Plans to redevelop the Farm Women’s Market in downtown Bethesda that have been hotly contested in recent months are moving forward.
The county Planning Board will consider a development proposal on Feb. 21 that includes multifamily housing, townhomes and retail space on a collection of Wisconsin Avenue properties, including two county-owned parking lots around the historic market.
The plan, submitted by Columbia Realty Venture LLC, Wisconsin Avenue Properties LLC and Wisconsin Columbia Venture LLC, would feature a 70-foot-tall building running the length of what’s now the parking lot behind the market and 18 townhomes would stand on what’s now Lot 10. Also included in submitted plans is a 175-foot-tall high-rise building and an underground parking garage.
The project partners have said the proposed development is needed to help them bear the full expense of adding the 300-space parking garage, which they estimate could cost $15 million.
By renovating the Farm Women’s Market and establishing new parks on the county lots, the project would generate about 2.67 acres of green space, providing a total of about 4.8 acres of parkland when combined with Elm Street Urban Park.
The Farm Women’s Market was purchased earlier this year by major regional developers Bernstein Management Corp. and Foulger-Pratt.
Developers presented plans during a pre-submittal meeting in early October and outlined an alternate development option that excludes development on the existing surface parking lots, also included in the submitted sketch plan. However, they said the first option is preferred.
While dozens of residents have spoken out in favor of the project, others remain unsure, questioning the development’s potential impact on traffic and the historical value of the market, opened in 1932 on Wisconsin Avenue.
