Construction of the St. Elmo Apartments at 4931 Fairmont Avenue in Bethesda remains stuck in the very earliest phase. It looks like there is still excavation work going on. There are some sections of very large pipe stacked up on the site, perhaps related to the stormwater management system. Delivery of the 22-story apartment tower is anticipated in Q1 2024.
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According to a HITT Construction contractor on site, most work is paused because they have to redesign the entire building plan. The original plan had them shoring up under the Serpentine dance building next door just like they did under the French restaurant next door, but the old woman who owns the dance place doesn’t understand modern construction and was worried they’d damage her tiny building. So she is refusing their offer of $300,000 to let them do it and making them spend close to a million in delays and redesigns to save her decrepit building. They’ve been negotiating with her for months to no avail and until they reach a settlement with her or find some sort of workaround they’re unlikely to start again.
A very informative comment - thank you! This explains why things haven't advanced very much since my last update. Hopefully they can work it out, since the companies involved the project are reputable and not fly-by-night firms. I can understand why there might be some wariness after the Bainbridge affair years back on the same block.
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