Work has begun on the interior at 4848 Cordell Avenue, and on the mural along the exterior wall. An early rendering of that public art piece shown by the architecture firm behind the redesign, Steven J. Karr, AIA, Inc., featured a Stature of Liberty element.
I noticed yesterday that you can see sketch elements of the statue's iconic crown in the upper right of the wall now, suggesting that the original design may well be going onto the facade.
 |
Click to enlarge, then look
for the spiked crown of
Lady Liberty in-between the
top and middle scaffolding
at the upper right |
 |
Then compare the above photo to this
rendering by Andrew Bzdega of
Steven J. Karr, AIA, Inc.
(courtesy of SJKAIA, Inc,
All rights reserved) |
Meanwhile, window coverings over the newly-installed glass facade of the former homeless shelter suggests interior work is beginning. The space is being created with a potential restaurant tenant in mind for owner Greenhill Capital.
Expect to see that "LEASE - Greenhill" sign there... for all time.
ReplyDelete7:20: Do you really think Greenhill would put this kind of money into a project, and plan to just leave it sit vacant after completion?
DeleteSeems to be the pattern. Or as someone we know likes to say, it's proof.
Deleteno one has committed to the space. greenhill is in no rush to rent it out. they also just purchased the space occupied by harp next door. looking to take all the space up on that corner. to be a mega project per green hill execs
ReplyDeleteWhen is the last mega project vs crappy one story buildings with no tenants?
Delete"Do you really think Greenhill would put this kind of money into a project, and plan to just leave it sit vacant after completion?"
ReplyDeleteI find myself asking that same question about every single vacant Greenberg (oops, that's redundant) property in Bethesda, and sadly shaking my head.
I'm really curious his end game. Just to own the most property? Or to actually program and build and lease and improve an area? Or what?
ReplyDeleteWould love to hear someone interview him. Robert, can you help reach out? :)
Ugh I hope someone paints something better over top of this.
ReplyDeleteActually yeah I really agree with this. All of his building paintings are really pretty ugly.
DeleteYeah there's something up with Greenhill and I'm not sure what their end-game is. They own a lot of property, but they also have a much higher vacancy rate than other companies, and they seem to end up kicking tenants out a lot for non-payment of rent (so they are picking bad tenants to start with).
ReplyDeleteMaybe they make their money elsewhere, and aren't really focusing on making their Bethesda properties do well?
Or maybe the owner is older, full of money, and doesn't really focus on the financial aspect?
Tacky. Although sort of fitting.
ReplyDeleteTacky is spot on.
Delete#DEADMALL
ReplyDeleteGreenhill are cash buyers and looking to buy up all of Cordell. They already own 75% of it. Buy @ 3mil, sell 5yrs later at 5.5mil. not a bad business practice
ReplyDelete75% seems like a gross exaggeration but that's an interesting theory.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad business practice if you don't care about actually improving the area or the big picture beyond your bottom line. Which is part of why he gets trashed so much in places like this blog.
Delete75% , u can take that to the bank.
ReplyDeleteSearch results on Google:
ReplyDelete"Greenhill
www.greenhillcompanies.com/
This site may be hacked."
LOL
Concerning the murals, this is actually based on a picture of the New York New York hotel in las Vegas, not on the actual NYC.
ReplyDeleteNotice how all the building are connected to each other, forming only one large building.
You can even see the red rail of the roller coaster at the bottom of the mural...
Nice figuring that out. I wonder what's the relevance in Bethesda to put it on his building?
DeleteIt was an old building that served as a men's shelter. Now, it's totally reinvented, looks nice, we will get a store or restaurant and some nice art. What are folks complaining about?
ReplyDeletethe building does look nice! The specific comments about the artwork seem pretty on target though. And you know the shelter left cause Greenhill raised the rates. So, yeah.
Delete8:04 PM Art provokes responses good and bad. I'm happy to have more art in downtown Bethesda. This actually looks interesting.
ReplyDeleteWell I for one hope someone puts up a building next door and hides this particular work. :)
DeleteAlso the Greenhill wall on Fairmont is such a block killer in the middle of the sidewalk - and that block needs all the help it can get. Please take it down when you renovate, Lenny!