Friday, November 17, 2017

Artena Bethesda apartment tower plans unveiled (Photos)

Rendering of the Artena Bethesda; the
white shapes on either side are 8008 Wisconsin (L)
and 7900 Wisconsin, neighboring projects
Developers Plank, Inc. and Aksoylu Properties - and their attorney, Bob Dalrymple - unveiled plans for a 175' tall apartment tower at 8000 Wisconsin Avenue at a required public meeting last night in Bethesda. The Artena Bethesda will have 441 rental units, 25% of which will be MPDUs. Units will be primarily 1 or 2 bedrooms, with a few 3-bedrooms mixed in. Artena's ground floor will boast 20000 SF of retail and restaurant space, and an underground garage will hold about 300 parking spaces.

Sandwiched tightly between Toll Brothers' future 8008 Wisconsin condo tower and JBG Smith's under-construction 7900 Wisconsin project, Artena Bethesda will rise on the assembled lots of 7938-8000 Wisconsin and 8011 Woodmont Avenue. It also includes the public parking lot on the Woodmont side. Bethesda Chocolates will stay where it is, becoming the "hole in the doughnut," Dalrymple said.

Dalrymple said the building facade will be slanted on the Wisconsin side to create articulation, but that the Woodmont side's multiple facades will make the building stand out more by itself, rather than a solid wall effect. Room will be left for a bus rapid transit lane in front of the building, as well as a potential BRT station at Wisconsin and Cordell. The developers don't yet know if the BRT station length will impact their property, as "County and State are short on details" right now, Dalrymple explained.

No promises were made about having a covered sidewalk on Wisconsin during construction. Dalrymple said the State of Maryland is not keen on covered sidewalks. The 7900 Wisconsin project next door has just such a covered sidewalk, however.

Dalrymple said the partners hope to break ground by the end of 2019. If that goes as planned, he added, construction would take about 18-24 months. Delivery would be expected by mid-2021, he said.

One resident attending the meeting questioned the lack of green space in the plans. Dalrymple said the team hopes their park payment to the County will be spent wisely in the vicinity of their building. He noted it is in their best interest, marketing-wise, for that area to become an appealing place people want to live.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Moribund Bethesda...

Anonymous said...

With all of this retail space coming into Bethesda, I hope someone is figuring out how to get a new movie theater to replace the regal one

Anonymous said...

I think 7:38 your two points should be separated. The latter definitely is a good point!!

Anonymous said...

Fair enough.
1. Surprised to see an article wasn’t full of conspiracy theories and rants.
2. Robert is remiss in mentioning what an advocate Hans Reimer has been for open space and green areas in Bethesda.

Anonymous said...

"Hans Riemer has little to show for all his words. There is virtually no green space at all in the Westbard plan he touts."

Somehow you missed that nice facility that they're building on the Capital Crescent Trail at River Road.

Anonymous said...

It would be a shame if someone claimed there was a cemetery on this site, but thankfully they chose to build in Bethesda and not the Westbard area. Neighborhood associations should be ok with it.

Roald said...

8:58 AM Looks like a great project. No signs of a cemetery, so I think we're good.

Anna said...

Roald, did you ever go get your new boots?

Roald said...

Of course I did. Robert took such beautiful pictures I had to go and get myself a pair.

Woodmont said...

This is going to be one long line of highrises.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

It will be an interesting sight with the weird shapes.

Anonymous said...

I think that rendering is from the developer’s brochure.

Robert Dyer said...

8:19: That's a private initiative by trail supporters, nothing to do with Hans Riemer, old sport. It also isn't going to be a significant park, just a stop-off spot for people using the trail. No one will confuse it with Yellowstone or Central Park.

1:58: You're absolutely correct. I have the photos from the meeting, which I emailed to myself to put into the blog. Then Wi-Fi problems prevented me from bringing them down so I could put them into the article. I will be publishing an update with the photos from the meeting.

All of the information in the article, however, is from the meeting and is correct.

Anonymous said...
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