Friday, April 07, 2017

Bethesda demolition update: Apex Building (Photos)

A new set of demolition fences were installed around parts of the Apex Building yesterday. Now sealed off are the driveway to the building's garage ramp, and the courtyard outside the former Regal Cinemas Bethesda 10. The building is coming down to make way for a new mixed-use project by Carr Properties.
Ten years ago, I wouldn't
have believed I would witness
this driveway to the garage being
closed off, and this building being
demolished, in my lifetime

Having said that, the project
looks good, and I'm on board
as long as the plan to invite
Regal Cinemas or another theater
back to a basement level of the
new development


38 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I'm on board as long as the plan to invite Regal Cinemas or another theater back to a basement level of the new development"

How about thinking about the others in the community, who will benefit no matter what retail is included, plus the addition of sorely lacking green/public space?

Anonymous said...

In other news, has anyone tried the new Target? I went yesterday. It's surprisingly big since it's basically in the basement and sub-basemen. They installed elevators in the store to go between floors.

The parking is still a mess, in particular since the exit is now routed up the ramp and past the TJ's parking level, which is always backed up.

I guess word needs to get out better. There were more employees than shoppers when we visited, and we were the only people at the check-out.

Anonymous said...

"I'm on board as long as the plan to invite Regal Cinemas or another theater back to a basement level of the new development"

Incomplete sentence, Birdbrain!

Anonymous said...

9:45 AM Yes, let's insult all journalists that work at digital media. BuzzFeed News, HuffPo and Business Insider journalists are all fake to your mind because they don't appear in print.

Anonymous said...

No. Not in the least. All of those are actual media outlets that do good reporting. HuffPo and BuzzFeed are great...as are countless other social media outlets. Unfortunately, this blog is nothing like those new sites. This is more than a slightly failing blog. It is an insult to compare this blog to BuzzFeed and Huffington post. Dyer offers unfounded opinions...he attempts to mask his opinions as honest and transparent reporting. Those are serious journalists. Robert is a hobbyist who uses opinions rather than fact. Just my two cents. This blog is good for news about businesses opening and closing. While I appreciate it for that, it's worth little less in my opinion and Robert isn't a journalist worth his salt.

Anonymous said...

All for a rail line that'll never get built.

Anonymous said...

All for a rail line that'll never get built.

Anonymous said...

10:43 AM And people said HuffPost was just a blog, BuzzFeed is failing, etc.
Now you're saying it about Robert. You're welcome to your opinion! The rest of us, who don't have some grudge against Robert, enjoy his reporting.

I think it's great we have someone covering Bethesda, East MoCo and Rockville. The Gazette closed, so it's great to get local news coverage.

Robert Dyer said...

Yeah, OK, so I've broken stories about underground fuel spills in Bethesda, the River Road cemetery, illegal use of funds by Montgomery County government, blocked sidewalks (which led to legislation being passed, even though the County doesn't enforce it), just to name a few, and you're claiming I'm not a journalist but people writing "good news" propaganda and getting attaboys from councilmembers are?

Please.

Robert Dyer said...

6:46: I am thinking about others in the community - permanent loss of a mainstream cineplex will hurt businesses downtown. If they close, that also hurts the community.

I make or lose no money either way, so my remarks were indeed ENTIRELY about the community.

I've previously said that the developer can't be blamed for not adding a theater, even though I think they'd regret the loss of foot traffic for the other restaurants and retail in the new development, because the County Council chose not to require a replacement theater.

Anonymous said...

The County cannot dictate any requirements for a movie theater in a development.

Anonymous said...

Planning Board can dictate many things that are wins for the community.

Remember when they required a "high quality restaurant" as a condition in order to approve the new condo at battery/Woodmont?

Robert Dyer said...

4:25: They absolutely can, as 6:45 correctly noted. There was a minor master plan amendment, and the County Council and Planning Board both declined to mandate a theater and construction of the trail tunnel Under Wisconsin Avenue. It's too late to blame Carr Properties, they are under no obligation to do anything the agreement didn't require. Both fiascos will be on the Council, much like the 911 outage, Flower Branch explosion, MS-13 murders and Rockville High rape.

Anonymous said...

People new to MoCo don't understand that Planning Boards in other communities try to bargain with developers to get the best deal for the residents- a true win-win for both sides.

With this MoCo board, they usually rubber stamp everything and don't take a holistic view.

Requiring a movie theater amenity wouldn't be unheard of.

This Board and Council float further and further away from residents wishes and interests....

Anonymous said...

"Requiring a movie theater amenity wouldn't be unheard of"

Double-negative, birdbrain!

Better version: "...would be heard of"

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised to see this development move forward now that the purple line appears to be dead

Anonymous said...

"County Council chose not to require a replacement theater"

Why should the county council require a replacement theater or any other use? This isn't publicly owned land. The owner has been more than accommodating by providing an expanded tunnel for the Purple Line and CCT. Such onerous restrictions are what puts the county at a disadvantage to its neighbors in attracting private business.

Robert Dyer said...

6:26: If they were looking out for private business like downtown restaurants, they wouldn't have risked losing the theater by leaving it up in the air like this.

This project was facilitated using a minor master plan amendment, so it was entirely in the purview of the Council to make any conditions they wished. The question is now moot, anyway. Carr has presented an impressive project, and it is going forward, with or without the theater.

We have relatively lax restrictions on development; our taxes, regulations, and poor transportation system - along with lack of direct access to Dulles Airport - are the major reasons we are skipped over in favor of Northern Virginia by corporations.

Anonymous said...

The Litany of St. Dyer has begun.

Anonymous said...

MoCo is losing to NoVa because we have lax restrictions on development? Only Robert Dyer could make a claim like that.

Robert Dyer said...

6:48: Do you know what a semicolon is? The reasons that follow the semicolon are the major reasons we are losing to NoVa.

What precedes a semicolon is - duh! - not part of the list that follows.

6:44: No, I just have a functioning brain and understand how the business world works in the year 2017, unlike you and your buddies on the County Council.

Anonymous said...

"I understand how the business world works"

By never having participated in it?

Robert Dyer said...

7:40: Unlike your buddies on the Council, with the exception of Sid Katz, I actually have operated a business. I've had to stick to a budget, and could't raise taxes to exceed it. I've hired and fired employees.

I also know what the current trends are in international business, and what factors major corporations look at when they search for a headquarters site. Again, as their record proves without a doubt, the Council doesn't know about any of these things.

They haven't attracted a single major corporation to the county in two decades, and MoCo is the only jurisdiction in the region to have a net loss of jobs since 2000. Humiliating!

Anonymous said...

What was your business again?

Robert Dyer said...

8:41: Recording artist.

Anonymous said...

How many people did you hire?

How many people did you fire?

How long did you have this job?

What perspective, if any, did this job give you in understanding how to attract Fortune 500 company headquarters to Montgomery County?

Anonymous said...

Someone actually got fired by Robert Dyer? That guy has to be the biggest loser in MoCo.

Anonymous said...

Want to see funny? You simply must search for Dyer on Amazon to see his multi-platinum record. Dyer is delusional. It's not even good enough to be called bad. It's laughable. He calls himself an international recording artist. Dyer is the biggest thing to come out of MoCo. Ever.

How many albums have you sold, Dyer? Location of your last concert? Do you even have a finished album? No at all.

You're not exactly a success in terms of your music. You little blog is entertaining though.

Anonymous said...

Ok, even funnier - Robert''s music has anywhere between 4 and 200 (mostly in the teens) views for his music on YouTube. Of the billions of internet users, less than 500 people have viewed his music on YouTube. Yet Robert calls himself an "internationally-distributed recording artist." Got to give him credit for believing in himself.

Anonymous said...

WTF is "a recording artist"?

Why not "musician"?

Robert Dyer said...

9:14: You ask if I've finished an album one paragraph after referring to a finished album being sold on Amazon.com. That, my friend, makes you a complete moron.

Having sold records on every major continent, and having sales in countries like France exceed sales in the United States, indeed makes me an internationally-distributed recording artist.

My music career is something that's really created resentment for you since you referred to me as a "self-proclaimed recording artist" four years ago.

You're a small, low-testosterone "man" with nothing better to do than trash people who are actually out there getting things done. Sad.

You don't have any sales numbers for my album. You've never attended a Robert Dyer concert. Does your warped, frustrated rants and opinions carry any weight whatsoever?

"No (sic) at all."

Robert Dyer said...

9:20: You're referring to the official streams supplied by the distributor to YouTube - those are always lower in views, even for major label artists, than those promoted heavily and found more easily via search by YouTube. I can't even locate every track via the search engine on YouTube, which proves my point.

"Got to give you credit" for being a complete dumbass who knows nothing about digital music distribution, or even the definition of "recording artist."

Anonymous said...

Are you on Spotify, Pandora, Tidal?

Robert Dyer said...

5:33: Yes.

Anonymous said...

Working on anything new? Do you follow Miyavi?

Robert Dyer said...

7:31: Yes, I've got material for a new album ready to go. Miyavi? No.

Anonymous said...

Same type of sound?

Anonymous said...

do you li8ke j-pop metal?