WASHINGTON — Tired of the unappealing architecture in Montgomery County, especially in Bethesda, county leaders have been considering ways to improve it.
“There is a shortage of really attractive, distinctive buildings,” county councilman George Leventhal said at a planning committee work session on Thursday.
Leventhal said the only way to allow for more visually appealing buildings to be built is to allow them to be taller.
Right now, the county’s six tallest buildings aren’t even in Downtown Bethesda. The tallest is the North Bethesda Market tower in White Flint at 289 feet. The Mormon Temple in Kensington is right behind at 288 feet.
The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center near downtown is 264 feet tall.
The Chevy Chase Bank Towers stand as the tallest inside the business district, each 250 feet tall.
Bethesda pales in comparison to Rosslyn, which has five towers over 300 feet and one just a couple of feet shy, and Tysons, which will have six when three current projects finish up in the next few years, including the new Capital One headquarters, which will stand at 470 feet.
In Maryland alone, Baltimore has two towers over 500 feet tall, with another already started that will be about 545 feet when it is finished next year.
Only the Washington Monument, at 555 feet, would be taller.
Planners have been considering increasing building sizes in Downtown Bethesda and adding millions of square feet in office and residential space over the next 20 years.
Greater height will allow for more architectural creativity as well as a more striking and appealing structure, Leventhal said at the work session.
Residents aren’t thrilled with the idea of a bigger Bethesda, saying more people will mean more traffic in an area that already has a lot of congestion. They also don’t want what was a quaint downtown to turn into the next Tysons.
Plus, they aren’t thrilled about living in the downtown’s shadow — literally.
“Height makes them anxious,” Leventhal said. “They feel hemmed in, they feel loomed over, it makes them anxious.”
County council members have said the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area needs to have an open mind about redevelopment in Downtown Bethesda, especially as planners try to keep it thriving and vibrant.
Residents last year pointed to D.C. as an example of being successful with a short skyline. Only four buildings, not including the Washington Monument, currently stand taller than any building in Downtown Bethesda: the Basilica (the tallest at 329 feet), Old Post Office, National Cathedral and the U.S. Capitol (289 feet). The next tallest building in the city is only 210 feet tall.
Leventhal said the council needs to balance the tension between the push for a more visually appealing area and concerns expressed by neighbors.
“There’s a desire for more distinct and attractive buildings,” Leventhal said. “If you limit the height, you are going to get more short, squat and ugly buildings. The more you restrict the ability to build up, the more the owner of the property will build out.”
That, he said, would lead to more traffic anyway, without any upgrade to aesthetics.
