New Bethesda Police Station Detailed

County officials and the project’s developer provided more details Monday night about a new 2nd District station for county police to be built on a vacant lot in Woodmont Triangle in Bethesda.

The police station will be located in front of the Woodmont-Rugby garage and police vehicles will occupy a portion of the parking there. Police plan to take up about 115 of the 496 spots in the garage, which may displace about 50 long-term parker, according to a Montgomery County parking official at the meeting Monday.

A fence will be used to separate police vehicles and equipment from the public side of the garage and the entrance to the garage from Rugby Avenue will be eliminated to make way for a private police vehicle entrance.

Once the new station is completed, all public vehicle access to the garage will be from Woodmont Avenue only. However, there will be a pedestrian connection to the lot from Rugby Avenue. The sidewalk along the garage will be maintained, officials said.

The station is being developed through a real estate deal between the county and the Bethesda-based developer StonebridgeCarras. Under the terms of the deal, StonebridgeCarras will construct the new police station at 4823 Rugby Ave. and the county will provide the developer with the current police station property at 7539 Wisconsin Ave., which StonebridgeCarras plans to redevelop.

The new station will include about 32,000 square feet for police operations in a roughly 60-foot-tall building. Preliminary renderings depicting the building as a blocky white structure with a glass façade are designed to show the size and scale of the building, rather than its actual appearance, according to StonebridgeCarras principal Jane Mahaffie.

Mahaffie, who is leading the project for the developer, said features including the color and window placement have not been approved by the county and could change.

Mahaffie said the project is expected to have minimal impact on the adjoining garage.

Greg Ossont, deputy director of the county’s Department of General Services, said the existing police station on Wisconsin Avenue, which was constructed over 50 years ago, is “one of the oldest facilities we have in our entire county portfolio” and is badly in need of replacement.

Mahaffie said the firm plans to begin construction on the station in early 2016 and complete it in early 2017.

Community members at Monday night’s meeting expressed concern about the project’s impact on the parking garage as well as on traffic in the area. Police Capt. David Falcinelli, commander of the 2nd District, said most officers work out of their cars and will only be driving to the station periodically for roll call or administrative tasks.

Ossont said more details about the project will be available when plans are submitted to the county Planning Department, which is expected in the next month or two.

Image above left: The parking lot and entrance to the garage where the building will be constructed.