Move-Ins at 17-Story Gallery Bethesda Could Start in December

Residents could be moving into a 17-story Auburn Avenue apartment tower as early as December.

The development, known as Gallery Bethesda, is under construction at 4800 Auburn Ave. When complete, it will feature 234 apartments and more than 4,600 square feet of ground-floor retail facing Del Ray and Auburn avenues.

First move-ins should begin by December 2013 or January 2014, according to Jad Donohoe of developers the Donohoe Companies.

The last units will be released in May, Donohoe said.

The mixed-use building will boast amenities including a rooftop pool with an outdoor kitchen area, a sundeck and clubroom, a fitness room and coffee bar, a dog walk and washing station and a business center.

A leasing website further details the structure:

Rising higher than any other building in Bethesda, Gallery Bethesda is not just a landmark, it's reinventing what apartment living can be in downtown Bethesda. This exquisitely designed building fuses modern style with green design and the finest luxuries to create homes that are as stylish as they are wonderfully livable.

Here, you'll enter through a striking pedestrian walkway strung with lights and adorned with sculptures. From there, you can proceed to your spacious and well-appointed home or enjoy any of the numerous amenities, including a rooftop pool located eighteen-stories above the plaza that evokes the finest in urban sophistication. For the absolute height of downtown living, Gallery Bethesda also offers upper level homes with premium features and breathtaking views available nowhere else in Bethesda.

Pricing on the units remains to be determined, Donohoe said.

When complete, Gallery Bethesda will mark the first phase of a larger plan, known as Woodmont Central. Plans call for an additional 16-story residential and retail building for nearby 4850 Rugby Ave., separated from the Gallery of Bethesda by a quarter-acre plaza. No groundbreaking date has been set for 4830 Rugby or the third phase of the project, which will bring a six-story office building to 8280 Wisconsin, a site at the corner of Battery Lane.