Thursday, March 12, 2015

Inside the future Harris Teeter in downtown Bethesda, as 8300 Wisconsin tops out (Photos)

Bethesda's first Harris Teeter grocery store could be open in less than a year at 8300 Wisconsin Avenue. Yesterday, I was invited by Donohoe Construction to take a hard hat tour of the site, which will eventually house 359 luxury apartments, a 4-level underground parking garage, and that 50,000 SF Harris Teeter.

Donohoe knows something about building the next generation of luxury apartment buildings in downtown Bethesda, having delivered its own 17-story mixed-use tower, Gallery Bethesda, last January. 8300 Wisconsin is being developed by StonebridgeCarras, and was designed by WDG.

In addition to the discovery that blasting would be required to excavate the deep garage, the project has presented other challenges, particularly in juggling the demands of the residential and grocery store projects with the garage. John Kosco, a superintendent with Donohoe, says this project is the most-complicated concrete pour he can recall in his career.

Kosco said Donohoe will turn the grocery store space over to Harris Teeter in mid-summer, and that the store should be ready to open around the time the first residents move in - likely late this year. The finished building is expected to deliver in the first quarter of 2016. Bozzuto will manage the apartments, which it has named Flats 8300 (not to be confused with The Flats at Lot 31 across town, but almost certainly will be).

A courtyard that faces NIH to the north will include several water features, including a lazy river. Too few projects these days seem to take advantage of the enhancements water features can add, so its good to see them being utilized here. There will also be a sophisticated stormwater management system for the 9-story building, which will serve as the future northern gateway to downtown Bethesda.

Here are some pictures from the hard hat tour; click any photo to enlarge for greater detail:
The commemorative T-shirt given to
all workers on the site during the
topping out party yesterday
Donohoe employees posed for
a Topping Out party photo

They also enjoyed a lunch of
BBQ, coleslaw and chocolate
chip cookies

A view from the interior of the future
courtyard, facing NIH

Future lobby on
Wisconsin Avenue; that's
Rosedale Park across the street

Lobby elevator shaft

The two brown beams in the center will
actually be removed; they're there now
for support
View upwards from inside the
courtyard

Tower crane #1

There will be a sophisticated
stormwater filtration system

I hope you bought stock in Tyvek
before the recession ended

Another direction inside the courtyard

Tower crane #2
Future loading docks for
Harris Teeter

Garage beam

Inside the grocery store parking
section of the 4-level
garage

Another garage shot

Garage entrance off
Woodmont Avenue

A look up Woodmont Avenue toward
the direction of the Metro Center

Inside Harris Teeter; the
checkout lines should be
in this area

Garage ramp

Looking out from the future Harris
Teeter; note the building is reflected
in the Monocle Building's glass
across Battery Lane

Looking from Harris Teeter toward
the corner of Woodmont and Battery
Looking north from inside
the courtyard


Tower crane

Keep out! This means you!

Intersection of Woodmont Avenue
and Battery Lane

Looking out Woodmont Avenue
toward NIH and Medical Library

Tower cranes
A fresh load of cement arrives
at the site Wednesday, turning
right onto Woodmont from
Battery Lane

The driver heads down Woodmont
toward Wisconsin, parks at the curb,
and waits for flagger to wave him in
The driver backs up and onto
this ramp
Behind and below the ramp is
this large concrete-holding
container, which the cement
is transferred to
Up it goes to the roof

Donohoe pickup truck
and Keep Out sign

Another shot of the truck

A view from the other side; the gap
between the two building wings is the
courtyard pictured above, this time
from NIH's direction

Worth noting for NIH employees:
NIH Shuttle stops right across from
the building (but it's close enough
to walk to)

A view from atop the Public
Parking Garage on Woodmont
Ladies and gentlemen, our tour
has come to an end, but stay
tuned for updates as construction
of 8300 Wisconsin continues...
Rendering of finished building
courtesy of WDG, All rights reserved

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a pretty solid building. It will be interesting to see that part of Bethesda in 10 years and the change the new construction along Wisconsin will have.

Anonymous said...

40 photos? This would be SO much better with 41 or 42 photos.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully Donohoe builds their mixed use building just south soon too.

Anonymous said...

Finally, a grocery store for the Woodmont Triangle/Battery Lane part of town!
Will it be open 24 hours?

Anonymous said...

Well there has always been the Safeway in woodmont triangle. It just really sucks.

Robert Dyer said...

12:11: I have not heard an announcement of the store hours yet. Many Harris Teeters are 24 hours, but a few aren't. Recently, the 5000 Bradley Boulevard Safeway went to 24 hours.

Anonymous said...

Why was the concrete pouring so difficult?

Anonymous said...

@ 2:34 PM:

"Recently, the 5000 Bradley Boulevard Safeway went to 24 hours."

Since you've tried to blame Hans Riemer for Barnes & Noble closing one hour earlier four nights out of seven, will you give him credit for Safeway being open several more hours every single day?

{crickets}

Robert Dyer said...

5:33: No. Grocery stores here have experimented with 24-hour schedules for decades before Hans Riemer moved here from California. Grocery shopping is not exactly what one associates with nightlife.

Anonymous said...

That statement logic would imply also that businesses have also shut their doors for decades before Riemer moved here from California.

Anonymous said...

You can't have it both ways.

Robert Dyer said...

8:05 PM: No. Safeway is not a nightclub, nor a place where people hang out at night like Barnes & Noble. You've gone off topic of Hans Riemer's "nighttime economy" initiative. Not surprising, as the many bar closures on Riemer's watch make it hard to claim he was successful.

Anonymous said...

A a solitary dinner in the basement, consisting of a Hungry Man TV dinner heated up in a microwave, accompanied by Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill, with Twinkies as the dessert course, is what passes for "nightlife" in Westbard.

Somewhere Hans Riemer is smiling.

Robert Dyer said...

8:50: Smiling because he's reading a post by Dan Reed?

K. Funk Nasty said...

Updates please! I live nearby and it looks like the building is almost finished, but I can't find any info online about when the Harris Teeter might be open, other than "late 2015".

Robert Dyer said...

7:18: From what I can tell from going past is that the Harris Teeter is falling behind the rest of the project. They have their own construction contractor for the grocery store interior buildout, whereas Donohoe is building the overall project and seems to be still on-schedule. I find it hard to believe that the Harris Teeter would be opening in late November at this point, but maybe they are just hiding their progress well.

Anonymous said...

According to the signs on the door, the new Harris Teeter opens on August 24, 2016.