BETHESDA, MD—HFF's announcement this week that a 22,884-square-foot infill land site in Bethesda closed rang a faint bell. The site is at 4990 Fairmont Ave., in the submarket's Downtown. Oh yes. Reston, VA-based Duball LLC announced that it was buying this site from Starr Capital at the beginning of the year.

Nothing had gone awry in the deal in the interim, CEO Marc Dubick tells GlobeSt.com this week. The deal had been structured to close around this time. Duball LLC paid $18 million for the plot, what the seller wanted. But to keep the transaction cost-effective for Duball, the close date was put off so permitting and other related work could be done. The building permit is expected by the end of the year, Dubick said. Ground is expected to break by early 2016

The project is called the Cheval. Located on the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Fairmont Avenue, it will have 71 high-end condominiums and 2,500 square foot retail at street level.

What is interesting is that parking is above grade for the initial four levels and the residential units start on fifth floor and go all the way to seventeenth floor, Dubick says. That means, among other things, an awesome roof top view for residents, especially those lucky enough on the 17th floor that will get their own private terraces, in addition to the public ones for everyone else.

Duball also just broke ground on Stonehall Bethesda, located at the corner of Woodmont Avenue and Battery Lane. This project will deliver 46 condominium and 2,200 square feet of street level retail. It will be nine stories, with three levels of below grade parking. So while the residents won't have the same rooftop views as their counterparts in the Cheval, they will be across the street from a soon-to-be-opened Harris Teeter.