Tower crane erected at Westbard Square in Bethesda

A tower crane has been assembled at the Westbard Square development in Bethesda. It will assist with construction of a new 200-unit apartment building, which is the final phase of redevelopment on the former Westwood Shopping Center site at 5400 Westbard Avenue. The stack-and-pack style building will have ground floor retail space, and above-ground structured parking. Greystar is the developer, and the building was designed by MV+A Architects. A mid-2027 delivery is expected for the project.

Tower crane installed at 7340 Wisconsin Avenue construction site in Bethesda (Photos)

The tower crane has been erected at the 7340 Wisconsin Avenue construction site in downtown Bethesda. It's ready to do the heavy lifting for the redevelopment of the former Exxon gas station property. The future high-rise building will include 315,000 gross square feet of development, 300 to 308 residential units, ground floor retail, and around 158 parking spaces. Greystar is the developer, SK+I Architecture of Bethesda is the architecture firm, and John Moriarty & Associates is the main construction contractor.

Tower crane installation on former Exxon site in Bethesda scheduled for April 13, 2024

A contractor for developer Greystar's apartment tower project at 7340 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda is expecting to erect a tower crane on the site on April 13, 2024, weather permitting. To assemble the massive crane, a smaller crane will be brought in that day around 2:00 AM. The smaller crane will be positioned on Montgomery Lane between Woodmont Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue, requiring that street to be temporarily shut down. Work, and removal of the assisting crane from Montgomery Lane, are anticipated to be complete by 9:00 PM that evening - - if all goes according to plan.

The contractor has requested a nighttime noise waiver from Montgomery County for the work. Should inclement weather interfere, the assembly will be postponed to a rain date to be determined. 7340 Wisconsin was previously occupied by an Exxon gas station, which has been demolished amid site preparation.

Mysterious tower crane appears behind Bethesda McDonald's

Tower cranes haven't been seen for decades in the Westbard area of Bethesda, and now there are two. One has a publicly-announced purpose, to assist in construction of the Kensington Senior Living apartment building on the former Westwood Center II site. But the second, which just appeared days ago behind the McDonald's on River Road, does not. 

The crane does not reach far enough to assist the KSL project. A long-delayed self-storage project behind the McDonald's is nearly six years behind schedule, but tower cranes are not used to construct self-storage buildings. The self-storage building here will be only three stories tall when completed. Very strange!

View of both tower cranes from
Westbard Avenue

Sophia Bethesda tower crane removal (Photos)

The Sophia Bethesda apartment tower project hit another milestone this weekend, as a crew began disassembling the tower crane at the site yesterday morning. Fairmont Avenue was closed mid-block between Old Georgetown Road and Norfolk Avenue to make room for the mobile cranes assisting in the operation, and remained closed as of last night. Developed by Greystar and Duball, LLC, the 22-story Sophia will house 276 luxury apartments, 6000-square-feet of retail and restaurant space, and a 222-space underground parking garage. A September 2024 delivery is anticipated.

Tower crane erected at Kensington Senior Living construction site in Bethesda (Photos)

Forrester Construction of Rockville has erected a tower crane at 5485 Westbard Avenue in Bethesda, as construction on a senior housing, assisted living and memory care facility begins. Developer Kensington Senior Living anticipates completion of the project by summer 2025. The development will rise on the former sites of the Westwood Center II mini-mall and Westbard Citgo gas station, which were demolished over the last two years. It is one piece of the redevelopment of the former "Westwood Complex" portfolio of properties built by Dr. Laszlo Tauber, a prominent neurosurgeon and real estate developer who passed away in 2002. Tower cranes are a rare sight in the Westbard area, so you may want to brush up on your crane signal knowledge before operations get underway.

Tower crane assembly underway at former site of Bethesda church (Photos)

Construction of a new apartment building at 8015 Old Georgetown Road is finally accelerating to full steam on the edge of downtown Bethesda. Assembly of a tower crane is now underway. If you've lived here more than a year, you may recall this as the longtime site of Christ Lutheran Church of Bethesda. Developer JLB Partners is constructing an 8-story apartment building with 297 residential units. JLB anticipates a delivery date of April 2024 for the project, which does not yet have a name for marketing purposes.

Tower cranes erected at Hampden House, St. Elmo Apts. construction sites in Bethesda (Photos)

Tower crane assembly is now complete at the future sites of the Hampden House and St. Elmo Apartments developments in downtown Bethesda. Hampden House is at 7316 Wisconsin Avenue, and St. Elmo is at 4922 St. Elmo Avenue. B.F. Saul is the developer of Hampden House; Duball, LLC is the lead developer on the St. Elmo project. Both buildings are anticipated to be completed by the end of 2024.

Crane Day in Bethesda (Photos)

Saturday was Crane Day in downtown Bethesda, as assembly of tower cranes for two major redevelopment projects commenced under cover of darkness early yesterday morning. As regular readers know, it takes a crane to build a crane. Mobile cranes were parked on Fairmont Avenue and Hampden Lane, erecting the tower cranes for the St. Elmo Apartments and Hampden House apartment towers, respectively. Let's take a look:

St. Elmo Apartments, Fairmont Avenue

Hampden House, Hampden Lane