Bethesda construction update: St. Elmo Apartments (Video + Photos)

Let's take a look at the construction site of the future St. Elmo Apartments at 4931 Fairmont Avenue in Bethesda. The 22-story apartment tower will house 276 luxury apartment units, 6000 square feet of ground floor retail and restaurant space, and a 220-space underground parking garage. Developed by Duball, LLC and the Lenkin Companies, a Q1 2024 delivery has been anticipated for the project. However, unexpected delays encountered during the excavation process this year could change that slightly.

Bethesda construction update: St. Elmo Apartments (Photos)

Construction of the St. Elmo Apartments at 4931 Fairmont Avenue in Bethesda remains stuck in the very earliest phase. It looks like there is still excavation work going on. There are some sections of very large pipe stacked up on the site, perhaps related to the stormwater management system. Delivery of the 22-story apartment tower is anticipated in Q1 2024.

Bethesda construction update: St. Elmo Apartments (Photos)

Construction is still in the very early stage at the site of the St. Elmo Apartments at 4931 Fairmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Some sheeting and shoring work has been done along the Fairmont Avenue side of the property in preparation for excavation for the tower's underground parking garage. The St. Elmo Apartments will house 280 residential units and 7000 square feet of retail space.

St. Elmo Apartments construction update (Photos)

Demolition is now complete at the future site of the St. Elmo Apartments at 4930 Fairmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Heavy equipment is grading the site ahead of excavation of the four-level underground parking garage, and a crane was brought in to lift what appeared to be a large section of pipe. There's also some interesting work going on at the western property line with the building next door. Signage on the perimeter fence indicates that the project being developed by Duball, LLC, Lenkin Co. and Daiwa House has received funding from Bethesda-based EagleBank.

Public plaza at Bainbridge Bethesda closes to the public

The public plaza at the Bainbridge Bethesda apartment tower that provides a pedestrian cut-through between St. Elmo Avenue and Fairmont Avenue is now closed off. Construction fencing was erected that blocks passage through the plaza. The new St. Elmo Apartments development will begin construction soon directly next door, and will share this plaza, which will get updated in the process. It never quite reached its potential, as empty storefronts failed to activate it as a gathering spot, but it was a handy mid-block short cut.

Public art installations along
the west side of the plaza have been
removed

These newer public plazas and promenades have been a fixture of the post-Great Recession developments like Gallery Bethesda I&II, Flats at Bethesda Avenue, 8001 Woodmont and the Bainbridge. 8001 Woodmont will be an excellent test to see if having Trader Joe's and Orangetheory Fitness alongside its plaza will make it a more active space than the others have become so far. Donohoe's Gallery Lane-branded plaza shared by the Gallery I and II on Auburn Avenue has tremendous potential, if some dining or nightlife tenants can be brought in to the ground-level retail spaces. We'll see what St. Elmo developers Duball, LLC and Lenkin and the owners of Bainbridge Bethesda can work out here, to give this plaza a boost by the middle of the decade.

Demolition starting for St. Elmo Apartments in Bethesda (Photos)

Preliminary work has begun on the demolition of several structures on St. Elmo Avenue in Bethesda. They include the former Vuk, Chef Tony's and PureFire Yoga spaces (Chef Tony's and PureFire both have new Bethesda locations). This multi-property site is being cleared for the St. Elmo Apartments project; some structures on the project's Fairmont Avenue side have already been demolished.

Demolition nearing for buildings on St. Elmo Apartments site in Bethesda (Photos)

The development team behind the future St. Elmo Apartments has requested demolition permits from Montgomery County for the buildings that currently stand on the future tower's site. These include the former Vuk, Chef Tony's (the owners of which have a new restaurant in the Promenade at Pooks Hill, and are planning to open a second in downtown Bethesda at a future date) on St. Elmo Avenue, and a legendary TV repair shop on Fairmont Avenue. 

The St. Elmo will be right next to the Bainbridge Bethesda, with which it will share a redesigned public plaza. Along with the now-leasing 8001 Woodmont development, the St. Elmo is the longest-running redevelopment project in downtown Bethesda. Both projects were first proposed in 2014, and ran into numerous delays. Some demolition for the St. Elmo already took place along Fairmont Avenue in 2018, and that portion of the property has been put to interim uses, such as storage parking for EuroMotorcars.