Bank panic!
The Purple Line has claimed its second victim in the downtown Bethesda business community in three days. United Bank accepted its final transactions in the historic Community Paint and Hardware building at 7250 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda midday Wednesday. At 2:00 PM, the bank closed its doors forever.
By early evening, the bank's signage had been stripped, and the building was literally boarded up. Customers were redirected to the United branch at 7845 Wisconsin Avenue. All accounts here have been consolidated there.
The Purple Line light rail project is quickly becoming a proven job killer in Bethesda, as the restaurant next door, Food Wine & Co., closed forever Sunday night. Its ownership cited the Purple Line specifically as the reason for its closure. That business was in the Apex Building at 7272 Wisconsin, which will be demolished at an undetermined date in the future to make way for a Purple Line station. The new owner, Carr Properties, took possession of the building recently. It has put forward a promising redevelopment plan.
“We believe that the Apex site, as redeveloped, will be the new commercial hub of the Bethesda market with unparalleled access to public transportation, bike trails and the thriving restaurant and retail of Bethesda Row. We could not be more excited about this opportunity for our company,” Oliver Carr, III, Carr Properties’ CEO, said in a statement announcing the acquisition.
This now-former bank building figures prominently in that plan. It must move in order to provide the footprint to allow for a replacement cineplex for the Regal Cinemas Bethesda 10. The Regal is the only cineplex in downtown Bethesda that shows mainstream blockbuster movies.
One study has shown that a multi-screen cineplex like Regal draws an additional 20,000 people into a downtown area every weekend. As you can imagine, permanent loss of this economic engine would be a complete disaster for the downtown Bethesda economy. The "dinner and movie" business is huge, as any restaurateur within walking distance of Regal can tell you.
I thought every member of the Montgomery County Council and Planning Board revealed themselves to a person as unfit for office a few years ago, when not a single one of them spoke up to preserve a cineplex when a different Apex Building deal was under discussion. To have that poor of a knowledge of basic economics of cities, and hold office in arguably the most-educated jurisdiction in America, is simply astonishing.
No one is more concerned about historic preservation than I am. And I think we need to do everything we can to ensure that this historic building moves somewhere in downtown Bethesda (the building was already moved once to make way for the Apex Building in the late 1980s). It dates back to the 1890s, when it was a general store and post office. Historians believe it was the only retail store in Bethesda at the turn of the century in 1900.
But if you tell me the choice is losing the building versus destroying the economy of downtown Bethesda, I will have to pick the cineplex over the historic building. I sure don't like the idea. But we don't have much choice. The stakes are too high.
I commend Carr for proposing to include space for a cineplex in the new project. Now our incompetent "leaders" have to make sure it ends up happening. Let's hope the Council does a better job finding a place for this historic building than they've done finding a new school bus depot.
45 comments:
Excuses are tools for the incompetent, which is exactly what these "purple line" closures all. The purple line will be a win for Bethedsa in the long run, especially as it will ease the congested traffic on east west highway
Didn't United move up the street to the old jewelry store location in anticipation?
Really really hoping there's a new better theater in the new buildings. Someone's said before and I agree that it really needs an entrance on the Behesda row side. Imagine if that current "green" area becomes a central gathering place with people hanging out and going to the two theaters, new JBG retail, ice cream place, the outdoor Mon Ami Gabi seating, and of course the rest of the Row. This would be incredible for Bethesda.
With all the new construction in downtown and the street-level retail that will come with it-- I really don't see a problem. Does Bethesda need a multiplex? I'd think so, but-- who knows, maybe not. Let the market decide.
The Apex Building is an eyesore.
The Community Hardware building has always looked like a fish-out-of-water at its present location.
As @ 5:20 AM notes, United Bank is doing just fine. There are already too many useless banks taking up space that could be put to better use.
The Regal Cinema is almost 30 years old, the oldest in region except for the genuinely historic Uptown and Avalon. And folks just don't go to movies the way they used to. They'd rather enjoy them at home streaming on their large-screen TV rather than in the dark surrounded by noisy strangers.
And Dyer's first sentence is idiotic.
Dyer's rants become longer and longer as he copies and pastes all of his previous rants. He desperately needs an editor.
How's Arclight doing? I've gone a few times in the past few months and my husband and I are one of only a few people in the theater generally. IPic too.
"Let's hope the Council does a better job finding a place for this historic building than they've done finding a new school bus depot."
Put it in the middle of the Vollmer/Schwartz driveway.
Couldn't agree more. Reading Dyer's blog puts me in the shoes of a 5th grade English teacher.
It seems like the kids are there every weekend. They love Arclight. My husband and I prefer our screening room, but I am tempted to tag along with the kids to see the new Ghostbusters. It looks very progressive.
Don't mess with Poppy's O'Pear!!!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-warning-left-on-a-nannys-car-license-plates-stolen-and-a-top-pentagon-official-in-big-trouble/2016/06/01/50699a3a-2816-11e6-a3c4-0724e8e24f3f_story.html
6:05: The sentence is true, and therefore a fitting introduction. Facts always make an article better. This article is so tight you could bounce a quarter on it, particularly given the large amount of information involved. #Scooped
6:08: That's about as close as you're going to get to respectable employment, I guess.
Incorporate the Community Hardware building into the redesign of the Farm Women's Co-op property.
The increasingly absurd statements and faulty logic on this site is making me visit less and less. The United Bank is hardly a "casualty of the Purple Line." It was going to close anyway. Even if it was truly a "casualty of the Purple Line" we should be happy that the Purple Line is helping to reduce the ridiculous glut of bank branches in Bethesda.
As I'm sure you are already aware United Bank bought Bank of Georgetown leaving them with 3 Bethesda locations prior to the closing of this branch. It is my understanding they are also closing the existing Bank of Georgetown branch and will consolidate everyone into the much large former Charleston Alexander building they now occupy on Wisconsin Avenue.
As for Food and Wine, they likely held Carr hostage refusing to negotiate a buy out in 2+ years when the building will actually be torn down forcing Carr to pay more now to get them to go away.
7:01: So why are the visitor numbers to my site going up? You seem to be alone in your opinion.
That old hardware building is just that old. When something else special about it comes along call me. One less bank clogging the streets of Bethesda is hardly a reason to cry either. What's next one less place to pick out designer faucets?
Tearing down the worst movie theater (or rather "cineplex") in a 20 mile radius doesn't seem like such a bad idea either. I've been to many dollar, second-run theaters that are better run and maintained.
The visitor numbers for your site are going up for two reasons. First of all, you put a lot of work into this site and there is a lot of content. Although on second thought I suppose that more explains why you had a base of visitors in the first place.
The visitor count is going UP because your comment section has gotten to be some primo entertainment over the past few months. Some regular old blurb about a new yogurt place opening is getting 40+ comments these days.
What are your numbers like on rockville nights? That site barely gets any comments. Are the views going up there as well?
7:01am is the classic "that's it. I'm leaving" comment. Been awhile!
Victims of the Purple Line LMAO! You are so dramatic it's pathetic. I bet your eyes are brown and I can guess why, because you are full of it. This is just the beginning of a diatribe seething with stupidty.
"One study has shown that a multi-screen cineplex like Regal draws an additional 20,000 people into a downtown area every weekend. As you can imagine, permanent loss of this economic engine would be a complete disaster for the downtown Bethesda economy. The "dinner and movie" business is huge, as any restaurateur within walking distance of Regal can tell you."
TWENTY-THOUSAND PEOPLE EVERY WEEKEND. Stop snorting the damn bath salts your stealing from the latest boutique you moron. If this is true where is the gridlock from all the cars coming to our "Broadway". I guess we are really MORIBUND now huh!
"The Purple Line light rail project is quickly becoming a proven job killer in Bethesda, as the restaurant next door, Food Wine & Co., closed forever Sunday night."
SMH.
Go to journalism school and learn something, cause you sure are no Pulitzer threat by any means.
The Apex building is hardly an "eyesore". The public plaza offered one of the few public gathering spaces downtown.
Yes, downtown residents deserve a theater. Every major downtown in MoCo has one.
7:48 - what about your rockville site? oh yeah, you don't have one. if you go by comments making a blog successful...well then...poor BB...hardly any comments.
7:55 - I don''t think anyone is hog-tying you and forcing you to read Dyer's blog. If it upsets you so, give it up. Find something Pulitzer-worthy and stick with it instead. You'll be so much happier. And so will we.
7:50/7:56/7:57/8:01 AM - you're busy this morning. Keep it up, and Dyer just might let you move up from Mom's Basement's sub basement.
Hey, 8:22, what are you rambling about this time? I'm 7:57 and 8:01, and have never had a problem owning up to my posts. The others you reference belong to other(s.)
Have you spoken to your doctor about your belief that anyone who posts that is not you is the same person? There must be some kind of therapy or drug or medical procedure that could help.
Readers can't stand to see you spread your false information and bad ideas so they are out in force to help stop the madness. Kind of like what you are trying to do with the county.
Yes let's gather around the eye doctor store.
Wait so you're saying it's not all the same commentor? But when Dyer says it is the same commentor then thats true. Hmmm
8:55am "false information and bad ideas"
You just described most of councilman Reamer's speeches. Remember when he said Westbard Avenue was walking distance to two Metro stations?
905 - everything is within walking distance if you put your mind to it
@10:37 Yeah, especially around here. Come on, people, you have those fancy belts with all the odd shaped water bottles that I am sure Poppy has. Put them on and walk to the Metro. You won't melt . . . until you get on the Metro, that is.
No kidding. Proximity to a broken mass transit system that is always on fire and needs to shut down for months to do repairs they faked doing for years is nothing to brag about. You might as well talk about how a place is walking distance to the town dump.
99% of the visitors on this site are trolls. You can't even make a observation a have a serious conversation in the comments anymore.
@1125 does the troll live under a bridge?
11:25AM Agreed. That's their goal and it sucks.
And on cue, 11:35 reinforces it.
It's the same guy trolling daily, so I wouldn't say he represents 99% of the thousands of Bethesda residents who consume Robert Dyer's news content.
However, out of the weird/stalkerish comments, the same troll represents most of those.
I'm not sure I agree about Elm being a Unic, but their taste in architecture could certainly use some work as that Apex building and site in general could do nicely with an update, it looks like it's stuck in 1982
They are back open!!!!!!
@248- must have seen it on BM!
7:48: Wrong. In fact, the numbers are up for my site in the last couple of weeks even more than over the "last few months" you are talking about. Yes, numbers on RockvilleNights.com are way up as well, and there are far less comments on there than on here. For both sites, it is the news coverage that is driving traffic.
7:55: Why would the only reporter holding MoCo government accountable go to journalism school?
Who is more credible - a professional study showing cineplexes attract 20,000 additional people to urban centers on weekends, or an anonymous troll spewing hate on behalf of the MoCo cartel?
Do you have a link to this alleged "study"?
Certainly the study but I don't trust what Dyer says often.
Ok everyone stop commenting for the rest of June and see if the views continue to go up. That means you guys too Elm and Poppy.
7:29pm Sorry, Dyer's readers don't take orders. If you want to be told how to think, stick to other local sites.
Elm's mom sure took orders last night
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