You can see it will be massed as a "C" shape building, and - if all goes as planned - will share an enhanced 10,865 SF public space with next-door neighbor Bainbridge Bethesda apartments. According to a letter to the Montgomery County Planning Department, the developer has already met with representatives of the Bainbridge to begin those discussions.
The sketch plan proposes up to 32 MPDUs, using a higher 15% affordable housing standard than the Montgomery County requirement of 12.5%.
While the current address of the development site is considered 4931 Fairmont Avenue, the future building's lobby will be on St. Elmo Avenue, as will its 4-level underground parking garage entrance. The tower's loading dock will be on Fairmont, however.
Construction would not begin until mid-2016 or 2017, attorney Steve Robins said in August.
Other than the sad news that Chef Tony's and Pizza Pass would have to be demolished prior to construction, most indications seem promising for this project. It will provide high density near Metro, has proposed higher than the required amounts of parking and affordable units, and could create an enhanced public gathering space. What would really make that work best would be if the St. Elmo and the Bainbridge can get some restaurants to lease in their ground floors, so that there will be activity over a greater range of hours, as opposed to a bank or shop that closes at 5 or 6 in the evening. The revitalization of that block of Fairmont Avenue seems stalled out at the present, with no tenants in the Bainbridge ground floor yet, and other future towers still under construction (7770 Norfolk) or in the works (former BP gas station at Fairmont and Old Georgetown Road).
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