The public plaza at the Bainbridge Bethesda apartment tower that provides a pedestrian cut-through between St. Elmo Avenue and Fairmont Avenue is now closed off. Construction fencing was erected that blocks passage through the plaza. The new St. Elmo Apartments development will begin construction soon directly next door, and will share this plaza, which will get updated in the process. It never quite reached its potential, as empty storefronts failed to activate it as a gathering spot, but it was a handy mid-block short cut.
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| Public art installations along the west side of the plaza have been removed |
These newer public plazas and promenades have been a fixture of the post-Great Recession developments like Gallery Bethesda I&II, Flats at Bethesda Avenue, 8001 Woodmont and the Bainbridge. 8001 Woodmont will be an excellent test to see if having Trader Joe's and Orangetheory Fitness alongside its plaza will make it a more active space than the others have become so far. Donohoe's Gallery Lane-branded plaza shared by the Gallery I and II on Auburn Avenue has tremendous potential, if some dining or nightlife tenants can be brought in to the ground-level retail spaces. We'll see what St. Elmo developers Duball, LLC and Lenkin and the owners of Bainbridge Bethesda can work out here, to give this plaza a boost by the middle of the decade.
These spaces are technically known as POPS, privately owned public spaces, and are often part of the required 10% open space on new projects. They often are used to break up long blocks for pedestrian access.
ReplyDeleteOn very compact sites, like The Maizon by ZOM, the negotiated open space can be on a nearby property. In ZOM’s case, the south end of the library will be improved, at ZOM’s expense, when the adjacent park is renovated.