THE PHANTOM CONDO PROJECT, CHAPTER III

BETHESDA'S MOST

CONFUSED AND

PUZZLING REDEVELOPMENT

GOES TO PLAN C

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive

It's a posh, boutique luxury condo building.  It's a 2-floor restaurant and retail mecca.  On third thought, it's an old office and retail building, desperately in need of tenants.

Will the real 4901 Cordell Avenue please stand up?

Several years ago, the owner proposed a lavish, low-rise luxury condo project known as The Veneto.    Despite its fairly rapid progress towards approval by the county Planning Board, the effort mysteriously ground to a halt.

Then, suddenly in May 2012, Memenza Jewelers announced it was closing on the ground floor.  A new sign was raised announcing a more vague future - lease or renovation "to suit."

Nothing happened.

Two months later, a slightly more ambitious plan was posted on the building's exterior:  a new, glass facade 2-story structure that would house 2 restaurants, and retail space.

Fast forward to yesterday, and yet another, not-ambitious-at-all sign has appeared.  "For Lease:  Approx. 430 sq-ft Office or Retail."

Nothing says "Richest Town in America" like bars on the windows

So this sounds like the individual units are now going to be leased, most likely as temporary pop-up shops, like the scooter store on Norfolk Avenue.

It's surprising that, with the building's unique garage doors on some of the units, some creative person hasn't opened a Boho bar or cafe there.  The building remains a prime spot in the future redevelopment of "Old Town" Bethesda.

For now, there seem to be many plans, but that's all.  Every sign tells a different story - and even has different phone numbers.  The Phantom Condo building's ultimate fate remains a mystery.