Plans Detailed For Fairmont Ave. Residential High-Rise

The developers of a high-rise, mixed-use residential project at 4900 Fairmont Avenue revealed project plan details at a community meeting last week.

Developers JBG, ROSS Development and Investment and the CIM Group are preparing to file amendments to a plan originally approved for the site with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission this week.

The 17-story high-rise, planned to be located next to the Starbucks at Woodmont and Norfolk Avenue, will feature 236 rental units --15 percent of which will be moderately priced --6500 square feet of ground floor retail, and 3.5 levels of below grade parking.

The units will be geared at residents including young professionals, commuters, and empty nesters, developers said.

Developers are hoping the project will help breathe new life into the Woodmont Triangle, an area county planners have envisioned as a dense residential and retail sector. Much of the urban activity has shifted south of the Bethesda Metro with the growing popularity of Federal Realty’s Bethesda Row, said Bob Dalrymple, an attorney for developers.

“We’re pretty excited to see some energy and life coming into this area,” Dalrymple said.

At the meeting, developers described a “paseo” lined with art that would connect pedestrians crossing Fairmont Avenue with the public parking garage at the corner of Woodmont Avenue and Old Georgetown Road. The paseo differs from an original plan for the site, which created a “narrow, potentially unsafe passageway from the street to the garage,” DCMud reported.

County transportation officials have agreed to shift an entrance to the parking garage to accommodate the project, Dalrymple said.

Some at the meeting raised concerns about parking, truck loading and traffic on Fairmont when coupled with the impact of another 17-story residential high-rise planned for a lot between Fairmont Avenue and St. Elmo Avenue. The Bainbridge project broke ground in August.

Pending approvals, construction at 4900 Fairmont is expected to launch in early 2013. The Planning Board is expected to review the plans in May or June, Dalrymple said.