planning staff are recommending approval of the plan and amendments, with conditions.

Photos via Montgomery County Planning Department

SNEAK PREVIEW: BAINBRIDGE LUXURY APARTMENT PROJECT AT 7340 WISCONSIN AVE. IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

Building to Feature LED

Art Installation by

Renowned Artist,

Nearby Bar Owner

Concerned Residents

May Complain

Developer Bainbridge is preparing to file its site plan for a 143' tall luxury apartment tower at 7340 Wisconsin Avenue, in downtown Bethesda. The 255-unit building will be near the Bethesda Hyatt hotel and future Purple Line station, and is literally on top of the Bethesda Metro station. As such, Bainbridge attorney Bob Dalrymple predicted, future tenants will be more likely to use Metro than commute by car.

Dalrymple - joined by several architects and a Bainbridge representative - hosted a public meeting on the development Tuesday evening at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services Center. He said Bainbridge expects to file the site plan by the end of this month, and believes the plan will reach the Montgomery County Planning Board for approval in July.

Construction would begin next year, and delivery and occupancy are expected by the end of 2016. The site was formerly an Exxon service station, and has been vacant for some time.

15,000 square feet of the building will be dedicated to other uses, such as retail. But Bainbridge is amending their initial plan to allow greater flexibility in use for that non-residential component. Bainbridge is not ruling out additional density in the overall project, should master plan updates allow it.

The building will have a 4-level, underground parking garage, with access off of Montgomery Lane. 

Some details on the architecture and design are now known. The south side of the building will have a courtyard. A green roof will be among the environmental features utilized to achieve a LEED Silver rating. However, a portion of the roof will be retained for unspecified resident amenities.

Those residents will need to be well off; rents will be at the "higher end of the market." The units will consist of efficiencies, 1-bedrooms and 3-bedrooms.

Public art is expected to be a major element of the design. Some will be in a public use area on Hampden Lane.

The major art piece will be an LED installation called "Point Field," by renowned artist J. Meejin Yoon of Boston. Well-known pieces she has created include "White Noise, White Light" from the 2004 Athens Olympics, and "3 Degrees of Felt" at the Guggenheim. Architecture Record Design Vanguard, and the Rome Prize, are among her prestigious awards.

Artist rendering of
LED art installation,
"Point Field"

Public comment at Tuesday's meeting was interesting. A union representative from the Metropolitan Regional Carpenters asked about wages for construction workers, stating that wages for workers on other Bethesda projects have been substandard. He was rebuffed by attorneys, who said that political discussion was inappropriate for this particular forum.

A representative of Tommy Joe's, a popular restaurant and nightspot located behind the proposed building, was concerned about potential noise complaints from new neighbors. Tommy Joe's sister business, Roof, has already had 20 complaints before the rooftop portion has even opened, he said. Those complaints came from residents of Triangle Towers on Cordell Avenue. 

What level of noise is tolerable at night is a debate expected to only get hotter in the coming year, as the county council seeks to expand late-night bar hours, and expand noise exceptions near urban residences.

A Bainbridge architect said the firm would conduct acoustical testing, to see if conflicts with Tommy Joe's operations could be avoided.

Click on photos to enlarge for greater detail:

Another view of LED
art installation,
"Point Field"

How "Point Field" would
appear lit at night

Montgomery Lane, and
Hampden Lane run along
either side of the site

A potential ground floor
configuration

Overhead view of some
landscaping and art features

How the building will look
if you are driving up
Hampden Lane towards
Wisconsin Avenue

Potential art pieces for
Hampden Lane
public use space

Facade options include
terra cotta (middle image),
similar to the
City Center DC project

All photos by Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row

Renderings within photos are

courtesy of Bainbridge and the

respective architects;

All rights reserved.

PUBLIC MEETINGS FOR BAINBRIDGE WISCONSIN, WESTBARD REDEVELOPMENT TUESDAY NIGHT IN BETHESDA

Two important public meetings are being held in Bethesda tomorrow night, and immediate neighbors of both projects may want to attend.

Linowes and Blocher is holding a meeting regarding the proposed 17-story Bainbridge Wisconsin luxury apartment building at 7 PM Tuesday night, in Room A on the second floor of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services Center, at 4805 Edgemoor Lane. The property at 7340 Wisconsin Avenue was previously an Exxon station.

This project would help to reactivate a dead stretch along Wisconsin between the Hyatt and Elm Street. Bainbridge has opted for residential on this Central Business District site, due to the weak market demand for office space in Montgomery County. 

Another significant meeting will be taking place the same evening in suburban Bethesda.

Equity One is holding a Design Principles presentation for its proposed redevelopment of several properties along Westbard Avenue and Ridgefield Road in Bethesda. Those properties include the venerable Westwood Shopping Center, Westwood Center II,  Bowlmor Bethesda, Springhouse by Manor Care, Citgo I and II, and the Westwood Tower apartments.

The meeting will be held at 7:30 PM Tuesday, in the Walt Whitman HS auditorium at 7100 Whittier Boulevard. This meeting was rescheduled after a previous snowstorm.

The meeting announcement emphasizes retail, but most of the controversy related to any redevelopment of Westbard centers on how much of the construction will be residential. WoodAcres ES, the elementary school that serves the properties in question, is already well over capacity, with at least 6 trailer classrooms outside the building. In contrast to the Bainbridge Wisconsin, which would literally be on top of the Bethesda Metro station, the Westbard area is not within walking distance of Metro.

Here are some pictures of the 7340 Wisconsin Avenue site, which has already undergone some environmental remediation:

FIRST IMAGES OF BAINBRIDGE WISCONSIN BUILDING AT 7340 WISCONSIN AVENUE IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

Developer Bainbridge unveiled preliminary renderings of the mixed-use, luxury residential building it proposes for the former Exxon station site at 7340 Wisconsin Avenue last night.

Some aspects of the project are unknown at this point, and the company's representative stressed that the images are far from final.

Here's what we do know, so far:

If built under the current sector plan, Bainbridge Wisconsin can be a maximum of 143 feet tall. Some attendees at the meeting were dissatisfied, arguing that the site - that will eventually be bookended by two Metro station entrances, and a future Purple Line station - calls for greater height and density.

But, as it stands, Bainbridge will be developing the project under the current restrictions.

As far as the design - which is subject to change, and won't likely have the glass facade shown in these renderings - the Hampden Lane side, with rooftop pool and cantilever design, is quite impressive. The simple box shape of the main structure leaves much to be desired, in comparison. But that is going to change, so I won't critique it at this stage.

The building will have 225 units, ranging from studios to 3-bedrooms. A rooftop pool will be atop the 14th floor, while the upper main roof will be a green roof.

Bainbridge expects the project to earn a LEED Silver award.

No blasting is expected to be required during excavation.

There will be 10,000 square feet of retail, and an artist-designed outdoor patio with artwork benches.

Bainbridge will request a parking waiver, and entrances for loading docks and the parking garage will be off of Montgomery Lane.

Asked why the site sat vacant for so long, Bainbridge says the transaction process for Exxon's charitable foundation is quite lengthy.

The free right-turn function of Montgomery Lane at 355 may change to a regular right-turn lane.

There is concern that buses shifted to Montgomery Lane during Bethesda Metro Center renovations could cause a mess, when combined with construction vehicle traffic related to this project.

What's the best-case construction schedule?

Project Plan approval by this December, Site Plan approval by mid-2014, groundbreaking by end of 2014.

Renderings: Shalom Baranes architects, All Rights Reserved.