Monday, April 04, 2016

Original Connor Building Smoothie King to close July 30 in Bethesda

The original location of Smoothie King in the Connor Building will close July 30, 2016. If you're a Smoothie King fan, you probably already know that their new location is at 4710 Bethesda Avenue, and is there to stay.

A Westin hotel and office project that will replace the Connor Building and the motel next door has been delayed for several years. The moribund Montgomery County economy has reduced demand for both hotel business travel and office space.

21 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:39 AM

    "The moribund Montgomery County economy has reduced demand for both hotel business travel and office space."

    I am really glad that vinyl records are coming back. That way the younger generations will still be able to appreciate the phrase, "you sound like a broken record."

    And NoVa is moribunder:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-news/this-model-of-wealthy-suburban-living-is-starting-to-fray/2016/04/02/e9ad0ace-f107-11e5-a61f-e9c95c06edca_story.html

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  2. Anonymous5:43 AM

    I can't wait for this hotel. Hopefully the office building isn't much further behind. It will really help class up Woodmont Triangle!

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  3. 5:39: Just because NoVa has a better business climate doesn't mean Fairfax County isn't mostly run by tax-and-spend politicians.

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  4. Anonymous6:51 AM

    As opposed to what, spend-and-spend politicians?

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  5. Anonymous7:07 AM

    "...doesn't mean Fairfax County isn't mostly run by tax-and-spend politicians."

    Translation: "I can't be bothered to actually read the article."

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    1. 7:07: I read the article 24 hours ago. It didn't hold the Board of Supervisors accountable for their spending habits, nor the same sort of frantic infill development we're experiencing in Montgomery County.

      Had their leaders been fiscally conservative, they wouldn't be in this mess. Had they only approved the development their infrastructure could support, they wouldn't be in this mess.

      While their creation of private sector high-wage jobs is astronomically greater than MoCo over the last decade, that impressive growth cannot provide unlimited funds. You still need wise leadership.

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  6. Anonymous2:11 PM

    "Had their leaders been fiscally conservative, they wouldn't be in this mess."

    Dyer, if you actually did read the Post article, then your reading comprehension sucks. Somehow you missed this:

    "Since the 2008 recession, local officials have whittled away at programs to the tune of $300 million. They now say that there is no fat left to trim."


    "frantic infill development"

    How is it that the normal growth of cities over time, to you, is somehow contrary to the laws of nature?

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    1. 2:11: If somebody's claiming there's only $300M worth of "fat" in the Fairfax budget, an unbiased reporter would do more than accept that statement at face value.

      Soviet-style command development that artificially overturns the existing character of successful, functioning neighborhoods is hardly "normal growth."

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  7. Anonymous2:11 PM

    Tysons Corner currently has 1 million square feet of office space vacant. Their footprint is much larger but they also are pretty useless for dining options and hotels. They have a few chain restaurants in the mall, and some really awful strip mall food. That is pretty much it.

    Their benefits for being in business are pretty awesome tough.

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    1. 2:11: They not only have a ton of great restaurants in Tysons - though, unlike George Leventhal, I won't claim they're better than the selection in MoCo, but the tallest office building in the whole region is under construction there. Swing by sometime, and you might also notice Intelsat HQ - you know, the anchor tenant 4500 East-West Highway lost to Tysons thanks to your anti-business buddies on the Montgomery County Council.

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    2. Rpbert8:35 PM

      Quality restaurants is an opinion so that's not really here nor there.

      Dyer. What about the 1m square feet of vacancy 2:11 mentioned?

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    3. Anonymous7:24 AM

      I am the person who wrote @2:11pm. My company has its HQ in tysons (where Im the CEO). There is only 1 great dining place in tysons and that is a private club. The other are chain restaurants with very average food.

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  8. Anonymous7:50 PM

    Dyer calls property owners responding to demand for more housing, retail and offices "soviet-style command development".

    Dyer is so full of hilariously contradictory bullshit.

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  9. Anonymous7:57 PM

    I bet the restaurants in Bethesda & Silver Spring loved it when Leventhal claimed he had to drive to Fairfax County to get a decent meal.

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  10. Anonymous6:19 AM

    "The tallest office building in the whole region is under construction there"

    High-rises being built in Virginia - "NoVa is whuppin' MoCo's butt!"

    High-rises being built in Maryland - "Oh, no! Konkreet kanyinz! Traffic! Colored people invading our neighborhood!"

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  11. 6:19: There you go with the race card again - clearly indicating you've lost the argument.

    8:35: What about the fact that Fairfax has 8 Fortune 500 companies? End of argument.

    7:50: No, you are. You're a Communist in every aspect of your ideology EXCEPT when it comes to private developer profit. Then you turn around and start screaming "Communist!!" Laughable hypocrisy.

    When a far left County Council decrees it is arbitrarily changing an area to create an entirely different economic activity there, that's a command economy, sir.

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  12. Anonymous7:18 AM

    Meth + DMX is one hell of a drug.

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  13. Anonymous7:25 AM

    Also. That Intellisat building is 80% vacant. Intellisat only has 2-3 floors in the building, not the entire building.

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  14. Anonymous8:32 AM

    NoVa's Fortune 500 Graveyard -

    AOL - Moved to New York City, recently acquired by Verizon (also New York City).

    Sprint - Moved to Kansas City. Landline division now part of CenturyLink (Monroe, Louisiana).

    ExxonMobil - moved to Irving, Texas.

    MCI - Acquired by Verizon, New York City.

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    Replies
    1. 8:32: And after all of that, they STILL have several times the number MoCo has. Embarrassing.

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    2. Anonymous11:11 AM

      Sprint is from Kansas City. Overland Park to be exact. Sprint has its roots in the Southern Pacific Railroad INTernational and also like Apple's LISA, had a silly moniker to sound cool (Switched Packet Relay Internetwork). This is how they were able to be that clear as a pin drop first fiber company - just lay the fiber along their train track right of way. Qwest Communications did the same thing as they were the Union Pacific Railroad

      What actually moves was Nextel's operations (Acquired by Sprint). Not Sprint HQ.

      Also, AOL started in Tysons Corner right where MAE-EAST was after they moved in the mid-80s (when they were called Quantum Link)

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