A 26-story apartment tower with up to 450 units is headed to downtown Bethesda after the Montgomery County Planning Board approved the project Thursday, Oct. 15.
Washington, D.C.-based developer The Pinkard Group plans to demolish the seven-story office building at 7201 Wisconsin Ave., at the corner of Willow Lane, and replace it with a mixed-use high-rise, as first reported by Bethesda Magazine. The site formerly housed a Modell's Sporting Goods, which closed in 2020.
The building is less than 50 percent occupied, according to planning documents. Current tenants include Subway, Panera Bread, Meridian Senior Living, Rad Orthodontics and First Class Smiles.
The approved plan calls for up to 478,000 square feet of residential space, 12,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, 367 underground parking spaces and a rooftop pool. Developers plan to reuse the existing parking garage foundation.
Eighty of the 450 units, or 17.6 percent, will be moderately priced dwelling units (MPDUs). That exceeds the county's 15 percent affordable-housing requirement for downtown Bethesda. The extra MPDUs allow the developer to add height beyond the area's 250-foot maximum. The tower is approved for up to 262 feet.
The project uses the county's expedited approval process for commercial-to-residential reconstruction. The County Council created the process in April 2025 as part of the More Housing N.O.W. (New Options for Workers) package. It replaces the traditional sketch-plan and site-plan review for qualifying buildings that are at least 50 percent vacant.
Jack Kane, vice president at The Pinkard Group, told the board the expedited process and a county Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) program were "instrumental" in making the project work. Kane told Bethesda Magazine after the vote that he was pleased with the decision.
"We're glad to provide some much-needed housing to downtown Bethesda–Montgomery County in general," Kane said.
Kane declined to give a construction timeline. Financing, further design and permitting must come before demolition begins. Under the expedited approval rules, the developer must file a building-permit application within two years of the board's resolution and obtain the permit within two years after that.
Joy White, mayor of the Town of Chevy Chase, spoke at the hearing in support of the project. She praised a 25-foot setback along Willow Lane that was added after community feedback, saying it improves the transition to the adjacent residential neighborhood and the Bethesda Farm Women's Cooperative Market across the street. White also urged the developer to plan drop-off and delivery access to avoid vehicles stopping along Wisconsin Avenue or Willow Lane.
Planning Board Chair Artie Harris praised the tower's contemporary Art Deco-style design and its affordable-housing commitment before the vote.
The 7201 Wisconsin Ave. project joins a growing list of office-to-residential conversions using the expedited process. Earlier approvals include a 29-story tower at Wisconsin Avenue and East West Highway and a 250-unit project on Hampden Lane, both in downtown Bethesda.
The 0.78-acre site sits on the east side of Wisconsin Avenue, across from the Farm Women's Market, and features a glass public art piece called Crystal Willow by artist Rockne Krebs. The developer must pay a park impact fee of $2,622,190 before receiving the first above-grade building permit.
