Thursday, April 02, 2015

Community meeting scheduled for future Bethesda apartment tower

Developer Lenkin Companies has scheduled a community meeting to discuss its preliminary plan submission to the Montgomery County Planning Department for the future St. Elmo Apartments. That meeting will be held Thursday, April 16, at 7:00 PM at Bethesda Elementary School. Bethesda ES is located at 7600 Arlington Road.

Lenkin's proposal is for 210 luxury apartment units, up to 15,488 SF of retail/restaurant/office space, and - if next door property owner Bainbridge can work out an agreement - a joint 10,865 SF of shared public space between the St. Elmo and Bainbridge Bethesda buildings. Like the Bainbridge, the St. Elmo Apartments will span the mid-block between St. Elmo and Fairmont Avenues in the Woodmont Triangle.

Construction on the 16-story tower would likely begin in late 2016 or 2017.

Rendering courtesy Lenkin Companies
and DMS Architects
All rights reserved

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay! Which properties will be affected?

Anonymous said...

Does it include the Chef Tony's building?

Robert Dyer said...

8:52: Yes, and the former Jiffy Shoppes/Pizza Pass, and a building on Fairmont behind.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow. Does Chef Tony's have plans to move nearby and stay in Bethesda?

Anonymous said...

Does the county council get credit for all this new development going up? Fair is fair, right?

Robert Dyer said...

3:38: No, the redevelopment of downtown Bethesda began in the late 1970s, long before they were in office. The cranes went away during the recession, and now they're back. If you think the boom-bust real estate cycle has anything to do with the Montgomery County Council, that's typical MoCo Machine propaganda. Kind of like claiming the low unemployment among County residents means that those jobs are located within MoCo. Those jobs are actually mostly in DC and Northern Virginia.

Robert Dyer said...

1:07: I haven't heard anything yet, but I'd certainly expect him to try to stay in the area.

Anonymous said...

Robert had to give anonymous 3:38 a Bethesda history lesson to bring him up to speed.

Anonymous said...

Ok so council not responsible for good development. Only responsible for bad. Got it.

Anonymous said...

6:03pm The council wisely distances themselves from "bad". (See SSTC).

Anonymous said...

Can you help explain so we can understand your perspective of why the council is responsible for some things that happen but not others in your opinion? Thanks Robert.

Anonymous said...

"No, the redevelopment of downtown Bethesda began in the late 1970s"

Wtf? Might as well say the redevelopment of downtown Bethesda began in the late 1870s, if you're going to pretend that the recent massive uptick in construction is somehow connected to the 1970s. How idiotic, Dyer.

Anonymous said...

There definitely was not a correlation between the 70's and current development. Property values didn't sky rocket until mid 2000-2010

Anonymous said...

What did he say when you asked?

Anonymous said...

7:47pm: troll much?

Anonymous said...

Folks from out of town think this is downtown Bethesda's only boom construction period in it's history. They're wrong of course.

Robert Dyer said...

7:49: The only thing idiotic is pretending that the Council is responsible for redevelopment that has been underway for decades. Do you think George Leventhal and Hans Riemer are personally to thank for all of the wealthy residents who lived here for decades, and which are the real reason developers are eager to build here? Don't tell me, banning e-cigs will create another "massive uptick" in development? I would think a self-proclaimed "expert" like yourself would know that most of the projects going forward now were already in the works prior to the recession. If this Council's supernatural supreme goodness was so infallible, surely the cranes wouldn't have disappeared during the recession, right? Any one who understands real estate cycles recognizes you're that same old troll again.

Robert Dyer said...

8:18: Talking point! Hello, troll. "Why didn't you call Pizza Pass and ask?"

Robert Dyer said...

8:25: Seriously. Where do the carpetbaggers think the Metro Center buildings came from? A time-traveling Hans Riemer?

Anonymous said...

"If this Council's supernatural supreme goodness was so infallible, surely the cranes wouldn't have disappeared during the recession, right?"

Gotta love Dyer's army of straw men.

Also, he needs to tell his shill to wait more than just five minutes after Dyer posts, to make things a little less blatantly obvious.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Robert Dyer said...

4:18: That was my own comment posted under my own name, you idiot. Have you gotten Hans Riemer his coffee yet?

Anonymous said...

4:49 PM was you? Thanks for confirming.

Anonymous said...

Huh? I was merely asking if you the reporter of the news piece had any more insight from the restaurant. Why are you being rude?

Anonymous said...

@8:21 most would consider that quite a fair question. I'm not sure you get what a troll is on the internet. This is the comment section and it's a very honest question.

Anonymous said...

I get what you are saying and don't completely disagree. It is just not really fair you blame some things on the council saying they are directly responsible for said failures and then say successes are completely independent of the council. That's my point. Not about the ancillary topics. You're not being very fair and balanced.

Anonymous said...

Dyer seems to think that the amount of new construction in Bethesda was exactly the same in the years between 1990 and 2004, as what it was between 1981 and 1989, between 2005 and 2008 and from 2011 onward.

Robert Dyer said...

7:03: You're obviously new to the area, or just trolling. You're trying to give credit for a decades-long urbanization of Bethesda to the current County Council. Only a new arrival to the area like Hans Riemer would be fooled by that. It's kind of like claiming the good health and fitness of Bethesda residents is the result of George Leventhal being on the County Council. #delusional

Anonymous said...

Leventhal couldn't buy better PR. He single handily is responsible for our good health?

Robert Dyer said...

6:17: The report was not about Chef Tony's future plans. And you used the "why didn't you call?" talking point. I had already answered your question earlier, when I clearly said Chef Tony has not publicly commented on future moves. I'm not being rude at all.

Anonymous said...

And you tried to blame one year old closings on the council's one year old nightime economy ideas. What's the difference? Inquiring minds want to know.

Anonymous said...

The report very much has to do with chef Tony's spot. I was simply asking if you as a reporter might have asked. Calling me a troll is just downright rude. Stop lumping all your commenters together before you make your fans haters as well. I like your blog dude. Relax.

Anonymous said...

The MoCo Machine evening shift crew has arrived.

Anonymous said...

While others gather with friends and family on this holiday weekend, anonymous plans to troll the editor of a local news site.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Riemer touted his nightlife economy accomplishments. It's fair for the media to ask what exactly has been accomplished. The Post was skeptical.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but I've never seen specifics.

Robert Dyer said...

3:50: The nighttime economy initiative started much longer than a year ago. At least 6 nightspots have closed since. You make it sound like high-rise building booms are new in Bethesda. George Leventhal taking credit for the St. Elmo Apartments would go in the same delusion file as his claim of responsibility for the health and fitness of Bethesda residents. Egomania and an inflated sense of self are typical byproducts of a corrupt political system.

Robert Dyer said...

3:52: You said, "What did he say when you asked?" I had just said that I had not heard anything yet from Chef Tony. I can only interpret that as an attempt to suggest that I was supposed to have called Chef Tony and failed to do so. That's a common talking point from the troll on here. If someone tells me they don't know what Chef Tony's plans are, why would I assume that they had had a conversation with Chef Tony about his future plans?

Anonymous said...

Really you aren't getting it. It's not about the issues themselves. Your opinion is fine. Just your logic application is slightly flawed.

Looks about a year and a half ago for the task force recommendations. Of the recommendations, I wonder how many were actually utilized.

http://patch.com/maryland/silverspring/recommendations-of-montgomery-countys-nighttime-economy-task-force

Still, not a whole lot of time to judge it's effectiveness just yet. They were after all just recommendations, right?

Anonymous said...

Sorry if I am not well versed in an appropriate way to ask a blogger? You didn't have to be mean about it, right?

Anonymous said...

"While others gather with friends and family on this holiday weekend, anonymous plans to troll the editor of a local news site."

...wrote Dyer's shill in the middle of the night on Good Friday/Passover, while trolling the skeptics all by his lonesome self.

Zero self-awareness.

Anonymous said...

I think we can do without the insults.

There's a difference between reading and contributing to a site vs. trolling and posting creepy/weird comments.

Try to add to the conversation.

Anonymous said...

Says the guy/gal who is also here. :)

Robert Dyer said...

9:08: More dog whistle psychobabble from a self-proclaimed shill for Hans Riemer and George Leventhal.

Robert Dyer said...

4:14: Your comment reveals that it is you who doesn't know what that term means. Embarrassing.

MarcioWilges said...

Looks like the skyline is going to keep changing and moving here! Sounds like an exciting plan though. Can't wait to see how the discussion ends up and what the final designs will look like.