OPaL Design + Build of Cabin John is moving forward with its plans to develop five homes on the corner of 77th Street and MacArthur Boulevard, submitting their preliminary application to the county on February 10. Montgomery Planning has tentatively scheduled a hearing on June 18 to receive public comments.
The submitted plan details one residential home and four “live/work” units on the 0.6-acre property that used to be the home of Level Fitness. The earlier plan, first shared with the community in 2025, detailed five attached townhomes and would have required special zoning to move forward.
“It’s the same plan, but with detached homes. This way the plan is within the by-right [current zoning],” said Sean Ruppert, founder of OPaL Design. He believes this approach is “better for the community, the street and our buyers.” The pricing expectation is also the same, roughly $2.5 million per house.
Each home would be a distinct property with an average lot size of roughly 4,000 square feet. The houses themselves would average 4,100 square feet, including the basement and loft areas. In addition, each unit would have a screened porch. As in the earlier plan, the height of the homes would be 32 feet. The submitted plan has wider driveways to ensure space for two cars along with a carport and a one-car garage.
The plan is to have a home owners’ association that will maintain the landscaping and green roofs, according to Ruppert. The green roofs are part of the site’s storm water management plan. Water from the green roofs, now on the back of the house, and the downspouts will feed into cement “storm trunks” that are four feet wide and six feet deep, running roughly 40 feet along the side of four of the five homes. They will feed into a drain pipe that runs along the back of the property, emptying into the existing gully and culvert along MacArthur Boulevard.
The trunks will look like raised beds and be filled with sediment that should slow down the flow of water to the drainage pipe, said Ruppert, adding that Montgomery Parks and Planning will recommend the best plants for this type of system.
It is unclear if the county has any special requirements for “live/work” homes, which are allowed for properties zoned commercial/residential (CR), which all of Cabin John’s commercial properties were changed to in 2014. Live/work units in CR zones are allowed a higher density than residential homes.
“We will sell them like regular houses and the floor plan will stay the same with a foyer, kitchen and dining room on the ground floor,” said Ruppert, noting that the live/work units could appeal to a buyer, such as a therapist, lawyer or accountant, who might want to work out of their home.
The OPaL team is expected to meet with folks from the Department of Transportation, WSSC, Parks and Planning and others on March 10 for feedback on their plans. The builder will then have 45 days to make any needed adjustments.
By Susan Shipp, Contributing Writer