Another Amalyn housing development update

 

Green houses

Here's another update on the Amalyn housing development in Bethesda, Maryland. When completed there will be over 300 single family houses and townhouses on this 75 acre lot.  Well over half have been completed or are under construction, but there are still a few areas to go. 

Most of the construction is on the south, east, and west edges, the northern and central sections are mostly (but not completely) finished. This is on the site of the old WMAL transmitter towers and abuts I-270 and I-495.

This first photo is on the southern edge along Renita Lane, I-495 is on the other side of the trees. This set of houses is well underway with the walls and roofs up for most of them.

Almost complete houses

 

These houses are also on Renita Lane, directly across the street from the prior photo.  The siding is up and some of the houses are painted.

New houses on Silver Linden St

This area in the south east corner of the development at Silver Linden St and Renita Ln has a mix of completed (with people moved in) and still under construction houses.

Townhouse construction

 

Three sets of townhouses in various stages of construction.  In the foreground you can see the foundations are in, to the right they are finishing up a row of gray townhouses, and in the background another row is under construction, walls and windows are in but siding is not on. This is towards the south west side of the development.

A row of townhouses under construction

 

A row of six townhouses under construction as seen from the rear.  The garage doors are not on but the windows are in.

A few more houses

 

The sales center used to be here, but it has been removed and three hosues are going in. This is on the north west side of the development.

New sound barrier on the outer loop

The new Amalyn housing development in Bethesda is between Interstate 495 and the Interstate 270 spur. This means it gets road noise.  A partial solution is to install a sound wall, and that is what is happening right now on the outer loop of I-495.  Construction on the wall started in June of 2024 and is getting close to being completed.
 

 If you drive along I-495 between Fernwood Road and Greentree Road, you have probably been noticing the construction as it progresses. In places the wall is very close to the road.

This is the current end of the sound wall, next to Greentree Road.

Here at the end of the barrier, it is set a couple of feet below ground level.  Most other parts of it are near the surface.

Here's the wall as seen from the other side of the interstate.  There is an access door in the wall.

They weren't actively working when I was there but the equipment is waiting for them to return.  Greentree Rd is on the right.

 

Harden and Weaver Alleys

Those of you who grew up in the DMV might well remember the Harden & Weaver show on WMAL radio.  It was my go-to method of finding out if school was canceled when it snowed.

WMAL used to broadcast from a set of radio towers off of Greentree Road in Bethesda, Maryland.  The site is currently being turned into a housing development by Toll Brothers.  A resident of a nearby resident requested that Harden and Weaver be recognized by naming streets after them.  Toll Brothers agreed and in the Amalyn development there exists both a Harden Alley and a Weaver Alley, directly across the street from each other.

Amalyn Townhouse updates

 

Roughed out

And now for the status of townhouses in the Amalyn Development of houses in Bethesda, Maryland.  See my last post for the status of single family homes.

This row of townhouses are still just wood with holes where the windows will be.

Further along

Houses covered in Typar and with installed windows. The balconies and garages are still just holes.

Further still

Getting close. Lots of Typar but stonework is going in too. All the windows and doors are installed.

Very close

Close to being done. Landscaping is still needed and some interior work too.

 

 

 

 

 

Amalyn Single Family house updates

 

Just the first floor

Here's an update on new single family homes at the Amalyn development in Bethesda, Maryland.  A lot of the houses have been built and people have moved in to them, but there are still a bunch under construction and a lot of open land that they will put houses on in the future.  There's a lot to cover, so this post will just be about the single family houses, I'll post about the townhouses separately.

Some of the houses along the eastern edge of the development will be quite a bit bigger than the rest.  This is one of those larger houses that is just the first floor right now.

The full house, but in wood

This is another, the house walls and roof are up but are just plywood.

Yet a third

Here's a third one, even further along.  This was the first of the really big houses and they were making fast progress but for some reason that progress has slowed down.

A house in green

This house is in a different part of the development and has a ways to go. It's walls are covered in green ZIPsystem.

Rows of tightly spaced houses

Here are a couple of rows of tightly-spaced houses. The green ones are along one road, and the white/tan ones are on another road.  They really are fully detached houses even though they don't look that way.

That's a tall ladder

They have been painting this house and have some really tall laddders that stretch from the ground to the top of the roof.

Almost ready

These houses are almost ready to be moved in to. Most of them are in some variation of depressing gray.

 

A new sound wall at Amalyn

 

The new Amalyn housing development in Bethesda is nestled against Interstate 495and the Interstate 270 spur.  This means you can get a lot of road noise.  Most of the road already has sound walls, but since this area wasn't already developed there isn't any here.  With over 300 houses and townhouses going in, there is a need for some sound abatement and a sound wall is being installed between the development and I-495.

This stretch of the outer between Fernwood Rd and Greentree Rd has temporary jersey barriers closing the shoulder. In a couple of places the trees have been removed all the way to the road.

A surprisingly wide swath of trees have been removed so the wall can be installed.

In a few areas ground up tree parts and root balls are piled up. Most of the tree trunks have been removed in long segments and are stacked up in other areas of the development.

The new sound wall will connect to the existing wall here.  Someone had moved a couch and a chair here to make a smoking area where you could enjoy the smell of cigarettes and burned gasoline while taking in the sounds of heavy traffic. How enjoyable.

Stormwater vault at Amalyn

 

Preparing the site

In the Amayln development of new houses and townhouses in Bethesda, they are installing a very large underground stormwater management vault.  After digging out the whole area and prepping the site, the actual installation is going very quickly. The vault is made up of pre-cast concrete so they can rapidly bring them in and set them down.

This is how the area looked on June 18th. The vault is going on the gravel pad that was built.

Precast sections

The individual segments of the vault look like this.  These will be moved into place and set two high.

Amalyn is a development of over 300 houses and townhouses being built on what was the 75 acre WMAL radio transmitter site. I have made numerous posts tracking it's progress over the past few years.

Building the vault

Here are the ones in place as of Friday night.  It doesn't look like there is any way for water from the vault to infiltrate the ground and recharge the aquifer.

The vault from another angle

You can see there is quite a lot of volume in this vault. It is also surprisingly close to the surface.  I expected it would be deeper so they could plant trees on it, but it looks like it will only be a couple of feet below ground.

 

 

Catching up with the Amalyn Development

 

Little Green houses, for everyone

 Here is a row of single family houses under construction. They are quite large and close together.  They won't stay green forever, you can see one on the far left is getting a light brick facade on the front.

A quick recap may be a good thing.  Amaylyn is a new housing development in Bethesda located between Interstate 495 and the Interstate 270 Spur.  This 75 acre site used to house the WMAL radio transmitters. Those towers were brought down in 2020 and the area has been under development ever since.

Amalyn will contain just over 300 dwellings in a mix of town houses and single-family houses.  It is a joint development between Toll Brothers and Tri Pointe Homes. It looks like the townhouses and some of the single family houses are Tri Pointe and the rest are Toll Brothers.  The development will connect to the rest of Bethesda via Greentree Road, Greyswood Road, and Renita Lane.

Newly paved portion of Renita Ln

Just last week they finished paving some new roads.  Here is the new portion of Renita Lane looking towards Greentree Road.

Renita Ln at Greentree Rd

This is where Renita Lane ends at Greentree Road.  I was worried that Renita would be a straight line from one end of the development to the other, but it has light curves at either end which should slow traffic down a little bit.

The backs of some townhouses

A newly paved Sanvitalia Street and the backs of some townhouses under construction.

Townhouses under construction

Here is the fronts of those same townhouses.  They will face Silver Linden Street. This was taken from the corner of Sanvitalia and Silver Linden streets.

More townhouse construction

This row of townhouses is much further along than the last one.  It is also facing Silver Linden Street and is on the corner of that road and Bluestar Avenue.

 You can read my full coverage of the Amalyn development.

 

 

 

 

More new roads at the Amalyn development

 

Renita Lane

I last posted about the Amalyn housing development back in June, when they were preparing a new section of the field for houses.  They've been busy since then and as of the end of November, that part now has paved roads.

The existing Renita Lane now continues well into the Amalyn development in Bethesda, MD. It will eventually connect to Greentree Road but it doesn't yet.

Bluestar Ave

Amalyn will have over 300 new residences and will have a mixture of townhouses and single family houses.  Here you can see a newly-paved section of Bluestar Avenue where it connects to the existing paved portion.  A few rows of townhouses are under construction.

Bluestar Avenue at Azure Alley

This is a large section of the field that is now paved and ready to build on, maybe a third of the total area and over half of what was remaing. The only part left is the south-western end where the 5 acre MCPS donation is. 

Azure Alley looking towards Lantana Way

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cutting down trees and digging up dirt in Amalyn

A trench for a fence

 Last week I saw them digging narrow trenches where they will be putting in a silt fence. They always do this shortly before construction starts, so that is the sign that they will be building here soon.

 

They are opening up a new area of the WMAL radio transmitter site for housing. Yesterday they were cutting down trees to clear the area. The heavy equipment they use makes quick work of it and they made it at least most of the way down the field.  This is the part of the project that is closes to Interstate 495, from Renita Lane to Greentree Road.

In addition to taking out trees they have started grading more of the field. In the background is Renita Lane. Renita will be extended through the site all the way to Greentree Road. When completed there will be over 300 single family houses and townhouses in this 75 acre development. You can read all my posts on this subject.

It looks like they are building another water retention pond. Currently the banks are above the surrounding ground so water won't flow into it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they built up the ground to be even with the top of the bank.

Amalyn housing development progress

 

It's time for another update on the Amalyn housing development in Bethesda.  This is where the WMAL radio broadcast towers used to be.  When completed there will be over 300 single family houses and townhouses in this 75 acre development. You can read all my posts on this subject.

The house in the center is nearly done and there are two houses nearby that are clad in green boards.  On the right is one that is just a foundation. This is on the east side of the development.

Three houses in a row that are all at the same state of completion on Silver Linden St. near Derbyshire Ln.

Here's a row of townhouses that are just going up. Just the first story walls are up so far. Silver Linden St on the west side of the development. Silver Linden Street is currently the longest road in the development so a lot of construction is occurring on it.

Here's a row of nearly complete townhouses and behind them are completed townhomes. Photo taken from Silver Linden St, but the houses are on Viceroy Alley.

Here's a look at where they are currently building. This is taken from near Renita Lane. There will be many more houses before they are done.

They filled the pool with water earlier this month and the pool furniture has been delivered. The clubhouse and pool are on the corner of Greyswood Rd and Bluestar Ave.