Bisnow
D.C. Council Member Matt Frumin remembers a comment that stuck in his head about the perception of Friendship Heights among young people. It came from a respondent to a study that D.C. conducted in partnership with the Urban Land Institute in 2021 aimed at reimagining the neighborhood. "One of the participants said, 'I don’t want to go to Bethesda because I’m worried I’ll bump into my parents. I don’t want to go to Friendship Heights because I’m worried I’ll bump into my grandparents,'" Frumin said. "There is an element of a naturally occurring retirement community in this area, but it can be way more than that."
Friendship Heights Alliance Board Member Chapman Todd, Friendship Heights Alliance Executive Director Natalie Avery, Somerset Development Co.'s Anya Kamara, Montgomery County Council Member Andrew Friedson and D.C. Council Member Matt Frumin.
Part of the reason the neighborhood has gotten this reputation is because it has had no new multifamily development since 2010, making it difficult for young professionals and families to move into the area, several local leaders and developers said Thursday at Bisnow's Future of Friendship Heights & Chevy Chase event. "No other neighborhood in the entire region has had zero apartments delivered in 14 years, that’s unheard of," Chevy Chase Land Co. CEO John Ziegenhein said at the event, held at his firm's 2 Wisconsin Circle building. "We need housing, we’ve got to push for housing. We’re a big believer in affordable, that’s going to be a major component." New housing is finally on the way in the neighborhood, which straddles the D.C.-Maryland border around Wisconsin Avenue, with Tishman Speyer, Donohoe Cos., Urban Atlantic and Federal Realty Investment Trust all advancing projects. The neighborhood now has 1,350 new homes planned to deliver in the next five years, with 200 of them affordable, according to a new report from the Friendship Heights Alliance — a nonprofit launched last year to support the area's growth. The group was set up by leaders from D.C. and Montgomery County. Tishman Speyer's project, the redevelopment of a dying mall that was foreclosed on early in the pandemic, was the first to break ground, and its crane now towers above the neighborhood's busy Wisconsin and Western Avenue intersection.
Tishman Speyer's new apartment project in Friendship Heights, viewed from the top floor of the 2 Wisconsin Circle office building.
The redevelopment is set to bring 320 new apartments, with 40 of them affordable for those making 50% to 60% of the area median income. It is expected to deliver in mid-2025, Tishman Speyer Senior Director Mustafa Popal said at the event. "The neighborhood is transforming, delivering more residential, and [we're] capitalizing on a lot of the fundamentals here: the Metro access, the walkability, there’s still good retail," he said. Donohoe has three projects moving forward in Friendship Heights — at 5500 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 5151 Wisconsin Ave. and 4201 Garrison St. — that are planned to total about 630 units, 10% to 15% of that affordable. Donohoe Senior Vice President of Development Jad Donohoe said that of the neighborhood's 3,000 existing multifamily units, only 28 are designated as affordable. “We can and must do more, not just for the people who don’t live here today, but to support the kind of street life, the kind of retail we all say we want," he said. "We need additional units and affordable units to make that work." Federal Realty received D.C. Zoning Commission approval early last year for a 310-unit apartment project at 5333 Wisconsin Ave. NW, a redevelopment of the Friendship Center retail complex. The project, now going through design approvals, will reduce the property's retail footprint from 120K SF to 12K SF, Federal Realty Vice President Geoff Sharpe said. "It's very much reflective of what we see as changing retail dynamics and the real demand for multifamily," he said. Urban Atlantic in September secured construction financing for a 93-unit affordable senior project, an addition to the Lisner-Louise-Dickson-Hurt Home in Friendship Heights. Urban Atlantic Managing Partner Vicki Davis said that in addition to affordable rental properties, it is important to create accessible homeownership in expensive neighborhoods like Friendship Heights. "It’s really important for us to think through a balance of product type and a balanced way to get density that includes everybody at every level," Davis said.
Lerch, Early & Brewer's Steve Robins, Tishman Speyer's Mustafa Popal, Chevy Chase Land Co.'s John Ziegenhein, Urban Atlantic's Vicki Davis, Federal Realty's Geoff Sharpe and Donohoe Cos.' Jad Donohoe.
