The neighborhood just south of downtown Bethesda could gain more than 500 new homes under a draft plan now moving toward the Montgomery County Council.

The Montgomery County Planning Board's draft Friendship Heights Sector Plan, the first update since 1998, calls for redeveloping the former GEICO headquarters at 5260 Western Ave. into a mixed-use community called Friendship Commons. Construction of 530 housing units on the 26.9-acre site is projected to begin in 2027, according to an analysis by Greater Greater Washington. The Planning Board's approved project documents describe more than 500 units in the first phase: 96 condominiums, 175 to 185 townhomes and up to 250 apartments across three buildings.

The plan also identifies the vacated Saks Fifth Avenue building, which closed in May, as a key site for new housing. Lead planner Atara Margolies told WUSA9 on Sept. 10 that residents want change there. "Through our conversations with people, we've heard a lot of interest about seeing something else, really anything, happen on that site," Margolies said.

Friendship Heights is home to about 6,000 people across 113 acres. Housing development has been "limited" over the past two decades, according to the draft sector plan, Bethesda Magazine reported. The area's newest apartment building, Wisconsin Place Apartments, was completed in 2009. Only 28 moderately priced dwelling units (MPDUs) exist in the plan area.

The Friendship Commons project would change that.

The Planning Board voted unanimously on July 30 to approve four applications for the project, which calls for 356 multi-family units in three apartment buildings, 180 townhouses, pocket parks and pedestrian connections to Brookdale Park, Bethesda Magazine reported. A minimum of 17.5% of all units will be MPDUs.

EYA, the lead developer, built the nearby Westbard Square community off River Road. There, the lowest-priced unit EYA advertised was $1.1 million. After applying the county's MPDU law, the average price for affordable townhouses dropped to $231,000.

Not everyone supports the scale of the plan. The Village of Friendship Heights and the Brookdale Citizens Association filed a lawsuit in May against Friendship Commons Partners LLC, EYA and Bernstein Management Co. in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The suit seeks to enforce the 1998 plan's four-story height limits and designated recreation space. A court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 19, The Wash first reported. County Executive Marc Elrich criticized the Planning Board at the July 30 hearing for proceeding while the lawsuit remained unresolved.

The draft plan also proposes raising building height limits from 100 to 250 feet and dedicated transit lanes down Wisconsin Avenue to the Friendship Heights Metro station, Bethesda Magazine reported. All new construction would be required to provide at least 35% green cover.

More than 40 people signed up to testify at the Planning Board's Sept. 14 public hearing at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center. Miles Greenblatt, a Friendship Heights business owner, told The Wash on Sept. 24 that he welcomed the development, pointing to the many empty storefronts in the area. "This is an area that is in need of more traffic," Greenblatt said.

The Planning Board plans to hold work sessions this fall to refine the draft before transmitting it to the County Council and County Executive for review, according to the Montgomery Planning Department's timeline. Specific work session dates have not been announced.