Equity One's plan for a 1.8M SF mixed-use development in Bethesda's Westbard neighborhood has received some community backlash, but the project is set to take a major step toward breaking ground next month.

The project's preliminary plan will go in front of the Montgomery County Planning Board on Feb. 23, the Washington Business Journal reports.

With a 10-year development timeline, the project would add 1.3M SF of residential to the neighborhood, including a 122-foot-tall mixed-use building and 34 townhouses, plus 510k SF of commercial space. The 24-acre site it will be built on currently includes a shopping center, office building, former nursing home, two gas stations and a bowling alley.

After the County Council approved zoning changes for the project in May, a group of residents filed suit in Montgomery County Circuit Court in September, arguing the zoning process did not include a public hearing and did not consider some environmental effects. [WBJ]