 |
| Orangetheory Fitness space at 7900 Wisconsin is lit up at bottom right of picture in this view from Woodmont Avenue at St. Elmo Avenue |
Orangetheory Fitness has leased the Woodmont Avenue-facing retail space in the future 7900 Wisconsin Avenue development in downtown Bethesda. The fitness chain's closest existing locations are in the Park Potomac development and at 4600 Wisconsin Avenue N.W. in Tenleytown.
There's only one downside to this - it was previously hoped this space would go to a restaurant or bar, in order to activate the Woodmont Avenue streetscape after business hours. With the largest two ground floor spaces now leased, there is no longer room for an upscale restaurant or nightspot at the property. Of course, it could have been worse - such as yet another bank.
Orangetheory's downtown Silver Spring location lists classes starting as late as 8:15 PM. That still won't be late enough to energize this dead block of Woodmont, a growing problem as downtown Bethesda's nightlife cratered after the disastrous Montgomery County Council Nighttime Economy Task Force initiative. At night, that side of Woodmont is currently dark and deserted from Norfolk Avenue all the way to Wisconsin Avenue near Jones Bridge Road, a pedestrian-unfriendly stretch once you pass the 24-hour Tastee Diner.
The remaining two vacant spaces are 1958 SF and 951 SF, only large enough for a fast-casual carry-out or boutique. Developer JBG Smith, according to a JBG employee, had already reached agreement with grocery store Trader Joe's to be the anchor retail tenant at the 18-story residential building in 2014. We'll have to hope the pedestrian traffic using the very nice cut-through plaza the building will have between Woodmont and Wisconsin (including a mirrored ceiling), and (hopefully) late-night grocery hours, can inject some humanity on both sides of the development after dark.
I believe that Harris Teeter is no longer open 24 hours a day - just 6 AM to midnight.
ReplyDelete5:14: You are correct. Can't believe I forgot that, considering I was the one who reported it last September. The nighttime economy task force was so devastating to nightlife, I can't even keep track of all the collateral damage myself!
ReplyDeletehttps://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2018/09/harris-teeter-to-drop-overnight-store.html
It has nothing to do with the "nighttime economy task force."
ReplyDeleteExactly how was it "so devastating to nightlife?"
All they did was a study....in 2013...SIX years ago.
Sheesh...what a drama queen Dyer is.
No shout out to the reader who reported the Orange Theory lease?
ReplyDeletePerhaps if you spent more time in Bethesda during normal early evening hours you would find more restaurant activity. Most folks do not like to eat a meal after 8:00 PM or so, so most restaurants are not open very late. Of course more coffee shops and bars with live entertainment that stay open later would be welcome, but full service fine dining typically does not thrive with late hours.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete5:46: I was aware of it prior to that mention, but tips are always welcome - in other cases, I learn things I was not aware of.
ReplyDelete5:41: Amnesia? They not only studied, but also made a set of recommendations, which were then implemented by the Council. 16 nightspots ended up closing in downtown Bethesda alone, one of two 24-hour restaurants closed, and numerous downtown businesses slashed their late-night/overnight hours.
Heckuva job, Brownie! LOL
The folks on the task force were so behind the times, they recommended "more taxi stands and buses," when no young person I know would be caught dead using either one at night. They're all using Uber or driving. Just one example. Welcome to 2019. LOL
It's also worth noting that when asked to define his term "nightspot", Dyer typically exaggerates the qualifications of closed businesses for that list, and understates the qualifications of currently open businesses for that list.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Dyer claims that the DLC is to blame for the closures of the "nightspots" after 2011 but can't explain why they were able to thrive under the same DLC prior to that.
Dyer, why do you keep pretending that Uber and Lyft would not benefit from having taxi stands?
ReplyDelete5:56: No kidding - that's why I keep having these arguments with the troll about how a restaurant is not equivalent to a "nightspot." So I'm not sure how you are differing with what I've been saying all along. Restaurants are not usually nightspots.
ReplyDeleteTrust me, I'm around at dinnertime and that's how I know how far traffic at places like Bethesda Row has fallen since the closure of Regal Cinemas and Barnes & Noble.
Hundreds of spaces now available in both public garages at Bethesda Row at the height of dinner hour. We're in real trouble, folks, as the County's structural budget deficit proves.
"They not only studied, but also made a set of recommendations, which were then implemented by the Council. 16 nightspots ended up closing in downtown Bethesda alone"
ReplyDeleteSo what were the policies that were implemented, that "caused 16 nightspots to close"?
You've NEVER given a straight answer to this question.
5:56: Much false information there. Parva was not replaced by another nightspot, it was replaced by Dog Haus, a restaurant. There is no entertainment or other nightlife feature beyond the dining there at night, so it is clearly a (very good) restaurant.
ReplyDeleteTommy Joe's moved - it's not new, and has been in Bethesda many years. Not a net gain.
"Hard Times (briefly Quincy's)..." LOL - Hard Times and Quincy's both closed after the Nighttime Economy Task Force debacle. That's a net loss of two right there.
Parker's would never have closed if they were making money. Federal Realty would keep raking in the money if Parker's was making it, and even raise the rent. Fact is, prior to the NETF, they had live music and a big crowd on weekend nights. The proof in the pudding is that Parker's never reopened in another location, proving that the business was no longer viable in the post-task-force era.
Keep typing, keep making excuses, but the fact is everyone has to admit that 16 nightspots have closed since the task force happened.
6:03: Uh, because they're not taxis? Taxis are those things people used to use, that the County Council forced us to subsidize - and then Barwood filed for bankruptcy. #Oops
6:13: Here we go again - if you aren't knowledgeable about the policies enacted during and after the task force by the Council, why in the world would you be questioning my arguments?
ReplyDeleteYour main job for the MoCo cartel seems to be to keep me typing. "If every letter must receive a response, send 30000 letters." - Saul Alinsky
6:02: Man, where have you been? A lot of restaurant and bar owners who read this blog are laughing at you right now. Would love to see you tell them how great the County government liquor monopoly is for business face to face. I recommend you duck and run after doing so!
And once again you dodge the question of what specific policies "implemented by the Council following the recommendations of the Nighttime Economy Task Force" actually led to these closures.
ReplyDelete"A lot of restaurant and bar owners who read this blog are laughing at you right now. Would love to see you tell them how great the County government liquor monopoly is for business face to face."
ReplyDeleteWow, you're an idiot, Dyer. Where did anyone say "how great the County government liquor monopoly is for business"? I'm just asking you how those "nightspots" thrived under the DLC prior to 2011 but failed after 2011? What specifically changed after 2011? Why can't you give a straight answer to that question? To any question?
"Here we go again - if you aren't knowledgeable about the policies enacted during and after the task force by the Council, why in the world would you be questioning my arguments?
ReplyDelete"Your main job for the MoCo cartel seems to be to keep me typing. "If every letter must receive a response, send 30000 letters." - Saul Alinsky"
Isn't it a journalist's job to explain issues like this to readers?
#DodgingDyer
6:21: You yourself made the claim that businesses were "thriving" under the County government liquor monopoly. One of the craziest claims I think anyone's made about Montgomery County. I don't think any business was ever "thriving" under the DLC before the task force, and the policies and votes made via the task force and Council since were just the straws that broke the nighttime economy.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I want the entertainment of watching you tell a Bethesda bar owner that business is "thriving" under the DLC, or that the DLC has zero to do with reduced profit margins and business closures today. Just don't forget to duck after telling them!
6:41: I've been the only media voice reporting on the collapse of the nighttime economy after the task force - so I've definitely been doing my "job."
6:18: Where have you been, man? I've been writing about it for years. If you don't know the issues on this topic, why in the world would you be disagreeing with me?
What a dodge. Distractions, deceptions and irrelevancies instead of providing an answer.
ReplyDeleteExactly how was it "so devastating to nightlife?"
What part of recommendations that were implemented by the Council forced those businesses to close?
7:24: I thought you claimed to have lived here since the 1960s, and a regular reader of this blog - how would you not already know the answer? Are you not who you're claiming to be? Wow. Big drama in troll land, folks. Are you denying a record number of 16 nightspot closures since the Nighttime Economy Task Force disaster?
ReplyDeleteSo Dyer finally admits he was completely talking out of his ass about Trader Joe's. It's remarkable how often this "news source" gets it wrong.
ReplyDeleteI am asking you the questions. How long I've lived here has no bearing on the answer. How well I remember what I read has no bearing on my questions. I'm claiming nothing. Just asking 2 very basic questions.
ReplyDeleteYour turn...
Exactly how was it "so devastating to nightlife?"
What part of recommendations that were implemented by the Council forced those businesses to close?
I love how Dyer claims on his other site that the three Silver Spring breweries opening up don't constitute "nightlife" (because 1am isn't nighttime?), yet a Harris Teeter does?
ReplyDeleteYes, Anna is my real name; right there on my birth certificate. Yes, I've lived and worked here since 1963. Yes, I'm an accountant. Yes, I'm female. These are all truths.
ReplyDeleteNone of which has anything to do with you explaining the HOWS and WHATS I asked about.
I note that more than three years after CVS ended 24-hour pharmacy service at their Arlington Road store, Robert Dyer never bothered to contact them regarding their reason for this change.
ReplyDeleteSo anything he says about this is nothing more than speculation on his part.
7:41: You just confused two different words - nightlife, which is the nightclub/bars/etc., and "nighttime economy," which applies to all businesses open or providing services late at night (such as a 24 hour grocery store).
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that sitting on a stool drinking beer is "nightlife" - sounds more like a tasting room, unless you have live entertainment or something. Otherwise it would simply be "nighttime economy," a business open at night. Both are struggling mightily in Montgomery County.
7:37: Where did I ever say any such thing? I restated my Trader Joe's scoop, and even linked to the article, dumbass.
7:51: LOL - they axed overnight hours. You do that when you're not making money during night, Alan Greenspan. It's a business, not a political salon.
ReplyDelete7:50: Wait a minute - you claim to be here since 1963, claim to have been reading my blog for years, yet you do not know what votes the County Council took that impacted bars, nightclubs, restaurants and the "nighttime economy" just during this decade? Either you're not who you're claiming to be, or you want me to retype it all for you as a Saul Alinsky tactic.
ReplyDeleteBoth explanations again prove you are a troll.
Obviously, my coverage of the collapse of the nighttime economy touches a raw nerve in the MoCo cartel!
To Repeat...How long I've lived here has no bearing on the answer. How well I recollect every detail I've read has no bearing on my questions.
ReplyDeletePlease stop with your distractions and just answer. Unless you don't have an answer?
Exactly how was it "so devastating to nightlife?"
What part of recommendations that were implemented by the Council forced those businesses to close?
You ask a local blogger to prove his claims.
ReplyDeleteThe same thing people do in the tax field, the law profession, the construction business...by asking for a confirming cite or supporting facts for proof.
Chaos ensues.
Attacks begin.
8:49: 16 nightspots shuttering after the Nighttime Economy Task Force disaster isn't a claim - it's fact.
ReplyDeleteLarge numbers of businesses slashing late-night hours after the NETF disaster? Yep, that's a verifiable fact, too.
Actually, let me amend my previous comment: Part of the nighttime economy initiative did have a positive effect on restaurants & nightlife. The task force led to restaurants being allowed to purchase beer directly from craft breweries. This is a big deal! Craft beer production and consumption is taking off nationwide, and this kind of arrangement makes restaurants in the county quite competitive.
ReplyDeleteThere. I named a SPECIFIC policy that had a POSITIVE effect on the “nighttime economy.” Meanwhile, Mr. Dyer has named zero of the policies he alleges have done harm.
Good point 9:04AM. My friend in Florida wrote her dissertation on the craft beer phenomenon. She's now Dr. April.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSears intern debacle.
DeleteDyer broke the real closing date
Tastee was selling but Woodmont Grill wasn't, per Dyer's reporting and confirmed by Marriott spox.
Kaldis claimed to be closing
Smash Burger put their space up for lease per Dyer's reporting
Any questions?
11:16AM Yes. Why do you humiliate yourself by sucking up to Dyer?
ReplyDelete"At night, that side of Woodmont is currently dark and deserted from Norfolk Avenue all the way to Wisconsin Avenue near Jones Bridge Road, a pedestrian-unfriendly stretch once you pass the 24-hour Tastee Diner."
ReplyDeleteThis is also false.
Sidewalks are continuous, and well-lit, on both sides of Woodmont between Norfolk and the north end at Wisconsin Avenue - just over 0.5 miles, with the exception of the 230-foot stretch on the east side where the 7900 Wisconsin project is under construction.
Saith Dyer: "That still won't be late enough to energize this dead block of Woodmont, a growing problem as downtown Bethesda's nightlife cratered after the disastrous Montgomery County Council Nighttime Economy Task Force initiative."
ReplyDeleteParva closed (after a sustained harassment campaign from residents of an apartment building right across the street), and later Dog Haus Biergarten opened there. Parva had previously the Negril, a Jamaican restaurant.
Saphire has been there for decades (previously Candy Apple Red, Tequila Sunrise).
The only nightspot that is no longer there is the Bethesda Yacht Club, which closed in 2006 when DoubleTree bought the building from Holiday Inn.
Again, no negative impact on this stretch of Woodmont Avenue from the NETF, at all.
You people are all talking in circles.
ReplyDeleteIf you drove through Bethesda on a Saturday night at 10pm 5-10 years ago, there was a lot more going on in Woodmont Triangle. Relic (err.. Relish.. forgot the name) on Fairmont just up from Positano had a crowd so big it spilled outside. Then you had the place on the corner of Fairmont and Norfolk (where Tapas Bars was.. forgot the name) that had a big nighttime crowd also. Then head down Norfolk and Hanaro used to have club nights on the weekend. Then you had the British pub where Tappd is now, that also had a DJ on the weekends and a line out the door. Another block over and you had Caddie's (still there) and the upper level of what is currently Loft at 4935/George's Chophouse. They had so much going on there they even had VIP table service.. in Bethesda!
Then spreading out a bit further, you have Parva of course, and down towards "new" Bethesda you had Tommy Joe's (yes, I know they're still around and moved) and CO2 lounge in Cesco Osteria, that at one point even sold VIP memberships (!).
A lot of that is gone or scaled back. If you drive around Bethesda at 10pm on a Saturday, you'll find a smattering of people in Caddie's and Tommy and Joe's will be about half-full, and that's about it. I don't think it was the "nighttime task force" that caused this all to drop off. I think it was a mix of factors. First, the people who came to Bethesda were locals and then people from Gaithersburg/etc where DC was just too far for them. Now they have some decent options at Pike and Rose, downtown Crown, and depending on the year, Rockville Town Center.
Second, I think nightlife in general just went down a bit, partly because of apps like Tinder. No need to troll the bars for a quick hookup when the app will solve the problem for you.
The DLC alcohol monopoly didn't help the situation, but I don't think bars were going out of business just because they couldn't get a specific obscure craft brew. (I saw this being an strong opponent of DLC .. they should have been dissolved years ago).
So the bar/club scene dying down lead to the rest. For example, both Bold Bite and Heckman's Deli used to stay open until 2am+ on weekend nights since the bar crowd would get hungry. Both ended up scaling back hours before finally closing. South Street Steaks was the last late-night fast-casual style option and they're gone too. You kind of need an ecosystem to make it all work.
It's sad because I'll have friends over to my house for drinks and after we'll want to hit the town. Bethesda would be ideal as it's super-close.. but there just isn't much on offer.
"Then you had the place on the corner of Fairmont and Norfolk (where Tapas Bars was.. forgot the name)"
ReplyDeleteBlackFinn, Willie & Reed before that.
"the British pub where Tappd is now"
Union Jack's, Shark Club before that.
"The upper level of what is currently Loft at 4935/George's Chophouse"
Tragara on the first floor, I don't remember the name of the second floor.
I miss Willie & Reed and The Shark Club, as well as Tel Aviv (currently Barrel & Crow). A nice Israeli restaurant and also a cool place to hang out late. And the divey vibe of the old Flanagan's. All four of those places closed/transitioned/moved in 2005-6.
Mr. Dyer, I notice that there are several questions that your readers seem to ask you repeatedly, about what you say that you have written in the past. I am surprised at your reluctance to repeat what you have previously written, to help get your readers up to speed on your favorite issues - that seems like something any good journalist (or political candidate) would do.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should create a FAQ page for your readers, with the following items:
1) Definition of "nightspot"
2) Text of recommendations of the "Nighttime Economy Task Force" (NTETF).
3) List of laws or regulations that the County Council enacted in response to the recommendations of the NTETF.
4) List of "nightspots", which meet the definition in #1, that have closed since the County Council enacted the laws or regulations listed in #3, and the current status of those sites - a) Reopened as a bar or restaurant which meets the definition in #1;
- b) Reopened as a new bar or restaurant that does not meet the definition of "nightspot" in #1;
- c) Reopened as a business other than a bar or restaurant;
- d) Currently vacant.
5) For the former "nightspots", which meet the definition in #1, that have closed since the County, listed in #4, which did not reopen as a new bar or restaurant which meets the definition in #1, listed in #4b, #4c, and #4d, explain how any of the laws or regulations that the County Council enacted in response to the recommendations of the NTETF listed in #3, caused those former "nightspots" to close, and to fail to reopen as a new bar or restaurant which meets the definition in #1.
7:36: Saul, what you're describing is a small book. If someone wants to pay me market value for such an undertaking, I'm listening to offers. Meanwhile, its incumbent on those who are defending our corrupt County Council, disastrous Nighttime Economy Task Force, and archaic monopoly DLC to articulate how 16 nightspots closing, the nighttime economy collapsing, and steadily-declining County revenues resulting in part from that collapse are positive results of the NETF.
ReplyDeleteREMEMBER FOLKS, Hans Riemer and the NETF took full ownership of the nighttime economy in their magical press tour when the initiative launched, and were proclaimed to be the saviors of nightlife and creators of hipness by their obsequious friends in the local media.
What that means is that they now all share EQUAL OWNERSHIP - TOTAL OWNERSHIP - of the disastrous results and tanking of the nighttime economy when they finished their "work."
You demand all the predicted credit, you then get all the actual blame when you blow it. And they blew it bigly, most of all in doing a 180 in preserving the DLC..
2:24: WRONG. Parva closed because, like many other victims of the Council and NETF, they couldn't afford to stay in business and their LEASE was up. At no time did Parva ever lose its licenses to operate from the County. #FakeNews
The closure of Parva, one of a few nightspots actually trying to create a VIP nightclub experience with options like bottle service, was absolutely a loss and impact created by the Nighttime Economy Task Force disaster and County Council policies and votes since 2010.
12:36: Whoa - you've already changed the internationally-recognized definitions of Transit-Oriented Development (you now claim it can be built far away from rapid transit stations), nightlife ("We're all old and married in MoCo, and we don't need nightlife anymore"), and now you're trying to change yet another standard talking point of new urbanism.
New urbanism holds that a welcoming pedestrian environment comes in part from having active businesses that activate urban streetscapes after dark, helping provide "eyes on the street."
Now you are claiming that dim Woodmont Ave. north of Norfolk at night, with closed businesses, driveways and parking lots, is welcoming to lone pedestrians walking late at night. No, sir, it is not.
10:22: JBG Smith employee stated Trader Joe's was anchor tenant at 7900, even though he wasn't supposed to, in 2014.
9:04: What you claim was a "benefit" was actually one of the downfalls of the Nighttime Economy Task Force. Unable to challenge our criminal MoCo cartel to actually make the radical changes needed like full privatization of liquor sales, but wanting to show "results," it made tiny tinkering changes to woefully-outdated, obscure liquor restrictions. These small changes were dutifully oversold by the cartel-controlled local media.
They were the kinds of things competing jurisdictions had already changed years ago, if they even had such idiotic restrictions at all. Meanwhile, the government liquor monopoly DLC remains in total control of alcohol sales.
And you still can't state which specific laws, regulations or policies enacted by the Council actually caused those "16 nightspot closures".
ReplyDelete"Hans Riemer and the NETF...were proclaimed to be the saviors of nightlife and creators of hipness by their obsequious friends in the local media."
No they weren't. This is a ridiculous statement.
"Dim Woodmont Ave. north of Norfolk at night, with closed businesses, driveways and parking lots, is welcoming to lone pedestrians walking late at night. No, sir, it is not."
Your description of the north end of Woodmont Avenue as some sort of Boulevard of Broken Dreams is equally ridiculous.
There is only ONE closed business along that 0.5 mile stretch of Woodmont Avenue - the former Dunmor's Beer and Wine store.
There is only ONE parking lot along that 0.5 mile stretch of Woodmont Avenue - the one in the back of the very-much-open nightspot Saphire.
The level of illumination along that that 0.5 mile stretch of Woodmont Avenue is not really different from any of the other streets in downtown Bethesda.
Saith Dyer: "9:04: What you claim was a "benefit" was actually one of the downfalls of the Nighttime Economy Task Force. Unable to challenge our criminal MoCo cartel to actually make the radical changes needed like full privatization of liquor sales, but wanting to show "results," it made tiny tinkering changes to woefully-outdated, obscure liquor restrictions. These small changes were dutifully oversold by the cartel-controlled local media."
ReplyDeleteInstead of cursing the darkness by constantly whining about past elections and what the NTETF did or did not do, why not light a candle by organizing a petition drive for an Initiative to abolish the DLC? That seems like a much better use of your time and effort.
@9:03 Wow, never heard of Saphire before. Is it good on weekend nights? Been just going to Caddies and Tommy and Joes lately for lack of other options..
ReplyDeleteSaphire (yes, that's the correct spelling - only one "p") has a mellower vibe than Caddies, Tommy Joe's, or Rock Bottom, but a very devoted clientele of regulars. It all depends on what you're looking for. But it's odd that Dyer treats it as some sort of pariah.
ReplyDelete"Parva closed because, like many other victims of the Council and NETF..."
ReplyDeleteHow was Parva "a victim of the Council and NETF"?
9:03: Please join us back on planet Earth, Saul Alinsky. Bethesda has experienced a record number of nightspot closures since the Nighttime Economy Task Force initiative. This is not up for debate - at least 16 verifiable closures, and a net loss in nightspots. So the NETF and Council not only didn't provide the promised improved nightlife, they literally made it worse, as anyone can verify walking around downtown Bethesda after 9 or 10 at night - even on weekends!
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the flop of the Nighttime Economy initiative/recommendations, and the policies and votes of the County Council such as higher property & energy taxes and a $15 minimum wage, what's also notable is what the NETF amazingly did NOT exhort the Council to do - end the DLC, which is what bar and restaurant owners wanted. This 180 by the task force was mirrored by Riemer's own flip-flop, going from "getting government out of the liquor business" to actually preserving and strengthening this archaic government liquor monopoly. These include bringing in a businessman to "run it like a private company" (LOL) and even simply changing the name. Not policies. Changing the name!! WTF?
The media also absolutely did hype Riemer and the task force in dozens of articles over several years. I realize that's embarrassing for him, them and you in hindsight. While some of those reports have strangely been deleted from the internet (apparently from the random deletion of some - but not all - Gazette and Bethesda Now articles after each went out of business) most of the articles remain online for anyone to read with a simple Google search. Facts.
If you claim ownership of the nighttime economy with the idea of getting the credit if it improves, then you absolutely do take ownership when it tanks instead for the disaster.
Simple lesson that Riemer, Glass and others should learn from this debacle: Always underpromise, and overdeliver, in politics and governing.
You are DEAD WRONG about Woodmont Avenue's east side north of Tastee Diner, and again, this can be verified by anyone walking along there at night. None of those businesses are open at night! You're lying. Saphire is physically on the Wisconsin Avenue side of the block, and does not front up to the sidewalk on Woodmont. As a result, a lone pedestrian does not have a safe or welcoming environment as she passes shuttered businesses, driveways, parking lots, closed garage doors and even a homeless shelter on the way to Battery Lane and NIH/Walter Reed.
Walk it tonight, anybody who doubts what I'm saying. Facts.
10:52: Thanks to the NETF and County Council policies and votes, Parva was unable to make sufficient revenue to remain a viable business. I realize that like Hans and the Council, you don't understand how business works. To explain simply, a business must take in more revenue than it puts out in expenses.
Parva - like 99.9% of private business ventures - couldn't pull political strings and get the Council to force taxpayers to subsidize them like Barwood Cab.
This is not that hard to understand. If you crush businesses like Parva that already have razor-thin profit margins with higher taxes, forced payment of higher wages, and forced purchase of overpriced alcohol from a government liquor regime that simultaneously doesn't allow them to provide the variety and options that bars in D.C. and Virginia can, you cause them to go out of business.
And in spite of all that additional verbiage, you still can't cite specific CHANGES in laws, regulations or policies by the County Council following recommendations of the NTETF which caused the "nightspots" to close.
ReplyDeleteFailure to "end the DLC" does not represent a change to any of these. It has existed for the past seven decades.
Also, the Parva was not a "nightspot" in 2011 - it was the Angeethi Indian restaurant then. So its closure does not equal a net loss in "nightspots" either.
3:53: You're in a very tough position - the Task Force and Riemer were supposed to make nightlife great again, according to their PR/media blitz. They were going to make us "hip," they boasted through friendly media outlets.
ReplyDeleteInstead, when they were done, an unprecedented 16 nightspots closed, and the nighttime economy cratered in downtown Bethesda (and frankly, across the County).
How can you not blame keeping the DLC in place for closures? Ending the DLC was the TOP REQUEST of business owners!!
The Parva was South Beach long before it was Angeethi, carpetbagger. Net loss not only of Parva, but of most of the 16 closures.
You're struggling, man. And just trying to keep me typing all day and night, Saul Alinsky. You're just a tool for the MoCo cartel. I know the nighttime economy fiasco hurts, but when you try to take credit for future success in advance, you must be prepared to take all of the blame if you fail to deliver, "ya big baby."
Actually, the truth is that the plans showed "Trader Joe's Parking" and when asked about THAT the developer's rep had to admit that Trader Joe's was the tenant in question.
ReplyDelete"you don't understand how business works. To explain simply, a business must take in more revenue than it puts out in expenses" - Dyer
Then, obviously, you do not run a business.
5:39: LOL - What kind of business can survive that doesn't make enough revenue to cover its expenses? We've got a real Elon Musk on our hands here, folks!
ReplyDeleteYou were not at the 7900 Wisconsin meeting, so you are not in a position to make corrections to the account of an actual attendee. It was one of my top 10 scoops of all time.
"The Parva was South Beach long before it was Angeethi, carpetbagger. Net loss not only of Parva, but of most of the 16 closures."
ReplyDeleteAh, yes...I had forgotten that South Beach was the one between Negril and Angeethi. But why get so huffy and immediately go to "carpetbagger"? I've lived here all my life. And unlike you, I was actually born here.
So it was Negril (restaurant, not-"nightspot"), then South Beach ("nightspot"), then Angeethi (restaurant, not "nightspot"), then Parva ("nightspot"), and now Dog Haus Biergarten (a beer garden is a "nightspot", isn't it?).
So that's normal turnover over a three-decade period.
6:54: You must have either been born at home or at Walter Reed, because you there's no hospital with a maternity ward in Bethesda. So virtually no lifelong Bethesda resident like me is "born" in Bethesda.
ReplyDeleteWhile turnover is indeed normal, Dog Haus is a biergarten in name only - there is no actual beer garden, and it is by definition a (very good) restaurant as opposed to a nightspot. It features no entertainment or other diversions besides food and drink.
The hospital in which I was born is 6 miles from downtown Bethesda. The same cannot be said of your birthplace.
ReplyDelete7:15: You've lied again, as you were not actually born in Bethesda. You've also revealed yourself to be the same old troll, running your background checks and trying to doxx me online. Classic cartel crook.
ReplyDeleteNot "running background statements" or "doxxing". Just referring to public information contained in your campaign statements, easily found in the archives of the Gazette and other publications.
ReplyDeleteS/b "not 'running background checks'."
ReplyDelete7:56: You've given away in the past that you're doing background checks by revealing and doxxing info NOT available on the Gazette or any other media site. Each time you do this, it's another 2 years in federal prison under current law. That doesn't include the new Maryland cyberbullying law.
ReplyDeleteYou better hire an ex-con to help you "get hard" for prison, just like the movies, "ya big baby."
???There is a homeless shelter near battery lane and NIH Walter Reed? Since when???
ReplyDelete5:32: It's in the building at the northeast corner of Woodmont and Cordell - the County Council referred to it 13 years ago as "an apartment building for homeless people." There's frequently a mattress truck parked out front for that reason.
ReplyDeleteThe building has an address - 4715 Cordell Avenue.
ReplyDeleteThe building has a name, and it's not "the apartment building for homeless people". The name is Cordell Place.
The correct description of the facility's function is "providing permanent supportive housing to formerly homeless individuals in an apartment building in downtown Bethesda."
7:10: You'll have to take your complaints to the Council, who were the ones who came up with the term "apartment building for homeless people" in 2006. What we need are more mental health facilities in the County.
ReplyDeleteBlogger Anna said...
ReplyDeleteWell, it just so happens that I DO know about the 7900 Wisc meeting. What I posted was what was told to me by someone who was both 1)very much at that meeting and 2)my tax client.
Before your time, but Suburban DID have a maternity ward as late as the 1960's.
"you don't understand how business works. To explain simply, a business must take in more revenue than it puts out in expenses" - Dyer
That's why I then inferred that obviously, what you run is not a business.
Sheesh...reading comprehension may not be your strong suit.
3:55 PM
"Orangetheory Fitness leases..."
3:37: Your identity crisis continues. It's quite a stretch that you would just happen to have had a client in that building, who would have relayed such detailed information to you (which isn't even accurate) about a construction meeting that had nothing to do with you. How would that even come up in a conversation? When I take one of my guitars to be repaired, do I tell the repairman about the condo construction meeting I attended last night? NO.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have any financial info or paperwork on my personal finances, or any of my businesses. If you claim to be a financial professional, you could lose your licenses by making such false and defamatory statements. Not a great advertisement for your financial acumen or professionalism. No wonder you use these fake names to troll.
Well let's see how real life works. An accountant in Bethesda has clients that live/work in Bethesda. We sit and chit-chat. Real life gets discussed, including mundane things like grocery stores, car repairs, fluffy white dogs and a changing Bethesda.
ReplyDeleteAnd you would seek to destroy a business because they questioned your business accumen? Wow. That and your continued dismissal of who I am, really shows who and what you are.
Once again, you want to escalate this. Why?
I have no worries. I'm not lying.
I don't have an identity crisis.
ReplyDeleteAnna is my real name; right there on my birth certificate. Yes, I've lived and worked here since 1963. Yes, I'm an accountant. Yes, I'm female. These are all truths.
I've mentioned where I've worked, where I've parked for work, where I bought shoes, where I worked part-time, and I answer all realistic questions honestly.
Go ahead, mock me.
As I used to say...
the only one looking bad here is you
And you never answered this question:
ReplyDeleteWhat part of recommendations that were implemented by the Council forced those businesses to close?
Where do you take your guitars for repair? Do you go to Daniel at Xu? He did really quality work on an old bass of ours.
ReplyDelete5:56: You're the one escalating with ongoing harassment. No one would just happen to disagree with me on every. single. issue. and have to keep attacking every day on every page. It's called trolling, cyberbullying and harassment.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen many CPAs who make public, unfounded statements about the fiscal health of private businesses whose documents they haven't even reviewed. That's a red flag.
6:02: You can just start with leaving the DLC in place, hiking taxes, and passing a $15 minimum wage, and then work your way back through the public statements and proposals of the task force, like "more taxi stands and buses," being a personal favorite. LOL.
You claim to be in the county since 1963, and having detailed conversations on minute details like construction meetings in condo buildings, but you were not following the highly-publicized statements, recommendations, and actions that tanked the nighttime economy 2010-present?
Again, hard to believe.
What's your dog in the race regarding liquor sales and nightlife, that you are so intensely concerned about any criticism of the failing systems we have now?
So, they didn't implement anything.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS FOR THE CLARIFICATION.
6:26: Huh? They most certainly did implement things - the wrong things. And they didn't implement the things they actually should have, like privatizing liquor sales and lowering taxes, and requiring hotel builders to add nightclubs in exchange for taller heights. Ending the DLC was the top priority of the bar and restaurant business community.
ReplyDelete6:23: Readers know your record of attacking me daily in a campaign of harassment. The record is quite clear. You're here attacking right now.
Enough with the nightclubs already. There clearly is less demand for this type night time based businesses. Bethesda obviously has matured into a crowd that does not like to party like its 1999 anymore. Maybe it’s time for you to grow up as well...
ReplyDelete7:02: LOL - nightclubs are thriving in cities all over the country, including Washington, D.C. Love your new talking point, though, directly contradicting what Hans Riemer and the task force promised - "hip" nightlife that would attract young professionals we needed to compete in the region.
ReplyDeleteNow you're throwing those young people overboard, and saying we don't need them, we're a bunch of old folks and we don't need nightlife after all!
Humiliating about-face for you, Hans and the task force!
"This troll comment sponsored by Geritol."
oh Cordell Place. It is transitional housing or SRO housing.
ReplyDeleteWhen I searched I got the family shelter on Greentree 6301 greentree road on greentree and ridge place.
Blogger Anna said...
ReplyDeleteI have no dog in any race. I just post here, on some threads-not on every thread, to bring some reality back to your hyperbole and envy postings.
I made a joke about you and business! Heaven forbid! Ruin her professionally says Dyer! An accountant can't joke! Lock her up!
You simply can't believe that i'm an honest woman, reacting in current-time. Beyond your comprehension. And you target me daily.
I have no worries. I'm not lying.
the only one looking bad here is you
Love & Bacon,
Anna
6:23 AM
Blogger Anna said...
ReplyDeleteI was a vocal supporter for years. Defended you on this blog. Caught crap from those calling me the paid shill. I started calling the troll a "fanboy", started the "Dyer probably got a cease and desist letter" conversation about those businesses we do not name in print. I posted your accomplishments and asked others what they'd done for Bethesda. Any regular reader will remember those.
Then one day, I disagreed with you. You blasted me as the troll. I explained who I was. You called me a liar and threatened violence. I explained again I was not who you thought. You deleted my explanation. I reposted again that I was not the man you thought. You again deleted my reply, telling your readers I was a "personality" of your deranged nemesis.
The proof is all here...on this little blog.
7:33 AM