Sunday, April 26, 2015

Bethesda construction update: Homeless shelter to restaurant conversion at 4848 Cordell Ave. (Photos)

Here's what's new at the site of the former Bethesda House men's shelter at 4848 Cordell Avenue, which is currently being transformed into a restaurant space designed by Steven J. Karr, AIA, Inc. Most obviously, the bricked-up, closed nature of the shelter use has been replaced with a much more open glass facade facing the street. The other interesting element to watch will be that side wall that runs along the adjacent public parking lot, which is shown to feature a mural in the project renderings.






21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to seeing the finished building and who might be interested. This thing is going so slow.

Anonymous said...

Are you sure this will be restaurant space? It looks like retail space with the cheap storefront system. Maybe a cheap fast casual chain. Any decent restaurant will want a better facade than that but then again it is Karr and Greenhill so who knows.

Anonymous said...

"Lease - Greenhill"

Expect that to be a permanent sign, as it is on several other properties along St. Elmo and Fairmont.

Chase said...

Great to see an older building being renovated and given new life.

Seems like a much more sustainable way to go, rather than demolishing and starting over.

Kudos to Greenhill. I love the use of glass on the front.

Anonymous said...

What's taking so long though? Hardly anyone is ever working on it.

Re-using a building is great and all - but it's rather underwhelming to add such low density buildings in this area. Greenhill just doesn't seem to care about the future versus just a quick buck right now.

Chase said...

6:47 PM Are you suggesting more residential on these sites? Can Bethesda absorb more apartments? Fair question.

7770 Norfolk went condo. He also reported that the Gallery is leased up.

But what about Bainbridge, the new Arlington Road building and several others coming online in the next couple of years?

Anonymous said...

"Can Bethesda absorb more apartments?"

Of course.

Whether they can be absorbed at the staggering prices we've seen recently is a bit more up in the air.

Anonymous said...

"Chase" -

Please give "Woodmont", "Arlington" and "Elm" my regards.

Chase said...

Huh?

Chase said...

Who is filling these luxury units? Other than baby boomers selling their homes?

Anonymous said...

What does that mean? Are you implying the commentor "Chase" is the same commentor as "Woodmont", "Arlington", and "Elm"? That's so weird of you to say....

Randall said...

Bethesda IMHO can definitely absorb more residential and badly needs it. Just not the $2,500 for a one bedroom kind of residential.

The land is so expensive though, business cases probably drive those high rents.

But with land being so pricey and this area continuing to grow and grow, wasting such valuable real estate on low density buildings just seems wasteful and not mindful of future growth.

Look at all the complaints of the two banks going in at the gas station spots in Bethesda. Terrible use of prime space in a downtown urban area. Ugh.

Anonymous said...

Ugly old bricks in the front of the building. I still fail to see why they even bothered keeping that.

Anonymous said...

$2,500 for a 1BR is not that crazy. Similar units in Dupont Circle go for about the same price, and those are older buildings.

I'm thinking it will attract mostly singles or couples without kids, in the 25-40 age range.

Chase said...

Anonymous tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists I guess.

Dyer's site encourages discussion, even if we don't all agree. Dyer doesn't need bully enforcers to keep everyone on message. Just keep it civil :)

Anonymous said...

Building a new *drive thru* bank in the core of the downtown, across the street from the Metro station never made sense to me.

Anonymous said...

$2,500 for a one bedroom is asking for financial instability now and in the future unless you make quite a bit. Does anyone have a financial plan anymore that is responsible!

Anonymous said...

Hopefully that's not the finished facade. :)

Unknown said...

WHERE DE HOMELESS GO NOW ,I HOPE A GOOD WARM PLACE OLD BBOY

Anonymous said...

I think they merged this with a facility in Rockville?

Flynn said...

Looks like they just stucco'd it! Nice.