Monday, April 11, 2016

Is this Bethesda property increasing your risk of contracting Zika? (Photos)

A reader with a bird's-eye view of the vacant Steamers property at 4820 Auburn Avenue tweeted me over the weekend with his concern that the now-roofless building could become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The pesky insects, already notorious for spreading West Nile virus here, have plunged further in the public opinion polls now that they are known carriers of the Zika virus. Now spreading into the United States, the disease is being blamed for birth defects in children.

From the Twitter photo sent to me (above), it was clear that tarp covering the collapsed roof must have been blown aside by the high winds over the last week. This is allowing rain to fully enter the building, and theoretically would leave standing water that creates a mosquito risk. If you look through the front doors, you can see right through what used to be the roof, and the Gallery Bethesda apartment tower looming above.

The 8,342 SF property is currently for sale, and most likely represents a demolition and redevelopment opportunity for the prospective buyer.






30 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:10 AM

    The sales broker and/or the owner had better get that roof secured.

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  2. This is dreadful. I agree that the broker must address this issue. This is Bethesda, not Pripyat.

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  3. Anonymous5:23 AM

    Stupid story. There are other properties that have been left waiting for development. Move along, nothing more to see here.

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  4. Anonymous5:24 AM

    Funny how Dyer omits all mention of the fact that the roof collapsed almost three months ago, during the big blizzard.

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  5. 5:24: The roof collapse is irrelevant - the issue being discussed is that the tarp is out of place to keep rainwater out.

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  6. 5:24: And it looks in the photo that was tweeted like there may be pools of rainwater in depressed areas of the tarp itself.

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  7. Anonymous5:48 AM

    "The 8,342 SF property is currently for sale, and most likely represents a demolition and redevelopment opportunity for the prospective buyer."

    Development for thee, but not for me.

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  8. Anonymous6:00 AM

    I thought it was already sold? Is it back on market?

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  9. Anonymous6:32 AM

    Dyer is trying to (further) depress the value of this site, so that his pal Lenny Greenberg can buy it.

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    1. Anonymous6:49 AM

      Does Dyer know Greenberg? Curious for ethical disclosure of a news organization?

      Delete
  10. 6:00: The for sale sign is still up.

    6:32: I have nothing to do with it. I'm just reporting what was brought to my attention in the tweet shown above. The property owner is responsible for the condition of the property.

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  11. 6:49: Do you have similar disclosures for other local news organizations? I have a feeling they'd be pretty interesting to read.

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    1. Anonymous7:14 AM

      Yeah it would! I'm curious there too.

      Btw you are quick to point out relationships and contributions for others. How about your own relationships?

      Delete
  12. Anonymous6:55 AM

    There have been no cases of mosquito-borne Zika in the U.S. to date. So saying this is a Zika concern is fear-mongering and not substantiated by anything. That makes people roll their eyes at the crazy person behind the story.

    Having a building filling with water is a reasonable concern on its own merit, however. The county has a very effective code enforcement office that responds very quickly to cases like this **if someone reports it to authorities and not just via neighborhood lists and local blogs***. 311 is the number. Very easy.

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    1. Anonymous7:13 AM

      Did the original tweeter report it? Or the author of this blog post? If not, I can submit a report if no one else has so far.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous6:56 AM

    "The property owner is responsible for the condition of the property."

    But when they lost their liquor license, it was all Hans Riemer/Moribund MoCo Machine's fault.

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  14. Anonymous7:23 AM

    @ 7:14 PM - Does Dyer have an undisclosed relationship with Rose Palmer & Associates?

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  15. Steve Hell7:45 AM

    You've blown the cover off my plan to house my summer interns here.

    City lights view through the hole in the tarp is a selling point!

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  16. Anonymous8:04 AM

    Dyer has a bad case of chicken little syndrome. THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING! What a case of yellow (jaundiced) journalism.

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  17. Anonymous8:08 AM

    Methinks that this article was just a pretext for peeping into the windows of the Gallery.

    @ 8:04 AM - Are you suggesting that Dyer is suffering from cirrhosis?

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  18. Anonymous8:28 AM

    @ 7:13 PM - "Did the original tweeter report it?"

    Probably not. He appears to be from Miami, just visiting this area (and momentarily bored).

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  19. Anonymous9:29 AM

    Did you folks notice the original tweet included tagging the county? Isn't that reporting it?

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  20. Anonymous9:32 AM

    Why are the Anonymouses (Anonymi?) at 6:32 6:49 so obsessed with Greenberg? Bad breakup?

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    1. Anonymous10:02 AM

      Hi Anonymous, it's anonymous. Just frustrated with Greenberg's hand in killing Woodmont Triangle. Of course many other factors, but he's helping quite a bit.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous9:48 AM

    @ 9:29 AM (#1 of 2): I also noticed that he tweeted Bethesda Beat. I guess they didn't consider it newsworthy. If they did, Dyer would have been whining about "plagiarism" right now.

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    1. Anonymous10:12 AM

      Unless there's a dollar to be made, Beat won't report it.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:03 AM

    It's great to point out the potential hazards, but including Zika in this report is a bit fear mongering as has been pointed out, and a bit irresponsible journalism IMHO.

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  23. Anonymous10:20 AM

    Mentioning Zika isn't really a stretch since NIH (or NIAID to be specific) is researching Zika right now. In fact, Dr Fauci just had a great lecture in March about Zika being a pandemic in progress.

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  24. Anonymous12:59 PM

    Those aren't "pools of rainwater" in those poor depressed areas. Those are tears, you heartless bastard.

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  25. Anonymous2:57 PM

    And the squatters have moved in by jumping the fence of the Gallery Bethesda apartments. Hopefully there are beer and crab legs left in the fridge.

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