Woodmont Central Plan Heads Back to Planning Board

A plan that would develop two sites in Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle with retail, residential and office space will head back to the Montgomery County Planning Board Thursday.

The project, known as Woodmont Central, was previously approved in 2009 and would bring mixed-use buildings to a lot at the corner of Wisconsin and Battery Lane – a site where there’s currently a Texaco station – and to a site at the corner of Rugby and Del Ray Avenues. Developers Donohoe Development Company are seeking amendments to their approved plan.

The amended plan would create up to 455 housing units, more than 30,000 square feet of retail space and more than 80,000 square feet of office space between the two sites. The site at Wisconsin and Battery is proposed for a commercial building with ground-floor retail, replacing the existing gas station, and the site at Rugby and Del Ray would house commercial and residential units.

Initial plans at the Rugby/Del Ray site called for one large building, but the amended plan would create two structures, with open space between the buildings.

“The open space, with a minimum width of 42 feet and, for most of the length, approximately 48 feet, will provide more than 9,000 square feet for walking, relaxing, and people-watching,” reads the staff report. “Most of the frontage along this through-block passage is lined with retail and other active uses. Further, a public art program is being developed to complement the proposed landscaping, seating and water feature concept.”

The Battery Lane building would be 90 feet tall with more than 90,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. Two options are being considered for development of the Rugby site – as either two 174-foot-tall, nearly 500,000 square foot buildings; or two 143-foot-tall, 408,459 square foot buildings.

More information on the proposed amendments to the Woodmont Central plan is available via the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Stay tuned to Patch for details on Thursday’s Planning Board hearing.