WESTBARD REDEVELOPMENT FIRM EQUITY ONE'S CEO STEPPING DOWN

Developer Equity One has big changes planned for the Westbard area of Bethesda - and big changes at the top of its own company. A day after the firm hosted a major public meeting regarding its redevelopment plans for properties it recently acquired around Westbard Avenue, its CEO, Jeff Olson, announced he will not seek a renewed contract when his current one expires on December 31, 2014.

Olson said he is moving on to "pursue another business opportunity," in a statement released by the company.

The company is immediately launching a search for Olson's replacement, it said. Neighbors of the Bethesda properties in question likely will take great interest in that search process, and the eventual choice for new CEO. That individual's industry experience, political style and public outreach skills could have a tremendous impact on both the Westbard development, and the firm's ability to get existing residents on board.

Olson's most-memorable public statement on Westbard was his diss of the Westwood Shopping Center, one of multiple properties that make up the larger "Westwood Complex." "You could do a Back to the Future movie there," Olson said last year.