Construction has topped out at 8300 Wisconsin Avenue and the 359 residential units and new Harris Teeter grocery store are expected to be ready to open in early 2016.
The project, developed by StonebridgeCarras and built by general contractor Donohoe, celebrated the occasion on Wednesday with a barbecue lunch for construction workers, supervisors, architects and developers.
As many as 450 workers have helped excavate the site, on the northern end of downtown Bethesda, for a four-level underground garage that goes 60 feet deep.
The 50,000-square-foot Harris Teeter sits just below ground level and will have a Battery Lane entrance with an escalator and elevator down to the grocery floor.
John Kosco, a superintendent on the project for Donohoe Construction, said the two tower cranes on site will be moved out in May and Harris Teeter will be allowed in to start its build-out in mid-July.
“It’s one of the most complicated concrete jobs I’ve ever seen,” Kosco said.
Slightly tilted concrete pillars rise up from the lower garage levels to match up with the grocery store and residential levels above. The building, being marketed as the Flats 8300 by management company Bozzuto, rises nine floors above ground level.
The residential entrance on the Wisconsin Avenue side of the building will include a pass-thru to the courtyard, which will include a lazy river-like water feature that’ll flow into an expansive biofiltration system.
Ceiling pipes throughout the structure will also bring stormwater to that part of the building, separating and degrading chemicals in the water before any hits the street. The building is being constructed to achieve LEED Silver certification.
Residents will have a rooftop pool, club room and fitness center. Five or six of the 16 two-story townhouses on the Wisconsin Avenue side of the building will have entrances right on the street.
The four-level garage will have separate entrances for Harris Teeter customers and residents.
The courtyard will include an overlook and stairs with access to the NIH-controlled grassy area to the north of the site.
