Committee recommends council consider sale of Bethesda parking lots to developer for housing, garage and parks

A Montgomery County Council joint committee on Monday reviewed a proposal to transfer County Parking Lots 25 and 44 in Downtown Bethesda to a private developer and voted to forward a draft resolution recommending the disposition to the full council with no objections.

Council staff said the executive proposes transferring about 77,000 square feet of county land to Lot 25 And 44 Associates LLC in exchange for a development that will include a 145-space public parking garage, a half-acre public park at Lot 25 and a 7,000-square-foot park at Lot 44, and housing. The county’s most recent appraisals by JLL (dated 01/15/2024) value Lot 25 at $8,000,000 and Lot 44 at $4,300,000, a combined $12,300,000.

Committee members emphasized the project’s affordable-housing commitments as a primary public benefit. Chair Glass said the Lot 25 building would include 224 rental units, with 15% reserved for households at or below 70% of area median income under the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) program, and Lot 44 would include 46 for-sale condominiums with 15% of those units set at 50% AMI. “This is deeply affordable housing, in a wonderful community,” Chair Glass said.

Emma Wallanen, deputy director and chief operating officer for the Department of Transportation, told the committee the proposal is the last step in the county’s disposition process and is consistent with the Downtown Bethesda master plan. A department presenter reviewed site maps and noted current parking counts (129 spaces at Lot 25 and 54 spaces at Lot 44), zoning details, and terms of the general development agreement signed on 07/25/2023.

Council President Friedson, who said he was present when the general development agreement was announced, framed the measure as an example of using public land to add housing and parks in high-cost areas. “More turning parking lots into places for people,” Friedson said, noting the trade-offs involved in combining for-sale units and retained public parking.

Council staff also noted the packet included written testimony supporting the disposition from Amanda Farber, president of the East Bethesda Citizens Association. The committee chair moved the draft resolution forward to the full council for consideration and, noting no objections from committee members, said the referral would go to the full council with an enthusiastic recommendation.

The full council will consider the draft resolution; the committee did not take a final council-level vote or adopt the disposition itself.