Grocery Store, Hotel Possible Features of New Development at Battery, Wisconsin

There may be a new grocery store and a limited service hotel coming to the vacant lot at Battery Lane and Wisconsin Avenue.

Though plans are far from final, the options are being considered as part of a conceptual plan for a new mixed-use development at the corner, representatives of developer Stonebridge told members of the Woodmont Triangle Action Group at a Friday morning meeting.

The group focuses on development issues in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle.

Bethesda-based StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street Capital, L.L.C.,. The developers are planning a mixed-use development for the site with residential and retail components. A grocery store is being considered as part of the retail elements of the project, according to Stonebridge.

StonebridgeCarras must return to the Maryland-National Capital Planning Commission for approvals prior to moving forward, however. Pending approvals, construction could potentially begin on the site as early as 2013.

Stonebridge bought the site from the Patrinely Group, which had originally planned three residential towers with more than 170 condos.

The project was originally expected to begin construction in 2008, but the Patrinely Group According to a report in the Washington Business Journal, it was the housing downturn that ultimately caused the $200 million project to fizzle.

The Washington Business Journal reported that the new project may encompass 300 rental units and 50,000 square feet of retail space.

At the meeting, members of the Woodmont Triangle Action Group praised the idea of having retail at the corner in order to bring more foot traffic to the northern end of downtown Bethesda. However, some wondered what was to come of an agreement with previous developer Patrinely that would have brought artist studio space to the site.

Under the agreement, the studios would have been leased to the county and managed by the said Ken Hartman, director of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center.

“We spent a lot of time working with Patrinely to get the agreement through, and it would be nice if that could convey,” Hartman said at the meeting.

Stonebridge will return to the group as conceptual plans gel, and are expecting to finalize a design team shortly after Memorial Day. It's not clear when the developers will return to Park and Planning to seek development approvals.