The beer and wine store got its unofficial beer house name for an obvious reason - like the building next to it, it resembles a house more than a retail building.
Now it will be demolished, along with the former surplus store at the Wisconsin Avenue side of the property, to clear the lot for Toll Brothers City Living's 8008 Wisconsin project. I've got plenty of photos here, as we say farewell to another remnant of "old Bethesda."
sad to see beer house go. Nice guys and free parking were great. But there are plenty of alcohol options around and the new development will be great for downtown Bethesda with more housing and people.
ReplyDeleteToll Brothers is moving pretty quickly on this project. Look forward to seeing it going up. Too bad the JBG development further down the block at 7900 Wisconsin is delayed for a couple more years.
ReplyDeleteJBG tried to kick out Fitness First and break ground, before realizing the tenant had an extension option on its lease. Sounds remarkably similar to the county's Shady Grove school bus lot situation.
@ 6:31 AM - Fitness First has had a sign announcing their expansion into the vacant area adjacent to it. That sign was posted two years ago and there hasn't been the slightest bit of construction activity there.
DeleteWhy aren't they demolishing the Wisconsin Ave structures (Ranger Surplus, Bethesda Valet, etc.) concurrently?
ReplyDeleteThis is great for MoCo! More density in a walkable area close to metro, NIH, medical support base, restaurants, shops, offices.
ReplyDeleteOne of the last houses in downtown. Big buildings will be the only structures in town filled with chain restaurants on the ground floor cause those are the only ones in the food business that can afford the new rents.
ReplyDeleteIt will be a ghetto in 15 years. Dark from the highrises blocking the sun, wind tunnels between buildings, no one maintaining the amenities, overrun with vermin. City living at it's best.
ReplyDeleteRemember when DC and other major cities were single story buildings? Growth can be such an interesting thing.
Delete@ 8:43 AM - "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."
DeleteCheck out the "Bethesda Chevy Chase Back In The Day" Facebook group for some really fun pictures and memories.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/250498248313404/
8:43 AM I doubt it will be that bad. The greatest fear is turning Bethesda into Ballston- a place with souless, sterile highrises and a few chain restaurants.
ReplyDeleteSo far, the new buildings aren't bad.
Old Bethesda is gone, bought up and torn down by sheer greed. I care nothing for alcohol options, Toll Bros, JBG, medical support bases, or any other glossy brochure terminology. Three words sum up my position: 'Communities Not Canyons'.
ReplyDelete"Greed" = meeting market demand for more housing.
DeleteYou're not rolling back progress far enough.
Delete'Canopies Not Communities".
Personality and character, gone.
ReplyDeleteNice business. Crappy building and parking lot. Poor use of the land.
ReplyDeleteYou know what's ironic? This business (and the several others like it in Bethesda) would not have existed if grocery stores, CVS, 7-11 and gas stations were allowed to sell beer and wine.
ReplyDeleteI wish Equity bought it so we could get Westbard 2.0!
ReplyDeleteOr Chevy Chase Lake 2.0.
ReplyDeleteWestbard 2.0 or Chevy Chase Lake 2.0 would have been awesome. Even settling for Bethesda Row 2.0 would have been nicer than the hodgepodge we are getting now. Too bad that huge JBG assemblage never happened. It would have truly transformed Woodmont Triangle and this north end of Bethesda.
ReplyDeleteIf you've read Robert Dyer's reporting on Bethesda Row 2.0, you'll know that even Bethesda Row will be going vertical in it's next incarnation along Woodmont.
ReplyDeleteCan't JBG pay off Fitness First to leave? I'm sure they have other empty space to offer them. It's kind of cheap, run down gym, right?
ReplyDeleteNot way that dump could stand in the way of new development.
I know JBG had a contingent on that block for many years before they gave it up.
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