Bethesda-based real estate firm Washington Property Company will develop its first mixed-use project to combine office, retail and residential if Montgomery County approves its plan for Hampden East next year. Taking up a full half-block bordered by Hampden Lane, East Lane and Montgomery Lane in downtown Bethesda, it will move forward as redevelopment of two adjacent properties appears to be stalling again. The latest proposal for a long-vacant gas station on the other half of the block, a senior housing high-rise, is "going bye-bye" due to the Covid-19 pandemic, WPC's attorney Bob Dalrymple said during a virtual pre-submittal meeting last night. Across Hampden Lane, the Metro Tower project is now rumored to be waiting until the Purple Line infrastructure construction around it is completed.
The Hampden Lane project already received sketch plan approval last month from the Montgomery County Planning Board. Last night, WPC introduced its Preliminary and Site Plans at the virtual meeting.
Hampden East will feature up to 150 residential units, topped by 300,000 or more SF of office space. The ground floor will have a "grand retail hall" at the southwest corner. A 300-space underground garage will handle parking for the development.
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| Roadway sections around the project |
Architecturally, the office tower portion will present an "interesting profile" on the Bethesda skyline, with sculpting on the south facade. The residential podium will have a more expressive aesthetic, and WPC is focused on creating attractive public spaces at street level. Tying the new spaces to the many other plazas and pedestrian cut-throughs around the site is another goal, as are wide sidewalks.
WPC wants to offer office tenants a biophilic design with green terraces, in the belief that human wellness comes from contact with nature. A shared lobby for all of the building's uses will be active 24 hours a day.
Now that the required meeting has been held, WPC will submit the Preliminary and Site Plans to the County later this month. More detailed architectural and landscaping plans will be presented at another virtual meeting in January or February 2021. The Development Review Committee and Downtown Bethesda Design Advisory Panel are expected to review all of these plans by the end of March 2021.
WPC is hopeful that a Planning Board public hearing for project approval will be tentatively held in May 2021.
2 comments:
Looks like a nice project, and might create a real iconic building.
Too bad the senior housing project is not moving forward. It seems like that site is cursed.
The Metro Tower project has already abated the hazardous materials from the existing building. Not sure why it can’t be demolished even before the new Red Line entrance and Purple Line Station are complete. Yes I know it will be a big and deep excavation for the parking, but I would assume most if not all of the shaft down 130’ to the Metro is already fully excavated and poured.
This will be great, but damn I wish they'd buy the gas station and redevelop the whole block so it'd be done cohesively and efficiently.
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