How a New County Rule Could Fast Track This 26-Story Bethesda Tower

• September 3rd

by UrbanTurf Staff

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A year-old change to Montgomery County's zoning code could shave months off the approval timeline for one of downtown Bethesda's largest residential projects.

The Pinkard Group is looking to take advantage of the county's expedited approval process for office buildings converting to residential use for the 450-unit development that it has on the boards for the office building at 7201 Wisconsin Avenue. 

Here is how the expedited process works: Rather than going through the standard sketch and site plan review, qualifying projects can move through a single expedited plan — provided the existing building is at least half-vacant and gets rebuilt as an apartment or townhouse development. The seven-story office building at the corner of Willow Lane is currently less than 50% occupied, which the filing argues clears the threshold for the shortcut.

If the expedited path holds, the Pinkard Group would be cleared to demolish the existing building and replace it with a 26-story apartment tower designed by SK+I Architecture. In exchange for skipping steps in the review process, the filing leans on the county's affordable housing incentives to justify the building's height: with MPDUs making up 17.6% of the units, the project qualifies for a 12-foot bonus on top of its zoned maximum, bringing the tower to 262 feet. The site's design has already been through several rounds with the Bethesda Downtown Design Advisory Panel, and the project's plan for relocating — or, if necessary, decommissioning — the existing Crystal Willow public art installation was approved by the Art Review Panel in June.

The filing makes its case for speed on other fronts too, arguing the new residential building would generate significantly fewer peak-hour vehicle trips than the office use it replaces, and that nearby schools have enough capacity to absorb the roughly 34 new students the project is expected to add. 

The project looks for its first approval at the Development Review Committee later this month. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/how_a_new_county_rule_could_fast_track_this_26-story_bethesda_tower/24962.