The Old Georgetown Road church that won a tough zoning battle over a new worship center, recreation space and residential development is ready to start the county’s approval process.
After years of controversy over rezoning, the Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church (8011 Old Georgetown Rd.) approved a development contract with Virginia-based Bush Construction Corp. The church also closed on a loan with Eagle Bank on Wednesday to facilitate the development, according to church representative Barry Lemley.
The project would involve a 117-unit condo building next to a new, 65,000- square-foot church and family life facility. That facility would include a worship center, basketball court and office space for local nonprofits.
Lemley said the church will immediately get into preparation to file the proposal with the Planning Department.
The approval process could take up to a few years. Lemley said construction of the new facility and condo building should take about 18-20 months.
The church says the $25.4 million Bethesda Graceful Growing Together Community Center will fill a need for community recreation space in downtown Bethesda. Lemley testified in March in Annapolis for a $250,000 bond from the state that would go toward building the community center.
At the time, Lemley said the church expected $19 million for the sale of the land to an outside developer. The remaining $6 million for building the center will come from other loans and a $1 million capital campaign, as detailed in the state bond bill.
The church first partnered with D.C.-based developer Bozzuto in 2006, but when the group’s first crack at a zoning change was denied in 2007 by the county hearing examiner, the church and Bozzuto went separate ways in 2009.
