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| Wegmans at White Flint Mall site? |
Monday, February 02, 2015
STREETSENSE SEEKING RESTAURANT FOR BETHESDA APT. BUILDING, ENVISIONS WEGMANS AT WHITE FLINT MALL SITE
Bethesda-based real estate firm Streetsense is seeking a restaurant tenant for the future Element 28 luxury apartment building at 7535 Old Georgetown Road. A 3500 SF space with 18' high ceilings is expected to become available in the building's ground floor by the end of this year. The space is steps away from the Bethesda Metro station, but also steps away from a location where bars and restaurants have had a high rate of turnover, until Tyber Bierhaus took it over.
In less solid, but even more intriguing, news, it's interesting that the worst-kept secret in local commercial real estate - Wegmans' intense interest in taking over the footprint of the now-demolished Bloomingdale's at White Flint Mall - pops up on a Streetsense promotional brochure for a different Pike District property. Long rumored, but as of today not confirmed yet, Wegmans would surely help deodorize the gaffe-filled demolition of the thriving mall. The Rochester-based grocery chain's desire is for the grandfathered footprint left from Bloomingdale's, which would allow a far bigger store without complicated exceptions being requested from the Planning Board.
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27 comments:
Wegmans run from 80,000 to 140,000 square ft. So the StreetSense document shows that this white flint store will be more on the high end (126,000 square ft).
"...deodorize the gaffe-filled demolition of the thriving mall."
Can you please translate this word salad, for those of us here who speak English?
"thriving mall"
I'm curious how you got the notion that you have a better understanding of the viability of White Flint, than the people who actually owned and managed it for the 37 years of its existence.
5:35 AM didn't do well on his SAT verbal section.
@ 6:27 AM -
Since you seem to understand that pile of gibberish, perhaps you can explain to the rest of us what is a "gaffe-filled demolition", and how one can go about "deodorizing" such.
And also show some documentation for the absurd claim that White Flint was "thriving".
6:42: The mall ownership said the mall was "fully-leased" just a few years ago. Not me, the owners. And then there was that parking lot full out front...
5:35: Lord & Taylor suit, Dave & Buster's suit, outraged public who didn't know it was being torn down, mall photo book so popular it sold out, current trends showing suburbs are hotter than cities, Jen Chaney writing excellent nostalgic article in Post that was more in tune with public sentiment than mall owners, years of delays, area name no longer its proprietary name, no chef-driven restaurants, no Fortune 500 headquarters relocating, White Flint said by County official unable to compete with Tysons unless it can seize Twinbrook, City of Rockville laughs at County Napoleon act, White Flint now officially unable to compete with Tysons ...how long a list do you want?
6:15: I think Westfield is proving I'm right, and the owners of White Flint are wrong about the viability of indoor malls. Isn't it fun putting the coat back on and the umbrella up every time you want to head to the next store at an outdoor town center? Hope for good weather...
So... Anecdotal is what you are saying. Versus facts. :)
Glad to see Tyber doing well (anecdotally, since none of us here actually knows how well they are doing). I like the place!
Here's hoping that Element adding more restaurants livens up that area!!
The two Westfield malls - Montgomery and Wheaton, are both much bigger and much better located than White Flint was. And again, neither of those malls lost 67% of their anchor stores in less than a year.
I can't seem to source the site map you display in this article. It doe not appear on the Streetsense list of properties in any category. What's the link?
Apparently you are graduate of the Steve Fisher (former Gazette Op Ed linguists) school of journalism. Wax your audience with flowery crap instead of facts.
8:19 AM Westfield Montgomery is better located than White Flint? I assume you mean because it has a 270 highway exit nearby?
I'd argue that White Flint had the better location overall...it has a Metro station and is on 355.
Montgomery Mall is convenient not just to I-270 but to the Beltway as well.
Wheaton Plaza is next to three major roads, and a Metro station.
White Flint, now closed, was hard to reach from any road other than MD 355. Not convenient to the Beltway. Not convenient to I-270. Halfway between Strathmore Avenue and Randolph Road. It is half a mile from the Metro - not that convenient when you're loaded down with shopping bags.
"White Flint said by County official unable to compete with Tysons unless it can seize Twinbrook, City of Rockville laughs at County Napoleon act."
When you write incoherent stuff like this, I really become concerned for your welfare.
9:07: Unfortunately, it is a factual statement. The County's plan to seize a large piece of the City of Rockville was met with mostly chuckles by Rockville residents and elected officials. If people telling the truth seems "incoherent," then, yeah, you've spent a little too much time around the MoCo political machine. Remember they said White Flint could only compete with Tysons if Twinbrook was added to it? And the future Circulator was going to stop in Twinbrook, too, etc.?
8:22: Every entry on this blog consists of facts.
"Every entry on this blog consists of facts."
LOL, holy shit that's the funniest thing I've ever read.
Perhaps you can document this insane claim that "Montgomery wants to seize Twinbrook from Rockville so that White Flint can compete with Tysons".
But I'm not holding my breath, since you still haven't bothered to document your claim that Montgomery County's Council President "called for Montgomery County to secede from Maryland".
I can't seem to source the site map you display in this article. It doe not appear on the Streetsense list of properties in any category. What's the link?
12:24pm: do some basic google searches, this was covered widely last year.
A White Flint Advisory Committee wanted to add the Twinbrook area into the White Flint "urban district".
I love how these various White Flint committees never bothered to ask Twinbrook residents or City of Rockville about this proposal to re brand Rockville's Twinbrook neighborhood.
Needless to say, Twinbrook and Rockville wanted no part of White Flint. They pushed back hard.
That's hardly "Montgomery seizing Twinbrook from Rockville".
You'd think that there were soldiers lined along the south side of Bou Avenue, from the way Dyer wrote it.
They wanted it as part of their "urban district" and seize the identity of the neighborhood. How much more clear does it have to be to you?
White Flint's failure was one of management, not location. When they opened, they were way ahead of Montgomery Mall in terms of customers, shops, etc.
Then what happened? Montgomery Mall changed with the times to keep up. They renovated, expanded, and added a better mix of offerings. What did WF do? Nothing.
Montgomery Mall shows that malls in this general area can prosper if managed well -- the demand and customers are there.
If anything, this was WF's game to lose. They had a Metro station, while Montgomery Mall has much poorer transit options. They have bus service, but it's a long ride from there to the nearest Metro station on the bus... yet they still seem to make it work.
"White Flint Mall thriving" would be presumptive that Mr. Dyer is knowledgeable on what Lerner's P&L looks like on the property during the time in question, and would have that information in front of him and would be willing to share it.
As I noted on a separate page, I seem to recall even 5-7 years ago that there were quite a few empty storefronts there, mainly on the higher levels of course but a few on levels 1-2.
PLEASE SITE YOUR MAP IN THIS ARTICLE. I find on reference to the merchants listed on the Streetsense website.
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