For the past few years we have all been wondering what would be built on the county parking lot - known as lot 31 - adjacent to Bethesda Row. The Washington Post gave us an answer to this question in an article yesterday.
Monty Hoffman, owner of PN Hoffman and Doug Firstenberg owner of StonebridgeCarras spoke with Johnathan O'Connell of the Post to give them an overview of what is to come.
Latest word is that there will be 60 luxury condominiums above retail at street level. Prices of the condo units will range from $750,000 to $3,000,000. They are hoping that construction can begin next spring or summer. Much depends upon their ability to convince financial backers that the project is viable.
In addition - there would be over 40,000 square feet of ground level retail space and close to 1,300 underground parking spots. This will considerably increase the amount of parking that is there currently - and hopefully be enough to support the additional commercial and residential development.
The names of the projects will be "The Loft's" for StonebridgeCarras and "The Darcy" for PN Hoffman. "The Darcy" is named in honor of 19th century Bethesda store owner William E. Darcy.
Any concern about construction of this new project wreaking havoc in the resale market should now be allayed. The high end construction would be more likely to raise prices in our marketplace then depress them. For all condo owners in the area - congratulations! Your values will be going up.
I will continue to report on status of this project. Feel free to e-mail me at any time with questions. Click here for The Washington Post Article regarding construction!
