‘Cusp of a big change’: Five things to know about the Friendship Heights Sector Plan
County planners working through preliminary recommendations, gathering community feedback
By
Elia GriffinApril 15, 2026 4:17 p.m.
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Make a ContributionFriendship Heights, one of Montgomery County’s southernmost urban communities along the Maryland-Washington, D.C., border, is on the precipice of a major transition period with a large-scale development looming and a new master plan in the works.
Dubbed the Friendship Heights Sector Plan, staff at Montgomery Planning are aiming to create an updated document that will help guide the future of growth, development, community connection and transportation in the area for decades to come, according to lead planner Atara Margolies.
The dense urban neighborhood is home to around 6,000 people within approximately 113 acres south of downtown Bethesda. Within the planning area are The Collection, a shopping and dining center, a Saks Fifth Avenue store, multiple high-rise buildings with housing and offices, the Friendship Heights Metro station and the former GEICO headquarters, which is slated for a major redevelopment project. Residents primarily live in multifamily buildings in the Village of Friendship Heights or single-family homes in the Brookdale neighborhood.
When complete, the sector plan will include long- and short-term recommendations for zoning, land use, housing, transportation, parks and open space, schools, economic development and pedestrian safety, Margolies told Bethesda Today in early April.
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“People are worried about affordable housing and larger units for families, and that’s in [the plan]. People want more open space, and that’s in there. They want neighborhood-serving retail, and that’s also on the list,” Margolies said.
Planners are about halfway through the development of the sector plan, according to the planning department. Preliminary recommendations for the plan also are available for the public to review and provide feedback online or at drop-in office hours.
This summer, planners will incorporate that feedback and produce the “working draft” of the sector plan, according to Margolies. The Montgomery County Planning Board is expected to review the working draft and provide feedback and recommendations later this summer. The board will then vote on the sector plan and if approved, the plan will be transmitted to the County Council for review.
Planners anticipate the council will review the draft in the fall, but likely won’t vote on it until early 2027 because a new council will be elected in November, according to Margolies.
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Planners began developing the Friendship Heights Sector Plan in November 2024, engaging with residents, community stakeholders in Maryland and D.C., property owners, developers and business owners about their visions and concerns pertaining to the dense area.
Margolies noted community members yearned for “third spaces,” where people of all ages could meet and hang out. With most of the land in Friendship Heights privately owned, new amenities for the area would have to result from new development, she said.
One of the stakeholders was the Friendship Heights Alliance, which worked with county planners on community outreach. The alliance, an organization formed by the area’s property owners to promote placemaking and economic development, plans to host Montgomery Planning staff at the community’s May 9 makers market and street festival.
“Friendship Heights is on the cusp of a big change, and the opportunities are ripe for us to create a more walkable, vibrant place with more access to housing of all kinds, that will bring more people to the neighborhood,” executive director Natalie Avery said Wednesday in an emailed statement.
Here are five things to know about the sector plan:
- Zoning changes
County planners are proposing an update to what they described as “outdated” zoning in various areas of the community. Several areas zoned as residential and high-rise residential would be rezoned as mixed-use for commercial-residential developments.
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Pointing to the Saks Fifth Avenue property at 5555 Wisconsin Ave., Margolies noted the luxury department store’s parking lot is currently zoned residential. The store is set to close at the end of May as part of the company’s bankruptcy restructuring.
Planners have proposed changing the property’s zoning to mixed-use, commercial-residential zoning to match the zoning of other properties along Wisconsin Avenue, Margolies said.
“This is a change we’ve been talking about with the community for quite some time,” Margolies said. “Right now, market conditions are tough. We’re not seeing tons of new development projects in and around the region. If things shift, the opportunity will then be there for something different to happen” at the Saks Fifth Avenue site.
Planners also are proposing to keep the existing single-family residential zoning for the Brookdale neighborhood. The neighborhood is bounded by Willard and Western avenues, River Road and the 29-acre GEICO campus.
2. Increase building heights
Planners also are recommending that zoning allow taller buildings in the downtown Friendship Heights area. According to Margolies, the proposed maximum height for buildings along Wisconsin Avenue would range from 200 to 250 feet, an increase from 60 to 145 feet.
She noted that some existing buildings along Wisconsin Avenue are close to 200 feet tall. However, the height limit would mean that new construction would not be as tall as high-rise towers in downtown Bethesda. Planners also propose that buildings transition to lower heights closer to residential neighborhoods.
“Friendship Heights isn’t Bethesda. … It’s just got a very different character,” she said. “It’s not going to be as multifaceted at the same scale as Bethesda. It’s much tinier, so we’re sort of looking for tall buildings that fit the scale of Friendship Heights.”
3. Increasing housing production, affordability
The plan also outlines several housing goals, including adding more affordable housing; creating housing options available to renters, families, older residents and people with disabilities; and creating housing near transit stations.
Friendship Heights is home to a Metrorail Red Line station and the highest percentage of seniors in the county, according to Margolies.
Planners have recommended prioritizing the addition of a mix of housing types and unit sizes, including “family-sized” market-rate units and moderately priced dwelling units; and requiring new development and redevelopment to include at least 15% of moderately priced units.
In addition, developers would be encouraged to access county, state and federal incentives to make affordable housing projects more feasible. Those incentives include the county’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes program and Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, according to Margolies.
The Friendship Heights Alliance supports building more housing, noting it would be “absolutely crucial to strengthening retail and helping to make our public realm more connected and delightful,” according to Avery’s statement.
4. Transportation
Planners are also recommending the county’s Bus Rapid Transit system be extended from Bethesda to Friendship Heights. The system offers high-frequency service along set routes in the county.
According to Margolies, the county plans to extend bus rapid transit from Rockville to Bethesda, but not to Friendship Heights.
Planners are also recommending the county explore whether to designate dedicated bus lanes from the community to Bethesda on Wisconsin Avenue, she said.
Margolies noted that the final implementation of the dedicated bus lanes, as well as bus rapid transit, is dependent on the Montgomery County Department of Transportation’s study of the area and procurement of funding.
5. Better park access
Planners also recommend improving access to parks in the Friendship Heights area. Margolies said access was a “big concern” for those in the community and planners hoped to provide new parks and public spaces and improve the visibility of existing parks.
According to the community feedback, many residents are not aware of one of the area’s existing parks, Western Grove Urban Park at 5409 Grove St. The park has open green space with paths and a seating area.
“It’s separated from The Collection parking with this big retaining wall and so people in Friendship Heights don’t even know it’s there,” she said, referring to the high-end shopping and dining center that fronts Wisconsin Avenue.
Planners are also recommending that parks and open spaces be connected to each other, Margolies said. If that recommendation is implemented, the goal would be to create a connected network of open spaces and parks in Friendship Heights.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine