Plans for a five-story mixed-use building at Bethesda’s Wildwood Manor Shopping Center received the green light from county planners last week.
The project will include a 106,000-square-foot, L-shaped building of apartments, retail and underground parking at 10401 Old Georgetown Road, adjacent to the shopping center.
Sixty apartments will be age-restricted units and an additional 15 percent will be designated moderately priced dwelling units, available to lower-income tenants in upper levels of the building that will also house 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
Included in the project is 26,260 square feet of green space in the form of two plazas and a park. The park is expected to include tables and chairs, a bocce court and a pergola.
The existing SunTrust bank and medical office on the property will remain, according to Planning Board documents. The proposed development will be built on a surface parking lot south of the medical building.
Neighbors have voiced concern about the project’s impact on parking, saying visitors of the new building might park along the streets, as opposed to designated parking spaces.
Developers have said the 254 parking spaces in the project plans exceed the county’s minimum requirements of 161 spaces and on-street parking is permitted in the area.
Community members also questioned potential impacts on traffic, pedestrian safety and schools.
The area of the proposed project is in a building moratorium because of crowding at Ashburton Elementary School, but the county school system’s planners said because the project includes age-restricted housing, the annual school-capacity formula does not apply to the proposal and could be approved by the Planning Board.
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
