200 Units and Possibly a Movie Theater Planned For Downtown Bethesda

• February 27th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

Moratorium aside*, another mixed-use development is on the boards for downtown Bethesda, and this one could include a movie theater.

Woodfield Development and Starr Capital are currently working on plans to replace part of a commercial strip and a surface parking lot at 7000 Wisconsin Avenue (map) with up to 200 rental units above up to 15,000 square feet of commercial space.

Roughly 17.5 percent of the apartments will be moderately-priced dwelling units. The building will be roughly 13 stories and will also have 120 parking spaces across three below-grade levels. SK+I Architecture is the designer.

The developers are exploring the idea of bringing a movie theater back to downtown Bethesda, a notion that has been up in the air since development began on the Apex building a few blocks away. The developers are also in talks with the children's museum currently on the site in hopes of the museum returning once the project is complete.

The development team plans to submit a sketch plan application within the next few weeks in advance of an April meeting with the Design Advisory Panel and a June review by the Planning Board.

*The moratorium applies to various county schools, including one in Bethesda, and the boundaries that feed into these schools. It is unclear whether this particular site falls within those boundaries, although the development team cited the moratorium as a concern.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/another-200-units-planned-for-downtown-bethesda/15059.