The latest on The Gables

The Gables project is a much-anticipated 476-apartment complex with 31,000 square feet of commercial space set to be built on Old Georgetown Road. On April 30, the Planning Board will review The Gables’ preliminary plan and site plan for the project. As you may recall, this project requires the realignment of Executive Boulevard (the Western Workaround) and will hopefully bring the new parking required for the expansion of Wall Park.

Eddie Meder, Gables Development Associate said, “The Pike District is an extraordinary area, and we are excited to move forward and start construction.”

In order to transform Wall Park’s current surface parking lot into beautiful green space for the community, a parking garage for the Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center must be built. “We’ve set aside land on our property to accommodate the approximately 400 garage spaces needed for the Aquatic Center and the proposed recreation center,” said Eddie Meder. “We’ve engineered a solution where we can phase-in the garage, building spaces for our mixed-use property, 250 spaces to replace the existing Aquatic Center surface parking lot, and someday, another 150 spaces for the recreation center. We’re ready, willing, and able to make the parking garage work, and I know the County is trying their best to figure out how to fund their share of the cost. We look forward to working with the County to create the largest public amenity, an enlarged and engaging Wall Park, in the Pike District.”

The Gables project will also incorporate artistic elements including one that is composed of a colored Plexiglas panel configuration that will be part of the elevated walkway that links the East and Central buildings and another that will will feature a projected video underneath the East building.

6 comments

A April 23, 2015 at 11:18 am

We already have a development called the Gables in North Bethesda. Why is this complex using that name?

Amy Ginsburg April 24, 2015 at 9:09 am

They are not affiliated with the Gables on Tuckerman. Gables is the name of their company, one that they’ve been using since 1994. Most of their communities around the country are branded with some form of Gables XYZ (i.e., our property in Rockville is “Gables Upper Rock”). Thanks for writing.

Marcia Mednick April 23, 2015 at 10:23 pm

I am a resident in the Wisconsin condominium, directly across Executive Boulevard from Wall Park. Like the other residents of this 200+unit condominium, I treasure my view of the trees in the Park, particularly those between the parking lot and Executive Boulevard.

While I welcome new, community appropriate uses within the Park, it is very important that the parking structure will be located within the Park, rather than where it will obstruct views of the Park, and that it be very adequately screened with landscaping that will provide year round foliage.

Amy Ginsburg April 24, 2015 at 9:08 am

The Parking Garage is behind the Aquatic Center so your views will only get better when this is done!

Bill Jones April 24, 2015 at 12:21 am

I will never be sold on a statement like: “In order to transform Wall Park’s current surface parking lot into beautiful green space for the community, a parking garage for the Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center must be built.” How about not building the apartment complex and leaving the existing surface lot for the park?

Amy Ginsburg April 24, 2015 at 9:07 am

We appreciate you writing. The White Flint Sector plan was passed in 2010 with tremendous community support. It includes The Gables, and many other residences, to provide sufficient density to create a walkable, sustainable, transit-friendly community.