Demolition Paves Way for 17-Story Retail, Residential Tower

Demolition has begun at 4800 Auburn Avenue ahead of the construction of a at the Woodmont Triangle site.

Jad Donohoe, vice president of the Donohoe Companies, which is heading up the project, confirmed the beginning of the demolition phase in an email to Patch.

Known as the “Gallery of Bethesda,” the building will feature 234 apartments and more than 4,600 square feet of ground-floor retail facing Del Ray and Auburn Avenues.

The residential and retail tower is the first phase of a larger plan, known as that will bring an additional 16-story residential and retail building to nearby 4850 Rugby Avenue, separated from the Gallery of Bethesda by a quarter-acre plaza. No groundbreaking date has been set for 4830 Rugby or the third phase of the project, which will bring a six-story office building to 8280 Wisconsin, a site at the corner of Battery Lane.

The Gallery of Bethesda is the second major development planned for Bethesda that has broken ground in recent years. The first, broke ground in August and is under construction.

A third major construction project is also on the horizon -- the construction of a public parking garage at the corner of Bethesda and Woodmont Avenues, is expected to launch April 10.