Sylene also closing
The decline of Friendship Heights continues, with several more retail spaces becoming vacant. Brooks Brothers at 5504 Wisconsin Avenue has had a sign in the window declaring it "temporarily closed." Now it is officially permanently closed, as the space is being marketed for lease. Chevy Chase Design Center's space is also sporting a "for lease" sign.
Just around the corner, Sylene is ending its long run at 4407 S. Park Avenue. The lingerie retailer is in the final days of a closing sale after 45 years in business.
Once known as "Montgomery County's Rodeo Drive," the decline of Friendship Heights has coincided with the decline of the Montgomery County economy, and the ongoing departure of wealthy residents to lower-tax jurisdictions in the region.
With the hoity toity has gone the cash that previously supported the high-end retail in Friendship Heights. Such a collapse in patronage tracks closely with economists' observation that luxury spending by the rich remains largely unaffected by downturns in the national economy. If they were still here in the same numbers, they'd still be spending. They're not.
I've been the only local journalist chronicling the decline and its actual causes for nearly a decade, but The Washington Post recently just noticed it. Remarkably, the Post article avoided talking about the real reasons for the decline, instead blaming it on a lack of residential high-rises. Perhaps the reporter wasn't familiar with the area, and didn't visit before filing her story. While such a vacuum may be present on the D.C. side of the border, the Maryland side of Friendship Heights is virtually nothing but residential high-rises.
Breaking news: residential high-rises haven't helped.
Montgomery County elected officials are equally clueless about the crisis.
Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D - District 1) told the Post that "[i]t's increasingly clear that Friendship Heights needs a real sense of place. What Friendship Heights needs is not more stores selling $1500-pairs of shoes or a $5000 piece of expensive jewelry. It needs nice local places to grab a cup of coffee, to have a nice meal, to pick up some groceries and enjoy an evening out."
After reading that assessment, I had to pick my head off the floor and screw it back on in order to finish the article. I recommend Councilmember Friedson grab that cup of coffee at the Starbucks (still open at 5454 Wisconsin Avenue), or the Nespresso Boutique at Bloomingdales.
No restaurants "to have a nice meal?" That's a downright nutty conclusion to make about an area that boasts some of my favorite restaurants, including Clyde's of Chevy Chase, Lia's, The Cheesecake Factory and Maggiano's.
And Councilmember Friedson can even "pick up some groceries" at the Whole Foods Market or the Friendship Gourmet Market.
A sense of place? I recommend Friedson and the Post reporter visit the Village of Friendship Heights, one of the best-run municipalities in Montgomery County. They have a village center that, pre-Covid, always had a full schedule of events and entertainment. Village services and amenities include a shuttle bus, security patrols, and snow removal. Incredibly, the Post reporter did not interview the longtime village manager, Julian Mansfield, for the article.
We can't expect to turn the situation around, if our elected officials and their friends in the press continue to ignore the real issues. Montgomery County needs more boardrooms, not more bedrooms. A residential building boom, along with profligate spending by the County Council, have only left us with a structural budget deficit. Placing a few corporate headquarters with high-wage jobs near Metro in Friendship Heights would do a lot more than high-rise apartments.
Montgomery County hasn't attracted a major corporate headquarters in over 20 years. Our tax burden at the County and State levels is no longer competitive in the region, scaring away employers and the leading to the flight of the rich. Our business starts, job creation, and business growth numbers were the worst in the region over the last decade.
It's time to wake up and smell that "cup of coffee."
Sylene also closing
Well said Robert. It's a shame that MoCo Leadership has no clue what they're doing.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Wilson/Elm development will encourage additional HQ's to locate in Bethesda, but what you're saying is absolutely true. There's no real business case to locate an HQ in Montgomery County.
The only thing left will be Clyde's and Amazon grocery. What a disaster. If you don't think Covid is killing more than people, take a look at that stretch. More likely will be coming.
ReplyDeleteHow much longer can the Tiffany & Co. hold out for? I guess it's still there for people who don't want to go down to City Center in DC. However, that store location might be better off relocating to Downtown Bethesda. I think this luxury strip has passed the inflection point. I don't think it's salvageable, at least with the clowns currently in charge.
ReplyDeleteI think you have some good points. What would you propose and how would you see that through?
ReplyDeleteNice we're getting an amazon grocery.
ReplyDeleteGetting Amazon HQ2 would have been even better. Hundreds of jobs- good jobs- all in northern virginia.
It didn't have to be this way.
I as well agree it would be better. But how do you propose that would have happened? What could Montgomery county have done to land Amazon instead of northern Virginia?
DeleteIt seems that Friendship Heights and Chevy Chase are “aging out”. Mostly older wealthy residents in condos and apartments and medical offices remain. Yes a few nice restaurants remain, but very few that attract anyone without grey hair. Very few with any outdoor dining. The area is well served by Metro, but affluent retired folks and those seeking medical care are unlikely to use mass transit. The whole area feels a lot like the proposed senior housing development that is proposed at the existing Marriott HQ.
ReplyDeleteI agree that most corporate businesses are unlikely to seek placing their headquarters among an aging community. They seek kinetic, lively and dynamic places, not tired and retired communities. Department stores are a dying breed, so there is not much hope for the few that remain in the area, especially freestanding stores like Sax.
Being on the border of MD and DC probably hurts by splitting any governance that might organize a rebirth.
It’s the crime and looting by democrats that was final death knell in Montgomery County
ReplyDelete@9:14 PM: So true. I won't be surprised when the looting starts up again after the election. I doubt anyone wearing a MAGA hat has been stealing cars all around the area as well. Just a theory.
ReplyDeleteFriendship Heights has been in a slow, inevitable decline for years that was accelerated by COVID. It has so much potential, but so little innovation. I wish it was better! The area needs a new start. Unless MoCo and DC and developers can come to an agreement about how to rejuvenate the area it is going to be a blight on the community very soon.
ReplyDelete@6:44 AM: Montgomery County was never going to land Amazon. The proposed White Flint site doesn't have close enough proximity to public transit, and the only thing in the area is one station on the Red Line. That's it. You compare that to the National Landing site in Virginia which is adjacent to metro stations which serve multiple transit lines as well as National Airport. The Virginia site is also next to the Pentagon, which is important to Amazon as it competes for and serves many DOD-related contracts.
ReplyDeleteFor Montgomery County to have had a better chance of getting it, it would need to tear down the buildings at the White Flint Metro Station, near the Harris Teeter, and proposed building it there, essentially on top of the station. It would have had an even better chance of winning if it proposed a site in Downtown Bethesda in my opinion. Oh well, we're past that now. Too bad.
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ReplyDelete8:22: The proposed White Flint site for Amazon was close enough to the Metro station there, so I don't think that played much of a role.
ReplyDeleteAmong the larger reasons was, as you mentioned, lack of direct access to airports. Taxation is also far lower in Virginia (at least for now). It's well known Jeff Bezos doesn't like to pay taxes.
What especially didn't help was the Montgomery County Council canceling the biggest infrastructure project in the White Flint sector plan on the very day the Amazon execs were touring the county.
Imagine doing that on the very day you are supposedly trying to woo what is essentially a logistics company. Insane!
Lack of direct access to airports could hardy be blamed as a fault of Montgomery county, could it?
Delete@7:10 AM: Indeed it has. As you said, COVID has merely accelerated what was going to happen anyway. Friendship Heights is stalled developmentally. I drive through it on my way to/from Bethesda. There's no real reason to stop to shop or eat there. Friendship Heights is merely for doctor and dentist appointments now, and with all the new towers going up in Downtown Bethesda, I have a feeling those medical professionals will relocate to Downtown Bethesda. That's the death knell for Friendship Heights... and as you said, that's when it will be a blight on the community.
ReplyDeleteRobert: I disagree that the White Flint Metro Station was close enough. It's an unpleasant walk along Rockville Pike to get to the proposed White Flint site. You've got traffic racing by which is dangerous. Nowhere to duck into if it rains. Imagine doing that in the snow and ice. Completely unappealing and I believe the station is far enough away to be inconvenient, but more than that, it's unpleasant for the daily commute.
ReplyDeleteIf Maryland had proposed a site in Downtown Bethesda or (oh snap!) Friendship Heights, I think they would have had a fighting chance as either would be closer to DCA or IAD. The White Flint site was never a real contender. What about the "biggest infrastructure" sector plan would have helped Maryland win?
Friendship Heights or Downtown Bethesda would have been competitive proposals.... except for the taxes as you said.
"It's well known Jeff Bezos doesn't like to pay taxes."
ReplyDeleteYet he lives in Washington DC.
11:30: It actually can be, given that the County Council removed the new Potomac River crossing to Dulles from the master plan long ago. A very costly decision.
ReplyDelete9:24: I think downtown Bethesda/FH or Silver Spring would have wiser choices for sure. It's still quite an ordeal to reach either airport from those, though. But combining the tax burden and White Flint's failure to develop (minus Pike & Rose), was a hard sell.
The canceling of the Montrose Parkway East was primarily problematic because it spoke volumes about the County Council's lack of trustworthiness and common business sense. For Amazon execs, for whom logistics are top of mind, you don't want to locate someplace where key promised infrastructure isn't delivered.
9:41: We know he pays no federal taxes. I'd be interested to know how much the District gets out of him.
How would the Potomac crossing work with the ah reserve? Interesting idea. How does it work practically?
DeleteAnd is that really convenient to white flint? Where the nova spot they chose had Dulles plus National across the water.
Of course Bezos pays federal taxes. You're confusing Amazon the company with Bezos the person.
ReplyDeleteRobert: It was a mistake for Maryland to even propose White Flint as a potential site. Once I saw that Maryland was leading with this, I knew that it never had a chance, huge infrastructure project or not. Downtown Bethesda, Friendship Heights or Silver Spring could have easily supported an Amazon Campus. The Tax Burden is another issue though, and that can be laid squarely at the feet of the Maryland Legislature and the corrupt MoCo Cartel which is so boneheaded that it puts a moratorium on construction because there isn't school capacity. It's laughably inept.
ReplyDelete8:25: The Potomac crossing would have no effect on the Ag Reserve - it would not change the current development limitations there.
ReplyDeleteIt is convenient to White Flint via Montrose Parkway/I-270 to I-370, which would be extended across the river. Much faster, more direct trip to Dulles than is possible now from anywhere in Montgomery County.
4:34: Bezos is notorious for not paying federal taxes. Maybe ask AOC about this.
Interesting. How much would it cost to build that crossing? Any problems or challenges you foresee in building it?
DeleteHow long would that drive take to white flint? How long is the drive from the nova location to Dulles? And to National? I wonder if it is comparable : competitive.