The Friendship Commons development planned for Friendship Heights’ former GEICO campus could add 500+ homes, 10-foot bikeways and sidewalks, and new businesses and gathering spaces just one block from Metro’s Red Line.
However, as the project faces strong opposition (and even a lawsuit) from neighbors, it needs your help to move forward.
Take 5 minutes to email the Montgomery County Planning Board and speak up for new homes near Metro.
You can also sign up to testify virtually or in-person at this Thursday evening’s Planning Board hearing.
New homes, businesses, and bike lanes—right next to Metro
Friendship Heights is home to a Red Line Metro stop, a major Ride On and Metrobus station, and numerous grocery stores, shops, and restaurants.
In other words, it is exactly the kind of place where new homes can allow us to reverse course from decades of sprawling, car-oriented development, and instead grow in a way that allows more people to live sustainably near the things they need without depending on a car for every trip.
We have the opportunity to transform a vacant corporate campus into a smart growth exemplar. Some highlights of the project include:
Top-tier Metro proximity: This project would add hundreds of new homes just one block from the Friendship Heights Metro station entrance.
Access to amenities: The site is across the street from Wisconsin Place, which includes a community center and Whole Foods grocery store. Within walking distance, there are additional grocery stores, pharmacies, shops, and restaurants.
New bike/ped connections: The development will include a 40-foot promenade along Willard Ave. with a buffered 10-foot sidewalk and 10-foot cycle track, and a greenway connecting Willard Ave. to Western Ave. across the back of the property. The new apartment and condo buildings will provide secured bike storage rooms.
Local retail: 5,000 sq. ft of new retail space along Willard Ave. will create opportunities for new local businesses—and new residents of Friendship Commons will provide additional customers to help existing local businesses thrive.
Click here to read more about the project and view additional renderings, presentations, and documents from lead developer EYA.
What’s next, and how to take action
The most urgent opportunity to weigh in is this Thursday, July 30, which will be the Planning Board hearing for Phase 1 of the GEICO campus redevelopment. You must submit testimony or sign up to testify by tomorrow, Tuesday, July 28th at noon to guarantee it will be included in the hearing public record.
Phase 2 of the development will largely take place along Friendship Boulevard on the part of the GEICO site currently occupied by large surface parking lots.
The details of Phase 2 will be heavily shaped by the zoning recommendations made as part of the ongoing Friendship Heights Sector Plan Update. Planning Board hearings on this plan will take place on September 10 and September 14; sign up will open on August 3.
If you’d like to follow the Friendship Heights Sector Plan, please consider joining our Friendship Heights plan listserv moderated by CSG and Montgomery for All to chat with fellow local advocates and make sure you never miss an update! Email me at carrie@smartergrowth.net if interested.