On July 30, a developer will present to the Montgomery County Planning Board a project that will add up to 200 extra vehicles each weekday to a cramped Rockville Pike intersection. Residents in the community have already begun speaking out, arguing that the added vehicles will make the traffic "worse than Manhattan without the advantages of Manhattan." Bethesda Magazine reported that the project will build two 160-foot-tall towers with up to 650 apartments as well as a 35,000-square-foot addition to the nearby Bethesda Marriott hotel. Together, the towers will total 549,755-square-feet. There's little information on how the addition will look, and because of that the Planning Department staff have recommended against granting it approval. Between the two towers, there will be a central garden area with a "waterfall-like feature and landscaped retaining walls," as reported by Bethesda Magazine. The development will also offer below-grade parking, but there's no word yet on how many spaces there will be. If approved, the development will be located at 5151 Pooks HIll Road, approximately 1.4 miles from the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro station.
· New Images Show Apartment Towers Proposed for Pooks Hill In Bethesda [Bethesda Magazine]
· Pooks Hill Residents Say New High Rises Would Add To Traffic Problems [Bethesda Magazine]