A developer that previously proposed building an apartment building structure that would hold 9 townhome units at 4702 West Virginia Avenue is now more than doubling the number of units to 19. The lot, which currently hosts a recently-built single-family home, is adjacent to a pubic parking lot. A required public meeting on the new proposal will be held
Monday, September 16, 2019 at 7:00 PM at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, Conference Room D, at 4805 Edgemoor Lane.
You can see renderings of a previous iteration of the development here. I think they should use a more home-like roofline, whereas this has a boxy, behind-the-Iron-Curtain aesthetic. It should be clear this is a building where people live, rather than a government facility, on a lot that is at the edge of a residential, SFH neighborhood. And in order to actually deliver the green space depicted in some of the renderings, they would need to purchase the lot next door and knock that house down, as well.
Renderings courtesy SK+I Architecture
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28 comments:
"An apartment building structure that would hold 9 townhome units"
"Building structure" is redundant and townhomes are not apartments.
"The developer...is now more than doubling the number of units to 19."
Where are the additional 10 units proposed to be located? The graphic (properly attributed - thank you!) shows only the original 9.
"I think they should use a more home-like roofline, whereas this has a boxy, behind-the-Iron-Curtain aesthetic."
It appears that you are trying to say that the building should have a sloping rather than a flat roofline - e.g. gable or mansard.
But flat roof = "behind-the-Iron-Curtain aesthetic"? "Government facility"? That's just argle-bargle.
5:47: That's why they're having the meeting, to show the newest plan and renderings.
It's the flat roof, the windows, the boxy building design, and the doorways that overall give it a government facility-almost-penitentiary aesthetic. No one should be facing that from their home's front lawn in a quiet residential neighborhood.
Would you describe the Fairmont Plaza as having a "behind-the-Iron-Curtain" or "government facility-almost-penitentiary aesthetic"?
5:57: No - it has a resort hotel design, as do the other Nathan Landow buildings like The Seasons and The Promenade. If you've been in the Promenade, it's like being aboard a cruise ship. Landow is one of the top developers in Bethesda history.
Lots of residential buildings have flat roofs, but I would agree that the previous plan was very very unimaginative. The narrow walkway that lead back to the southern townhouse entrances all passed right by the entrances and large living room spaces of their neighbors. This typology works nicely on a corner, or when lining a street. But not so much on a narrow mid-block site. Even with the neighbor house as a park, the privacy issues still exist as folks would still walk right by their neighbors front doors.
I hope the added density allows them to use a more conventional system of stacked flats with a central elevator. SK+I can do better.
Landow is in the MoCo Hall of Titans, with others such as Sam Eig
By the way, Eig passed his shield to me, lakeside at the Rio.
A little MoCo history for your Wednesday morning.
6:56: Totally false. I do not live in that building. BS artist and stalker in action. Your comment has been screen-captured for law enforcement review and future legal action.
The rendering shown is for the original plan with 8 units (6 townhouse-type and 2 “flats”). The developer has asked for public benefit points for “exceptional design”, and it certainly is exceptionally ugly:
https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/4702-West-Virginia-Avenue-DAP-Submission-Sketch-Plan.pdf
We will see how the developer plans to build 19 units on this 10,500 SF lot. The adjacent lot (with its SFH) is earmarked for the Eastern Greenway, so maybe the developer plans to build up: zoning is for a height of 70’ and the original plan is for only 35’.
The developer is going to tear down a huge SFH that is only ten years old. Are McMansions obsolete, as Robert Schiller says?
Definitely a nomination for worst design of the year in Bethesda.
The Bethesda Plan isn't inspiring great design work.
"home-like roofline"
???
I'd hate to live life that paranoid.
"The Fairmont Plaza has a resort-hotel design."
Said absolutely no one.
It was actually quite audacious that they showed a rendering with the neighbors house torn down, and turned into a park for the benefit of their project, except for one small detail, they don’t own the neighbors house. At the public meeting, the developer said the neighbor was being very “difficult”. I suppose I might be difficult as well, if someone tried to build this poorly planned project next door to me, in the hope that I would sell my house to the county as a park.
7:34 AM - Reminds me of Clark vs. Brookfield at Bethesda Metro Center.
7:33: Based on your praise of the 3 boxes x 3 boxes Westbard site plan, you're hardly a distinguished or credible architecture critic. Anybody with a brain can tell both the Fairmont and The Seasons are based on resort hotel designs.
Anybody with a brain.
Tell us Robert with that incredibly large brain of yours are you an expert on architecture? I bet you know more about it than Frank Lloyd Wright ever did
No comments about the acquisition of the Clark Building by Stonebridge and Rockwood? A rather big announcement today.
This sale could help clear the path for 4 Metro Center, and likely end Clark’s lawsuit against Brookfield. Stonebridge and Rockwood have announced that they intend to buy the tower for $133M and remodel the facade, add windows at the top opaque portion, and redo lobby and entrance areas. It would be nice to see some improvements to this tired old building. They plan to raise the bar to make it a bit closer to the four new trophy office and bio-lab buildings approved or underway in downtown.
Maybe they could open up the base for retail and be more integrated with the proposed 4 Metro Center tower, and increase the activity in and around the proposed new plazas.
You hate developers right?
Looking forward to it!
If one hated this building design that doesn't mean they hate all developments. Just dislike bad stuff like this. Hate is kind of strong word, right?
This is a terrible design. No one in the community is admiring it.
"townhomes are not apartments"
Well, the Flats have townhome style apartments, so there's that.
Mr. Dyer's troll turns every article into a discussion of Robert Dyer: where he lives, what he had for lunch, his college coursework, etc.
I've never seen so much interest in the personal life of a local news publisher. He knows Robert well but doesn't like the criticism of particular projects he works on. He may just want to take this off line, since Dyer's wide readership has little interest in the personal squabble.
You speak only for yourself Mr "Tom Andrews". Or yourself and your other aliases.
For some, it's the reason to read the blog.
@9:44 - That is big news! It would be great to have the Clark building revitalized, especially with Metro 4 coming soon and all the improvements that Hyatt has made.
Looks like the factory / loft style they used at the Copley in Crown / Gaithersburg. That's what the kids like nowadays, I guess.
@7:34AM: I also found the developer's characterization of the neighbor distasteful and was disappointed that the Chair did not admonish the developer for making personal attacks on the neighbor.
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