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Market conditions and some technical snags are delaying construction at the corner of Bethesda and Woodmont avenues in Bethesda.

The reroute of a major Verizon Communications line, expected to take a year, must be completed before the development of a parking garage at the intersection. Across the street at Woodmont East II, no groundbreaking date has been set for office and retail space. The scope of that project may shift, developers say.

Market conditions will determine when construction launches on Woodmont East II, said Ken Finkelstein, senior managing director for JBG, one of the site's developers. In 2007, the Montgomery County Planning Board approved the project, which originally included a hotel connected by a skyway to a residential tower with 170 apartments. The skyway and residential tower were scrapped last year after developers returned to the Planning Board with an amended plan in response to market conditions. Now, in place of the hotel, a 13-story building with about 200,000 square feet of office space and 9,000 square feet of ground floor retail is on the horizon.

But according to John Schlichting, executive development officer for JBG, developers have purchased more property nearby the site — at 7200 Wisconsin Ave. and 7355 Bethesda Ave. — and are looking at possibilities for folding them into the development. JBG is the managing partner of the business entities that now own the two properties —JBG/7200 Wisconsin, LLC and JBG/Bethesda Avenue LLC. Schlichting said that the Wisconsin Avenue property was purchased in January 2008, and the Bethesda Avenue property was purchased in 2006.

"There is some additional density by the current zoning allowed for those two properties, and we're evaluating whether or not we want to submit an alternative plan," Schlichting said. "But we may in fact continue to develop the building that's been approved."

Potential changes include adding office and retail space and a hotel, he said. However, he said JBG was approached Friday by a tenant interested in the building already approved, which may mean JBG could forge ahead as planned.

Groundbreaking of a public parking garage beneath two county lots at Lot 31 across the street must wait until Verizon reroutes a fiber-optic line that serves downtown Bethesda, said Ken Hartman, director of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center. Lot 31 is expected to provide 1,100 county-owned and -operated parking spots, and 250 residential units and 40,000 square feet of retail.

After the mixed-use development was approved in 2007, developers initially anticipated a groundbreaking date of early 2009. Some early groundbreaking dates were set before the extent of the Verizon work was realized, Hartman said. The county signed a development agreement with Lot 31 Associates, LLC in early 2008, setting the groundbreaking for April 1, 2011. That date is still on track, according to officials.

Prep work for the reroute is being handled by Lot 31 Associates, LLC for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation before Verizon moves the line this summer.

Some have raised concerns that a parking garage in downtown Bethesda is not needed. Ben Ross, president of advocacy group Action Committee for Transit, said there is ample parking and the new garage would likely sit empty.

Hartman defended the project, saying development projects yet to come in Bethesda warranted the garage. With a new Metro entrance planned near the lot, Hartman said he expected it would be used by a mix of people parking to use local amenities and alternative transportation — like Maryland Transit Administration's proposed Purple Line light rail.

"There's a lot more coming in Bethesda," Hartman said. "Sure, our goal is to get people out of their cars, but to say categorically that we don't need any more parking in Bethesda is flat-out wrong."