B.F. Saul Pumps the Brakes on 350-Unit Bethesda Development

• 9:10 AM EDT

by UrbanTurf Staff

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Plans for a major development in downtown Bethesda are being pushed back.

B.F. Saul is seeking extensions to the validity periods of two key approvals for its planned project at 8001 Wisconsin Avenue (map), which would effectively delay the timeline for the development by several years. The approvals were originally granted by the Montgomery County Planning Board in February 2023.

The project, which would redevelop a chunk of a Bethesda block bounded by Wisconsin Avenue, Tilbury Street, Highland Avenue, and West Virginia Avenue, is no small undertaking. As currently envisioned, the development would deliver up to 350 apartments — 15% of which would be set aside as Moderately Priced Dwelling Units — along with up to 15,000 square feet of retail space. The project also carries notable public benefits, including a 70-foot-wide greenway along Tilbury Street.

In filings submitted last month, B.F. Saul pointed to a confluence of headwinds making it impossible to move forward on the original timeline. Chief among them is Montgomery County's 2023 adoption of a rent stabilization program, which the developer argues has significantly undercut the financial viability of multi-family projects across the county. Pair that with persistently high interest rates and construction costs, and a near-total freeze on multi-family building permits in the county — and it's not hard to see why the numbers aren't penciling out right now.

The developer is now asking the Planning Board to grant a six-year extension of the Preliminary Plan validity period to March 2032 and a four-year extension of the Sketch Plan validity period, with the site plan application deadline shifting to 2031. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/bf_saul_pumps_the_brakes_on_350-unit_bethesda_development/24443.