Most discussion on the potential new look for the Westbard section of Bethesda has been focused on property owner Equity One’s plans for redeveloping its Westwood Shopping Center.
At a Thursday night Planning Board public hearing on the Westbard Sector Plan, two other entities hoping to build new apartment buildings in the area unveiled their plans for the first time.
Robert Brewer, a land use attorney with the Bethesda firm Lerch, Early & Brewer, told the board his client Capital Properties needs more height and density than recommended by county planners to build a second apartment building on vacant land that is part of the Park Bethesda property.
Park Bethesda is a 110-foot-tall, 11-story luxury apartment building with 258 units on Westbard Avenue that was converted into residential in 2002 after serving as a federal government office building. Brewer said the property includes about 4.5 acres of vacant land that can be developed.
But amid concerns from residents of surrounding town homes and condos, county planners recommended capping heights for any new buildings at 50 feet and limiting density at the property.
“Capital Properties has formulated a creative plan that we believe can provide much-needed benefit to the community and allow for successful redevelopment of this site,” Brewer said.
Those benefits could include affordable housing units and a new street connecting Westbard Avenue to River Road that would run through the middle of the site. Capital Properties is hoping for a building that’s about 150-feet-tall on the side that faces the Park Bethesda apartments. The building would then taper down to 35 feet in height as it approaches the town houses to the south, Brewer said.
Some residents who testified against Capital Properties’ plans said the existing Park Bethesda building—one of the tallest in the Westbard Sector Plan area— is “an eyesore.”
Proposed Westbard building height limits by Montgomery County planners, via Montgomery County Planning Department
The Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County (HOC) also told the Planning Board about plans for new development.
The HOC, a Montgomery County-funded affordable housing developer and landlord, holds a master lease to the 212-unit Westwood Tower Apartments, a Westbard Avenue property owned by Equity One.
The HOC’s Jay Shepherd asked the Planning Board to maintain the 75-foot-height recommended for the property, which he said would make a new affordable housing project financially feasible on Westwood Tower’s back parking lot.
The new project could include at least 140 new affordable units, Shepherd said, and parking would be moved to an extended underground parking garage.
The existing Westwood Tower Apartments include units reserved for households that make 30 percent and 50 percent of the area’s median income.
