The demolition and site clearing at 7340 Wisconsin Avenue left behind at least one visible artifact from the former Exxon gas station going into the Christmas holiday weekend. A payphone housing like those found at most service stations years ago remained standing, even if the old garage and office didn't.
Demolition has also been limited to the gas station property itself at this initial stage, with the vacant former Tommy Joe's building next door remaining outside the security fencing. Tommy Joe's and another Bethesda landmark on the Hampden Lane side of the assembled lot - Pines of Rome - have both moved on to new downtown locations in recent years, but their old, empty homes remain intact...for the moment.
After years of delay, the redevelopment of the properties into an apartment tower is moving forward with impressive speed. Where several previous developers have sputtered and flopped here over the last decade, Greystar has been all business since proposing its project, steadily moving through the approval, environmental cleanup, and site preparation processes. Nearby residents and workers alike can now imagine a future in which this isn't a scary, empty lot to walk by late at night anymore.
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Washington Properties owns the remaining block, and has full approval for Hampden East, a 26 story high mixed use, office, over apartments, over retail tower. Last I heard, the developer has not authorized the architect, Shalom Baranes, to proceed with the construction drawings for this caper, because of the large amount of speculative office in the approved project. I’m suprised we haven’t seen an amended submission to reduce or remove the office portion. I could see an easy change of the office portion into high end condos with floor to ceiling glass and lots of recessed roof terraces.
Assuming Washing Properties does not proceed with the plan, I suspect another option would be to retain their existing (and rather handsome) headquarters building, convert the existing and tired office tower on the northwest corner into residential, and renovate and lease the existing one-story high retail portions. Perhaps not the highest and best use for the properties, but certainly more practical in this day and age. I’m not sure, but I believe the tall existing office is completely vacant at this point. I’d hate to see this tower and the adjacent retail spaces remain vacant for too long. One would thing thet Washington Properites has some sort of plans for this site.
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