From a 163-unit affordable housing project in North Bethesda to a high-rise project that will preserve the iconic Silver Spring Tastee Diner dining car to the redevelopment of a former mall site in Gaithersburg, Montgomery County is teeming with development projects.
Here are a handful of projects to keep an eye on in 2025:
Redevelopment of Gaithersburg’s Lakeforest Mall site
For 45 years until its closing in 2023, Lakeforest Mall served as an entertainment and employment hub for the Gaithersburg community and other county residents. The development plans of WRS Inc. Real Estate Investments, the mall property’s owner and developer, call for the 100-acre property to be reborn as a mixed-use development featuring housing and space for businesses, retail, restaurants and entertainment.
In September the Gaithersburg City Council and Mayor Jud Ashman unanimously approved the developer’s plans, which include construction of 1,600 housing units along with 1.2 million square feet of entertainment, recreation and commercial space.
The former mall is heading for demolition in early 2025, according to Ashman and the developer.
Plans in motion for the preservation of Tastee Diner as anchor of a high-rise apartment
After the Tastee Diner in downtown Silver Spring abruptly closed in March 2023, Roadside Development of Washington, D.C., took on the challenge of preserving the eatery’s iconic dining car and incorporating it into a mixed-use high-rise apartment building. In July, the county Planning Board unanimously approved the preliminary and sketch plans for the building proposed at 8676 Georgia Ave, the site of the former diner and a bank in an adjacent lot.
Following a Dec. 17 meeting with the county’s planning department’s Development Review Committee, Roadside is expected to resubmit plans for the project in late January. A Planning Board hearing was tentatively set for March 27, according to a livestream recording of the meeting.
Three senior living communities under construction in North Bethesda
Across the county, several senior living projects are underway. Two new developments are rising in and around North Bethesda : The Pinnacle at 11555 Old Georgetown Road (across from Pike & Rose) and The Grandview at 10400 Fernwood Road (near Westfield Montgomery Mall).
Once completed in March 2026, The Pinnacle will be a 17-story, 191-unit living community that will offer a variety of care options for residents. Texas-based developer Silverstone Senior Living is behind the plans for the community, which include a pool, luxury spa and 15,000 square feet of retail space.
Construction on the first phase of The Grandview, a community with 1,300 independent living units and 210 assisted living and memory units, is also underway. The first phase, which includes two apartment buildings with 248 independent living units, is slated to open in late 2025. In October, developer Erickson Senior Living won approval for the project’s second phase of development. The three-phase project is expected to be completed in 2030.
In addition, construction on a senior living community will soon begin at the Strathmore Square development near North Bethesda’s The Music Center at Strathmore. The 20-story, 250-unit independent living building called The Reserve is slated to break ground in 2025, the Washington Business Journal reported in December. Overall, the three-phase mixed-use development will include about 2,200 residential units when completed.
Bethesda multifamily apartment development slated to break ground
Broad Branch Partners of Washington, D.C., is expecting to begin construction on a 12-story multifamily apartment building with up to 59 units for sale in downtown Bethesda in 2025. In September the county Planning Board approved plans for the project, which include the redevelopment of a public surface parking lot (Lot 44) near 4702 West Virginia Ave. The plans also include the construction of a public park that will be part of the downtown Bethesda Eastern Greenway.
The approvals in September fall in line with Montgomery Planning’s Speed-to-Market initiative, which “streamlines the approval process for development projects by consolidating the processes of planning and land-use approvals,” according to the department’s website.
Jason Weinstein, principal at Broad Branch Partners, told the board in September that developers hoped to “put a shovel in the ground” and begin construction on the project within one year. Overall, developers estimate construction to take about 18 to 21 months, meaning the project could be completed in 2027 or later.
Affordable housing coming to North Bethesda
Another project under construction is The Chimes in North Bethesda, a 163-unit affordable housing development at 11901 Nebel St. In November, county officials and developer Montgomery Housing Partnership, a non-profit real estate developer, celebrated the project’s groundbreaking.
Rents for all units at The Chimes are expected to be affordable to families with income levels ranging from 30% of the area median income (AMI) to 80% of AMI. Seventy-two units will be reserved for tenants making at or below 50% AMI.
Before construction began, the site was a vacant property in an industrial area located a half mile from the North Bethesda Metro station near the Pike & Rose neighborhood. The building is expected to feature amenities including a community center, classrooms, an on-site leasing office, an outdoor rear deck, a pocket park and 143 parking spaces.
