Top 10 North Bethesda condos
walkable to White Flint METRO

White Flint METRO and Pike & Rose area condos

While there are a limited number of homes walkable to the White Flint Metro, there are plenty of condos that put you within 1-5 blocks away…And more are coming your way.

You can walk from all of these North Bethesda condos (Rockville condos) to an abundance of grocery stores, restaurants, and retail stores. It’s all right outside of your building. And if you’re new or old to the area, 20852 zipcode is for the most part being rebranded as North Bethesda. I like to use this myself to separate the distinguishable zone from Rockville essentially north of Bou Avenue and Rockville Pike.

While nothing is 100% final in terms of the overall finished product that will be the White Flint Redevelopment, the amount of development and improvements happening over the next 5-10 years will be mind boggling for many. Pike & Rose is putting on the finishing touches – with the Hilton Canopy Hotel and 930 Rose Condos grand opening in just about 60 days.

For some of us, we’ve gone back to where we grew up, look in disbelief and say, “Wow, it doesn’t look anything like it used to.”  I’m not sure if the southern Rockville area being re-branded as ‘North Bethesda’ will draw that reaction from those who just recently moved here, but for the long-time residents it might.

For now, we have an abundance of walk-able condos in this section of Rockville. In today’s blog, I’m focusing on living in walking distance to White Flint METRO. The criteria I am using is essentially a 1/2 mile or less. I did include Midtown Bethesda North Condos — even thought it’s slightly closer to another METRO (Twinbrook METRO). It’s a worthy Rockville condo to be on this list.

1. The Gallery at White Flint METRO Condos

The Gallery is positioned right next to The Sterling condo building. It has a 24-7 concierge front desk, a fitness center, a club room, a business center room, a seasonal outdoor pool, garage parking, and is just under 2-blocks from the metro. The condo fees are slightly lower than The Sterling (more units helps lower the cost). The top level units that face out to OId Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike have really nice views — especially from the higher floors.

If you like the direct view over to Pike & Rose — to really keep an on the action (people watching can be entertaining), then you might want to consider The Sterling or the brand new 930 Rose Condos. Otherwise, The Gallery at White Flint gives you just a little buffer.

To learn more of the details, including condo fees, pet restrictions, and more, you can read our in depth blog report on The Gallery at White Flint condos.

2. The Sterling at METRO Condos

The Sterling condos sit right on the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike — and directly across the street from Pike & Rose. For condo units sitting on the Pike side or directly out to Old Georgetown Road, your views of the action on the Pike is energizing (if you like the action).

And the top level units have spectacular views. Like the Gallery condos next door, The Sterling offers a 24-7 concierge desk, fitness room, club room, seasonal outdoor pool, and is one block from the White Flint METRO.

To learn more of the details, including condo fees, pet restrictions, and more, you can read our in depth blog report on The Sterling at the Metro condos.

3. White Flint Station Condos

White Flint Station condos are the last of the trio of condos running along Old Georgetown Road from Rockville Pike down to Nebel Street (where Old Georgetown Road officially ends). These condos are garden style, and have a more sprawling, beach resort type feel. Not a resort feel in terms of absolute luxury, but rather just the layout. So for some condo units, you might have a few more turns to navigate.

The picture from above is the Bethesda Club Room in the condo building. It’s part of your space here, and it can be rented (like this party for my Dad’s 80th birthday party). Most of the time, there aren’t parties, so this is a quiet work area for some during the day.

Once you get used to the layout, and where your condo unit is, you can take advantage of the secured entrances at multiple locations to shorten the walk. White Flint Station has the same amenities with a front desk, seasonal pool, fitness room, club room, and garage parking. Depending on your units location, you have about a 3-4 block walk to the White Flint METRO but Harris Teeter and MOM’s Organic Market are a bit closer than The Gallery at White Flint or The Sterling condos.

To learn more of the details, including condo fees, pet restrictions, and more, you can read our in depth blog report– White Flint Station Buyer Guide.

4. The Fallswood Condos

The Fallswood condos are tucked in quietly behind trees off of Nicholson Lane and Executive Boulevard. This high rise has a more grand opening entrance and secured gate access into the complex. It has a nice outdoor pool, fitness room, concierge desk, and is just 2-blocks from Whole Foods and the White Flint METRO. It sits directly across the street from The Wisconsin. Because the condo was built in 1985, it has a little more dated feel with its decor than The Sterling, The Gallery at White Flint, and the White Flint Station condos (all built in the early 2000’s), but some owners have renovated units quite nicely. This building offers some seclusion while still being ultra close to the stores and the action.

To learn more of the details, including condo fees, pet restrictions, and more, you can read our in depth blog report on the Fallswood condos.

5. The Wisconsin Condos

This condo building sits directly across the road on Nicholson Lane from The Fallswood Condos. It was built in 1989 as an apartment building but converted to condos in 2006. A rare feature that The Wisconsin has going for it is the expansive grounds for walking between it and the apartment building The Madison.

Also, The Wisconsin condos boast both an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, along with tennis courts. Ironically, the Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center sits right next to it. So, if you live to swim, then you have no excuses living here. There’s also a fitness center, and it’s about a 2 block walk to the METRO.

To learn more of the details, including condo fees, pet restrictions, and more, you can read our in depth blog report on The Wisconsin condos.

6. 930 Rose Condos

I’m jumping the gun on this one, because it won’t be ready for full move in until about March 1, 2018…But why not?

It’s new. It’s smack dab in the middle of the blossoming Pike & Rose development on Old Georgetown and Rockville Pike. What’s unique from every other condo building in the area is 930 Rose starts on the 11th floor.

Yes, it starts on the 11th floor. Below the condos units is the brand new Canopy Hotel by Hilton. The condo owners will be able to draw upon the added amenities of the hotel with a 30% discount. Along with concierge service, a fitness room, laundry service, and more — dog owners will have access to a roof top doggie area. As expected for brand new in this market and developing North Bethesda market, these condos will be the priciest of the ten featured condos

Also, for people who want a pool, you will have access to the rooftop pool at the Henri Apartments directly across the street. And iPic Movie Theaters — the most luxurious movie theater you’ve likely ever experienced.

To learn more of the details, including condo fees, pet restrictions, and more, you can read our in depth blog report– 930 Rose condos.

7. Georgetown Village Condos

Georgetown Village condos are conveniently located off Commonwealth Drive in North Bethesda – accessible from both Nicholson Lane and Edson Lane.

These are garden style condos. So unless you get the ground floor unit, you will at least have a handful of steps to navigate. This is important. And if you’re on the upper floor, you have to like walking stairs…and some people do. For a similar garden style development, with plenty of safe sidewalks to walk around, many people also consider Old Georgetown Village. So if steps are or could be a problem for you in the near future, we have to make sure you’re looking at the best condo option.

There’s plenty of parking but it’s in a parking lot. There is no garage parking. So, if a garage space is important, there are better condo options.

8. Old Georgetown Village Condos

If you’re not a high rise condo person and like a little more sprawling grounds to walk more privately, then you might want to consider Old Georgetown Village Condos. They are not only walkable to the White Flint METRO, but also a short walk to Whole Foods. The official address is on Strand Drive, which is wedged between Edson Lane and Executive Boulevard. Edson Lane is a pass thru street from Old Georgetown Road to Rockville Pike — coming out just across the Pike at the currently vacant, demolished White Flint Mall

These are garden style condos, and there is an elevator. Unlike its next door neighbor, Georgetown Village Condos, Old Georgetown Village condos have garage parking.

Built in the 1980’s, some units can be dated but easily updated. And they have everything from larger 1 bedrooms to 3 bedroom units just under 2,000 square feet with in unit washers and dryers. No dogs or cats are allowed, but you can have birds or reptiles.

They also have a pool and fitness center, and fairly typical condo fees from about $500 – $1,000 depending on the size of the unit. Here’s your complete insiders info on Old Georgetown Village Condos.

9. Midtown Bethesda North Condos

This condo building sits right off of Bou Avenue and Rockville Pike – right next to the Target and Barnes & Nobles. Yes, it’s a bit closer walk to the Twinbrook METRO station, but it’s still very walkable to White Flint METRO. If in a rush, you’d want to go to Twinbrook, but if you want to hit some of your favorite places or a grocery store other than Trader Joes (almost directly across the street), then you might want to walk to White Flint.

Midtown Bethesda North has a boutique hotel lobby feel when you walk in. If someone wanted to shoot a movie and use Midtown as a hotel for the scene, they could (outside of no outside canopy) easily pull it off based on the feel of the lobby. There are nice places to sit, a fire place, a coffee and tea bar with a tv. There’s a little library, a meeting conference room, and tucked away on the lobby level is the ample fitness room, a pool table, and even a theater room for special movie nights.

A helpful 24-7 front desk holds packages for you and is generally helpful. Elevators are secured, with a registered FOB necessary to access your floor and the roof top. And the roof top offers spectacular views down to Washington D.C, Tyson’s Corner, and even up to the Sugarloaf Mountains. You can lounge around the rooftop pool, barbecue on the grills, or hang out in the Sky Lounge (also available for rent for parties).

The condo units themselves offer large expansive windows (not floor to ceiling but close enough for most people who want that) and have washer and dryers in the units.

10. The Forum Condos

Yes, that’s a Roman soldier logo on the building in the upper right corner. I almost excluded The Forum entirely for several reasons. One, of all the condos in this North Bethesda (White Flint-Rockville) area, The Forum has the most dated feel and look overall (it was built in 1969).

There’s also a shared laundry room on each floor. AND most importantly, the rental rate to owner occupied has pushed near 50% at my last check. On top of that, they allow 3-month rentals. So this is a problem. And it makes a condo unattractive to lenders so financing could be a serious issue. So it’s more of a rental apartment than a condo building. It’s also important to note, none of the units have a balcony.

And for those reasons, I’ve put it at the bottom of the list. With that said, how about the positives? Well, the location is prime. That’s why I had that picture taken this way. So you could see it.

The condo is two blocks from the METRO, directly across the street from Pike & Rose, and just a few blocks walk to My Organic Market, Harris Teeter, and everything else that The Sterling, The Gallery condos, and the others offer in location. And there’s a tennis court and an outdoor pool. And a small fitness room too. Costs are certainly much lower also. You can get a 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom condo of 1,144 square feet for roughly $245,000.

The difference is you will also have a condo fee of about $830 a month. This does include all utilities minus cable. But read the first paragraph again. Fundamental changes need to take place with the condo owners to make this a viable option. Otherwise it’s an apartment building to me. But we’ve gotten clients some great deals there, and it always comes down to what works best for you.

Stay tuned for condo updates…

As the White Flint redevelopment take shape, we will certainly keep you in the loop. Pike & Rose is essentially complete at the time of this publishing, and Federal Realty really did an amazing job on the look and feel of this redevelopment.

Each one of these condos has characteristics that make them more appealing to some and less appealing to others. The purpose of this blog is to give you a better feel for each condo in advance. So you can save some time in your first level evaluation. Certainly you can dig in deeper on the specific condo pages and get my in depth personal knowledge at any time.

Nothing beats seeing a condo building, a few units, and walking the grounds first hand though. And certainly we can make those arrangements.

Some websites have some basic information on these condos (that doesn’t make you an expert). I’m in and out of these condos every single day. I shop and eat at the stores here. I have friends and relatives that live in all of these condos. And I have clients (now friends) who live in these condos.

I often get calls from children who are looking to help their parents downsize, and I love this. Because this is such an important process, I’m grateful to help make it a smooth and enjoyable transition.

So feel free to reach out to me anytime with questions, and I look forward to helping you or a family member.

Mark Fitzpatrick: 240-687-2650