FIRST LOOK: NEW RENDERINGS OF ULTRA-LUXURY WOODMONT VIEW CONDOS IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

Duball, LLC's future 9-story ultra-luxury condominium project is taking some serious steps forward, in advance of its expected 4th quarter-2014 groundbreaking. The developer has submitted a request for a permit from Montgomery County, to demolish the existing building at 4811 Battery Lane.

There are also new, more-detailed renderings of the building, which is one of the better designs on the boards right now for downtown Bethesda. In these images, Woodmont View retains the distinctive architectural features from earlier renderings. But the facade is lighter, reducing the Dickensian/private-school-for-rich-kids aura of the previous darker versions. You can also see what is increasingly a missing feature on new-generation buildings - a front driveway that will allow Jeeves to deposit you right at the door. Which also helps prevent traffic backups in front of the building.

The building will house only 46 2-bedroom units, and is expected to be delivered in 2016. StonebridgeCarras' 8300 Wisconsin project is currently under construction by Donohoe across Woodmont Avenue; it is depicted in some of these renderings. The latter project includes a Harris Teeter grocery store, which will be convenient for residents of Woodmont View, as well. Woodmont View will contain its own retail tenants, about 3000 square feet on street level, including a restaurant.

Bring the car around, Jeeves!

Preview of a kitchen inside
a Woodmont View unit

View down Woodmont
towards NIH; note
the distinctive roofline
design elements

How the corner of Battery and
Woodmont will look from the
driveway of the Monocle Building
on Battery Lane; that's
8300 Wisconsin on
the right

All images courtesy of Duball, LLC.
All rights reserved.

4825 MONTGOMERY LANE LUXURY CONDOS - BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE (PHOTOS)

Here's the latest progress at the 4825 Montgomery Lane construction site, of a future 4-story luxury condo building.  You can see a Miller and Long crane is now in place, and some preliminary structure work down in the excavation area. This is one of several elite, luxury buildings coming to the Arlington Road corridor of Bethesda over the next few years.

THE LAUREN ULTRA-LUXURY CONDOS - BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

We've been hearing mostly about the marketing campaign for The Lauren, a boutique, ultra-luxury condo building to be constructed on the site of one of the few remaining affordable apartment buildings at 4901 Hampden Lane. Now Montgomery County has issued the builder a sheeting and shoring permit. Sheeting and shoring refer to the temporary bracing utilized to protect both project construction workers, and nearby structures, during excavation and foundation work.

TOLL BROS. REQUESTS REDUCTIONS IN UNITS, PARKING, REC SPACE FOR HAMPDEN ROW CONDOS

Exclusive

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers is requesting reductions in its Hampden Row condominium approved site plan from the Montgomery County Planning Department. "Wait a minute... 'Approved site plan!?' I thought this thing was just announced," you might be saying. Apparently, the Toll Brothers City Living project for this Hampden Lane site is not originally theirs, but a revamp of a previous developer's plan, approved during the real estate bubble period.

Toll Md. IV, the applicant, is requesting a reduction in units from 60 to 55, a reduction in parking spaces from 88 to 69, and a trim of the building's recreational space to 6077 square feet.

According to a document filed by the applicant's attorney, Pat Harris, a more thorough preparation of building permit plans made clear that the proposed structure could not hold 60 units. The developer also believes the current market trend is toward larger units. Harris argues that the new proposal of 69 spaces provides one more than is required by the county, due to the site's proximity to Metro, and location within a transit development area. Likewise, Harris says the new recreational space is still 9% more than the county requires. Finally, the applicant says the new architecture will be more traditional than the site plan originally approved. Therefore, Toll Brothers is requesting amended changes to landscaping and benches.

Overall, Harris describes the proposed changes as minor. The final building design has not been viewed by the public, but the project has gained national attention as suburban homebuilder Toll Brothers enters the urban real estate market.

THE DARCY BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE (PHOTOS)

Here's the latest progress at the Lot 31 construction site at Bethesda Row. The area you see in the photos below is where The Darcy luxury condo building will eventually stand, 10 stories above Bethesda Row. But at the moment, workers are still completing the mammoth, 900-space public parking garage the building will share with The Flats, a luxury apartment building. In the not-so-distant future, you may driving around down there (and hopefully finding a vacant space more quickly than you do at the existing garage on Bethesda Avenue).

Click on photos to enlarge for detail:

WOODMONT VIEW CONDO PROJECT WANTS TO ELIMINATE RESTAURANT PARKING, POOL AND JACUZZI FROM BATTERY LANE SITE (PHOTOS)

Future Battery Lane luxury condo building Woodmont View will not provide parking for customers of its ground floor restaurant, nor the promised rooftop pool and Jacuzzi (for residents), if their waiver request is granted by the Montgomery County Planning Board.

The 9-story luxury project will house only 46 units, and - by my calculation - 8 MPDUs, at the northwest corner of Battery Lane and Woodmont Avenue. Currently, the site is home to a small structure that includes a dry cleaners. Past tenants included a tattoo parlor.

Developer Duball, LLC argues that there will be plenty of parking in Public Parking Garage 35 on Woodmont Avenue, less than a block away. Duball says the on-site restaurant parking would require a costly valet service, thereby raising condo fees.

It is unclear what the effect of this waiver would be on already-tight on-street parking on Battery Lane. Last year, a group of residents organized to fight a county plan to place parking meters on Battery Lane. With at least three new mixed-use projects on the books nearby, parking pressures should reach new heights in the coming years.

Duball further argues that moving the fitness center and community room closer to the ground floor will "activate" the street. I doubt that, given that such facilities rarely are full around the clock. You really need retail or restaurants to activate an urban sidewalk through the evening.

The request to delete the rooftop pool is interesting. That 70s Building (a.k.a. The Gallery), a short distance away, will have a rooftop pool. Woodmont View will be at a disadvantage, then, with wealthy buyers seeking premium amenities.

Both buildings will allow an easy walk to work for employees of NIH and Walter Reed.

One intriguing note on Woodmont View: If I recall correctly, its original project approval hinged on the requirement that the building's eatery be a "quality restaurant."

We often hear that developers can't be required to include a particular commercial use, much less a class of that use.

But here we have an apparent legal precedent set in Montgomery County. It not only requires a restaurant, but a quality one. Should the Apex Building be torn down, the board could therefore require a "quality" movie theater be located within the new development.

Finally, the design of the building is not bad, in my opinion. It isn't exhilarating, but does have the distinctive roof accents you can see below. Certainly, it's far better than the hospitalesque design of the Trillium-replacement project across Woodmont.