First Forest Glen development project headed to Planning Board

The Montgomery County Council recently approved the update to the Forest Glen and Montgomery Hills sector plan. Now the first project sketch plan to be proposed under the new zoning is advancing to the County Planning Board, and will be reviewed at their April 9, 2020 meeting (meetings are now online-only due to the coronavirus pandemic). A 70' tall residential building is proposed for the combined properties of 9920 Georgia Avenue and 2106 Belvedere Boulevard.

A 72-unit garden apartment complex on the site will be torn down to make way for the new building. The new development will feature a total of 189 units as currently proposed: 78 1-bedrooms, 82 2-bedrooms, and 29 3-bedroom units. Twenty percent of the units will be affordable housing MPDUs. While that is higher than the required 12.5%, the project will actually create a net loss of affordable units in Forest Glen. 72 units are being torn down, and only 38 of the new units will be affordable, a net loss of 34 affordable housing units.

Architecturally, the building resembles the typical stack-and-pack, stick-built structures that have popped up in recent years along Key West Avenue and other blocks of Georgia Avenue. Planning staff is recommending approval of the sketch plan.

Images via Montgomery County Planning Department