Wednesday, April 05, 2023

Approval sought for 5500 Wisconsin Avenue redevelopment plans in Friendship Heights


The Donohoe Companies and Carr Companies are seeking approval from Montgomery County of the Site Plan and a Sketch Plan Amendment for their proposed redevelopment of 5500 Wisconsin Avenue. Currently home to a one-story retail building and a Courtyard by Marriott hotel, the project would replace the retail building with a mixed-use tower, while retaining the existing hotel. A shared street would be placed between the new building and the hotel for loading dock and drop-off/delivery purposes. The new building would house up to 300 residential units, a 2-level residents-only underground parking garage with up to 340 parking spaces, and up to 11,015 square feet of ground floor retail/restaurant space.


While the Village of Friendship Heights unsuccessfully challenged the plan in court, it has now reached a private agreement with the developers. In the proposed Sketch Plan amendment, the project would receive bonus density transferred from a single-family home property nearby at 4608 N. Park Avenue. This would limit the future redevelopment of that small property to the height of the existing home. The developers will also receive bonus density for providing more Moderately-Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs) than is required under the existing sector plan. An additional height bonus is being sought under the "T-zone" provision of the County code, which will allow up to 187' in height, instead of the 90' maximum currently allowed there under the existing zoning.


Via the Site Plan, we are getting a much more detailed look at the architectural design. The stated goal at the June 2021 community meeting was to have the architecture compliment the surrounding buildings. In the final renderings, you can indeed see some details that allude to architectural features of nearby properties such as the Chevy Chase Building (5530 Wisconsin) and the Barlow Building (5454 Wisconsin), while the overall design is contemporary (such as the ubiquitous "facade frame" found on many new buildings).


Planning staff say they have received 11 letters of support - 10 from Friendship Heights residents, and 1 from the Coalition for Smarter Growth - for the 5500 Wisconsin Site Plan and Sketch Plan Amendment. No correspondence opposing the plans has been received so far, they state in the staff report. Most supporters lament the decline of Friendship Heights over the last two decades, with its empty storefronts and stagnant economy, and state that the 5500 Wisconsin project will attract new businesses and younger residents.


The Site Plan and Sketch Plan Amendment will be reviewed by the Montgomery County Planning Board at its April 13, 2023 meeting. Planning staff are recommending approval of both.



21 comments:

Anonymous said...

"the project will attract new businesses and younger residents." The 'if you build it, they will come' mentality is reflected in this post and in the first anonymous comment in response to story about the proposed new apartment building at Sumner Place. To me, this exemplifies the definition of insanity: keep on doing the same thing, and expecting a different outcome.

Anonymous said...

Adding more folks to downtown Chevy Chase and Friendship Heights can only help the retail and restaurants to be more viable. Same for the other two large apartment buildings proposed just south of Western Avenue.

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness Friendship Heights might finally see some interest! It has been boring and ugly for so long.

Anonymous said...

From joint meetings between the Bethesda and Chevy Chase neighborhood groups during the planning of the 2017 downtown Bethesda plan: "We [Chevy Chase residents] don't want Chevy Chase to turn into downtown Bethesda."

From an earlier time when developers and the County Council and Planning Board were pushing for (and ultimately approved) extensive re-development of the Chevy Chase Lake area ~ the neighborhood group even brought members of the Council and Board to that area to express and show their concerns. No matter ...

"A proposal to turn a small Chevy Chase shopping center near the Beltway into an urban town center resembling downtown Bethesda or Old Town Alexandria has alarmed many of the area's roughly 10,600 residents.

Residents have flooded the county Planning Board with more than 200 pages of letters and emails just in the last month, concerned that the proposed development of Chevy Chase Lake will overwhelm already crowded roads and schools. ..."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/chevy-chase-building-plan-draws-residents-ire

I know the post on Robert's blog is about Friendship Heights, but I wanted to toss this into the mix to show that the concerns expressed by county residents and voters are not new, and have been ignored for years.

Anonymous said...

8:00 AM - Actual insanity is forcing people to live in Frederick County or even farther away and then acting shocked that I-270 is a parking lot.

Anonymous said...

This is not a high-rise in the middle of a single family neighborhood, but a high-rise in the middle of an area already populated by other high-rises, only steps from the Metro. I found the complaints and comments about this caper being too much development from the residents of adjacent high-rise condos to be quite comical. I guess Nimby’s gotta Nimb.

In my humble opinion, the mayor and commissioners who sued to try to stop this project should be tarred and feathered, and run out of the village on a (Metro) rail.

Anonymous said...

@7:12 "This is not a high-rise in the middle of a single family neighborhood, but a high-rise in the middle of an area already populated by other high-rises, only steps from the Metro."

You're correct, but the County Council and Planning Board don't care and don't listen when it *is* multiple, unending high-rises in residential neighborhoods and the residents have clearly stated, commented, petitioned, etc., that they want more of a balance to retain some semblance of their community.

Anonymous said...

The pervasive nimbyism and sense of entitlement in DC (especially the Wisconsin Ave and Connecticut Ave corridors on both sides of the DC/MD line) is infamous. But the blatant lack of self awareness of the Friendship Heights nimbys is so absurd that its almost comical.

Every single 'resident of Friendship Heights' dwells in a high-rise building, many taller than what is proposed. The kneejerk local opposition to development has been exposed for what it really is, going well beyond plain old bigotry or xenophobia to extreme egocentrism.

Anonymous said...

"multiple, unending high-rises in residential neighborhoods"

Which residential neighborhood do you see anyone building 'multiple, unending high-rises'?

Anonymous said...

All of the new high-rises have been built on sites that were previously commercial or offices, not SFH.

Anonymous said...

What would be good is to build all along wisconsin from Downtown Bethesda thru Friendship Heights into one contiguous 2-3 mile neighborhood or collections of neighborhoods like Wilson Blvd in Arlington

Anonymous said...

@2:22 See the article below as just one example of what is planned and approved for the county, on top of all the high-rises that have already been built in residential neighborhoods just over the past 5 years or so. Granted, not every one of the 32 projects below is a high-rise building, but most are. Downtown Bethesda has been -- and continues to be -- inundated, contrary to the what the residents and taxpayers have expressed over time that they want. I hope that helps answer your question.

"32 Montgomery County development projects to watch this year"

https://moco360.media/2023/04/03/32-montgomery-county-development-projects-to-watch-this-year/

And "Thrive 2050" hasn't even started.

Anonymous said...

@4:02 Not all residential neighborhoods consist of SFH.

One project that will destroy hundreds of reasonably-priced garden style apartments (*not* units under the affordable housing program, but units for ppl who make, say, $50-$60K a year and don't qualify for income-restricted housing) is on Battery Lane.

*https://moco360.media/2022/06/09/first-phase-of-battery-lane-district-redevelopment-unveiled/
*https://moco360.media/2021/10/12/planners-reviewing-first-phase-of-battery-lane-district-redevelopment/

Another project, also in downtown Bethesda, *will* eliminate SFH in exchange for mid- and high-rise buildings on the east side of Wisconsin Avenue.

These plans also do not appear to take into account an influx of traffic or adjust for increased school populations in these neighborhoods.

Anonymous said...

@1:03

"Granted, not every one of the 32 projects below is a high-rise building, but most are"

Except only 10 of the projects on the list are actually "high-rise" Five to six story buildings are not high-rises. Even if they were all high-rise projects, it's barely a drop in the bucket for a county with 1.1 million residents and half a million existing housing units.

"contrary to the what the residents and taxpayers have expressed over time that they want"

You mean contrary to what a handful of nimbys have expressed over time that they want. Why should the county government seriously listen to anyone saying "Oh I have a home, why are you building more? Everyone else can go live in Frederick or Pr George's counties".

Anonymous said...

@1:15

"One project that will destroy hundreds of reasonably-priced garden style apartments (*not* units under the affordable housing program, but units for ppl who make, say, $50-$60K a year and don't qualify for income-restricted housing) is on Battery Lane."

So they're replacing obsolete multifamily apartments...with higher quality multifamily apartments. It's funny how nimbys pretend to care about those making $50K-60K a year only when redevelopment is involved. And the development you're referring to directly benefits those households since every single affordable unit is getting replaced with an MPDU.

MPDUs have strict rent limits that don't exist in the existing properties (and COVID has shown that these older "affordable" communities are where extrme double-digit rent hikes are most prevalent). Not to mention that the new development will have far better amenities and unit features, more efficient appliances and a more equitable mix of income levels.

Also, while I'm not saying this is the case on Battery Ln, a lot of times these "naturally occurring" affordable housing units effectively become slums, and there are many cases in this county where safety lapses have resulted in tenant injuries and deaths.

Anonymous said...

“Another project, also in downtown Bethesda, *will* eliminate SFH in exchange for mid- and high-rise buildings on the east side of Wisconsin Avenue.“

The site that currently includes Peter’s Carryout, Bethesda Beer & Wine and Citibank, is NOT “SFH”.

Anonymous said...

@7:11 Re: "higher quality multifamily apartment" I've seen many comments about older apartment buildings being referred to as "slums". Do you know anyone in those apartments, and have you visited them? Most units are updated and very nice. Others need work. Perhaps the county housing authority needs to do apartment inspections more often than every 3 years, which requires more resources (funds, trained staff).

By the way, 100 reasonably-priced apartments will be eliminated in Phase 1 of the Battery Lane redevelopment alone.

And how does someone making $60K afford an apartment that costs $2,500-plus? If you are $1 over the income restrictions of the MPDU program, you are shut out and thrown to the open market. Don't people with more modest incomes, like teachers and nurses, deserve to have reasonably priced housing near the Metro and other amenities?

@8:26 Actually, there are SFH on Highland, West Virginia, and Tilbury that will be taken down for that project.

And by the way, I'm not a nimby. I've been fighting for affordable and reasonably-priced housing for everyone across the county for years.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

@ 1:57 PM - 8:26 AM here. I checked and you are correct. There are four individual SFHs on the rear of that block. Plus two more former SFHs that are now offices.

BTW, I am not the same person as 7:11 AM, and I share your concern about the loss of existing affordable multi-family housing. And those buildings on Battery Lane are a bit dowdy on the outside but hardly on the verge of becoming a "ghetto".

Anonymous said...

FYI:

MoCo income restrictions for renting under the County's "affordable housing program" ~ Based on the size of your household, your Maximum Annual Income must be equal to or less than the amount listed in this chart:

# Persons Maximum Annual Income
1 $42,500
2 $48,550
3 $54,600
4 $60,650
5 $65,550
6 $70,400

Anonymous said...

@8:38 Thanks for your follow-up/confirmation of the SFH situation for that downtown Bethesda project and clarification of which poster you are :-)

@4:01 A follow-up note on the income restrictions for renting under the county's "affordable housing program." The income limits are based on annual *gross* household income, not net or modified income. So, if you are a single-person household and your total gross income is $43K, you're shut out of the program. Similarly, if there are two people in your household, and your total gross household income is $50K, you are not eligible for this program. And so on.

Given how expensive rentals are in this county -- with no let-up in sight on increasing rental costs -- those limits are extremely low, in my opinion.


Anonymous said...

The income limits for MPDUs are $70k/yr for new 1 person households

MPDU Income Eligibility Table
New Tenants Renewing Tenants
1 $69,500 $90,350
2 $79,500 $103,350
3 $89,500 $116,350
4 $99,500 $129,350
5 $107,500 $139,750
6 $115,500 $150,150