North Bethesda, MD • Master Developer for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) of a 32-acre parcel of land adjacent to the White Flint Metro Station
Status: New White Flint Master Plan allows for up to 4.5M SF of mixed-use development
Phase 1: 312-unit Apartment Building and a 63,000 SF Harris Teeter grocery store opened 2008
Phase 2: 14-story, 362,000 SF Office Building • Nuclear Regulatory Commission headquarters under construction
Demonstrating our success with complex, multi-phased transit oriented mixed-use development, LCOR was designated master developer by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in 1997 of a 32.4-acre, mixed-use development at the White Flint Metrorail station in North Bethesda, MD. The largest joint development project ever approved by WMATA, which owns the land, the North Bethesda Center (NBC) is comprised of approximately 930,000 square feet of office space, 1,275 residential units, a 320-room full-service hotel, and 202,000 square feet of retail space. This urban, pedestrian-friendly development is expected to generate approximately 5,400 new jobs and almost 6,500 additional daily trips at the White Flint Metro station, a transportation hub for North Bethesda. A bridge over the Metrorail tracks will link NBC to Rockville Pike, which hosts the largest concentration of retail space in the State of Maryland.
The initial phase of the development, Wentworth House, opened in 2008 with a 312-unit high-rise building atop a 63,000 square foot Harris Teeter grocery store. LCOR developed the project in a joint venture and has served as the development/construction manager for the building. We continue to manage the property.
Phase II, currently under construction and where we are serving in the same capacity, includes a 14-story, projected LEED Silver, 362,000-square-foot office building developed with our joint venture partner USAA Real Estate. Approximately 1,300 employees of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will occupy the building whose completion is expected in late 2012. The NRC lease represented the largest office lease signed in suburban Maryland in 2009.
Near term future site development includes a 340-unit sister building to Wentworth House, which is slated to begin construction at the end of 2011. Discussions are on-going with prospective retail and office tenants for space in the land bays that are closest to Rockville Pike and with hotel operators to co-locate near these commercial uses.
North Bethesda Center is currently zoned for 2.7 million square feet. Based on heightened densities afforded by the new White Flint Master Plan, we are currently developing a new master plan for the NBC site with a potential 67% increase in the vertical development envelope.
North Bethesda Center received the prestigious “Smart Growth Recognition Award” from the DC Chapter of the Urban Land Institute and The Smart Growth Alliance, one of the first projects in the region to receive such recognition. The project was also awarded the Smart Growth Project of the Year by the Maryland/DC Chapter of NAIOP.