Washington Capitals pop-up event March 19 at Bethesda Row

Get ready to drop the [winter] gloves at Bethesda Row on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, as the Washington Capitals and the Federal Realty property host a "Shop for the Cause with Caps Care" pop-up event. From 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM on Bethesda Lane, attendees can enjoy a festive atmosphere complete with music by DJ Chris Styles, a meet and greet with Capitals alumnus and TV NHL analyst Alan May and Monumental Sports Network host Alexa Landestoy from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM, and a photo opportunity with Capitals mascot Slapshot.

Alexa Landestoy

The afternoon will also feature a sweepstakes for Capitals tickets, prize giveaways, and the unveiling of an original mural by artist Hiba Alyawer. Adding a unique touch, Lucy Blossoms will create a special Capitals hockey display just for this event.

Alan May

Beyond the entertainment, the event will also serve as a fundraiser for the Capitals’ Capital Impact Fund, which aims to increase access to hockey by reducing financial obstacles. From 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, select Bethesda Row stores will donate 10% of their sales to the fund.

Velatis Caramels moving to downtown Bethesda

Velatis Caramels is coming to downtown Bethesda. Famous for its Old World Italian caramels, the company has been making confectionary treats in the Washington, D.C. area since 1866. Currently located at 8408 Georgia Avenue, it will soon relocate to its new home at 4928 Hampden Lane, in the Shoppes of Bethesda. Some "coming soon" signage has been posted in the window of the storefront that most recently housed Underwraps.

Mardi Gras/Ash Wednesday specials at Mussel Bar in Bethesda

Mussel Bar & Grille at 4903 Cordell Avenue in Bethesda is offering specials for Mardi Gras today, and for Ash Wednesday tomorrow. Today, they are serving all-you-can-eat mussels for $39.95. A special cocktail is also being served today, called "Holy Water." It is an olive oil-infused vodka martini with dry vermouth, orange liqueur, and EVOO-marinated olives.

Tomorrow, there will be three seafood specials: Cioppino, grilled calamari with Romesco sauce, and pan-seared fluke a la grenobloise. The special cocktail will be named for the day, Ash Wednesday. It will be a smoked mezcal negroni with mezcal, aperol, and sweet vermouth served in the Smoking Dome.

E Street Cinema closes in Washington, D.C. (Photos)

The Landmark E Street Cinema has closed at 555 11th Street NW in Washington, D.C. While the permanent closure had been announced by the struggling cinema chain a few weeks ago, the theater closed sooner than expected, prior to some final screenings for which tickets had been sold in advance. The Prince of Petworth reports that Landmark did issue refunds to those ticketholders, who had hoped to catch the very last showings. However, as of this writing, it appears that the Polish Film Festival screenings scheduled for March 4-6 are still on, so you could still get that last E Street experience in (the March 7-9 screenings will be held at the Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema.).

Inside the lobby Monday night, ticket machines bore blank screens or repair messages, and their front compartment doors hung open, internal wires spilling forth. Print-out paper rolls lay on the beige and brown tiles in front of them. Customers were being directed by signs to the Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema, and the Atlantic Plumbing Cinema on V Street NW. E Street patrons should also check out the monthly Cinema Art Bethesda screenings of foreign and independent films at the Bethesda Row location.

BigBear.ai moves HQ from Maryland to Virginia

Oh, no, not again! Moribund Maryland has just lost yet another corporate headquarters to Virginia. BigBear.ai has moved its HQ from Columbia, Maryland to a Class A trophy office building in Tysons, Virginia, The Business Journals reports. Its new address is the Valo Park building at 7950 Jones Branch Drive. The move caps off a month of great news for the company and its investors. It not only picked up coveted new contracts from the Army and Navy, but hired a new CEO who was a high-level adviser to President Donald Trump, giving it an edge in any DOGE-sizing at the Pentagon.

Valo Park not only enjoys easy access to I-495, but its website notes it is only a 15-minute drive from Dulles International Airport. No Montgomery County or Maryland business can make that claim, as leaders of both jurisdictions for decades have blocked construction of the long-planned I-370 Potomac River crossing to the Dulles area. Montgomery County hasn't attracted a single major corporate headquarters in over 25 years, and Maryland's record is about the same. Both have lost many HQs to Virginia, among other states, and now the trend continues to play out. Tysons is the happening place to be; you can feel the energy just driving through on the Beltway, among all of the neon corporate logos that light up the night. Montgomery County is Sleepy Town, a bedroom community for the booming job centers elsewhere in the region - such as Tysons!

The loss of BigBear.ai is particularly humiliating for Maryland, as Governor Wes Moore has stated that artificial intelligence is one of the key economic sectors he wants to grow. Alas, Maryland not only has much higher taxes, but much less electricity generation capacity, after the Democrat-controlled Maryland legislature forced the closure of 8 coal-fired power plants. They apparently were unaware that artificial intelligence requires massive amounts of energy. Virginia has that capacity, while Maryland has to import expensive electricity from out-of-state at boardwalk prices just to keep the lights on. We're being governed by very stupid people, folks. Heckuva job, Brownie!

Bethesda Purple Line station construction update (Photos)

The Purple Line project is many years behind schedule, but the downtown Bethesda station for the future light rail line to New Carrollton is beginning to round into shape. Looking into the tunnel opening from Bethesda Row, one can see the passenger platform above the track beds. Also visible are the stairs and escalator access to the future station. Ventilation equipment has been installed, according to the project team.

According to Ray Biggs, II, Purple Line Senior Project Director for the Maryland Transit Administration, the project is now more than 74% complete. 35% of track installation is finished. Several miles of sidewalks have been installed. And 20 of 21 future stations are under construction, with 12 station canopies installed.

Montgomery County to lose more jobs to housing

Another valuable Montgomery County office park property could be lost to residential housing, if the City of Rockville approves a proposal to convert it into condos and townhomes. 1455 Research Boulevard, one of many office sites located in the I-270 corridor of the County, would become 106 townhomes, 30 stacked condo townhomes, and 72 multifamily condo units, under the plan envisioned by developer Pulte. The company is building several similar developments in the City, including within the new Farmstead community, as well as in the King Farm, and Tower Oaks areas. Pulte's site plan is likely to be reviewed at a public hearing by the Rockville Planning Commission in summer or fall of 2025.

The existing office building, which was only constructed
about 30 years ago

The existing office building contains 17 office suites, 10 of which are currently leased, according to the property website. So the building is 59% leased. The property is 10.6 acres in size, meaning that it would still be ideal for a corporate headquarters, or a research, lab, and/or manufacturing facility, if the existing building were torn down for that purpose. It is directly adjacent to I-270. To state the obvious, all of the jobs currently provided by the current tenants of the building will likely be lost to the City and County in a conversion to housing. And the many more potential, high-wage jobs that could fill this office park site - and the resulting revenue - will never be realized.

Pulte's proposed redevelopment plan
for residential housing

From a County revenue standpoint, filling the current building, or replacing it with a major corporate headquarters or facility, would be more ideal than filling the site with residential housing. That's because residential housing, as we have seen this century, generates more costs in County services and infrastructure demands than it does in tax revenue. Hence the County's structural budget deficit, which extends as far into the future as the forecasts go. And do you remember "smart growth," which included placing jobs near housing, to reduce congestion and auto emissions in the I-270 corridor? Neither do the County Council and Planning Board, which don't even talk about "smart growth" anymore, having abandoned its fictional, expedient construct for the equally-fictional canards of "affordable," "attainable," "equity," "inclusionary," and "missing middle" - all code words bandied about in a nationwide campaign to allow upzoning for higher-density luxury housing in existing suburban neighborhoods.

Office, research, manufacturing and commercial uses, in contrast, generate less traffic and require no additional school capacity, for example. The problem is that the Council has driven the County's economy into the ditch over the last 23 years, through radical anti-business policies, and a failure to provide the necessary infrastructure to compete with Northern Virginia, such as direct highway access to Dulles International Airport via a new Potomac River crossing. Montgomery County has not only lost every competition for major corporate headquarters to Virginia during this time, but is most often not even in the hunt for these opportunities.

As a result, Montgomery County has failed to attract a single major corporate headquarters in over 25 years. While MoCo leaders slumbered this century, Virginia added the HQs of Northrop Grumman, Intelsat, Hilton Hotels, Nestle, Lidl, Gerber, Volkswagen, Corporate Executive Board, Amazon HQ2, CoStar, Lego, and more. And those are just ones we lost to Virginia! 

Montgomery County has been left to spend large sums just to retain some of the HQs it had, like Marriott International, Choice Hotels, and GEICO, all of which have downsized when making their moves. In addition to such rearrangements of the deck chairs aboard the Titanic, Montgomery County has lost still other HQs that it had altogether. While the Council argued about the legality of circus animals one week last decade, representatives of New York City and Knoxville were completing final, secret negotiations that sealed their victory in snatching away the Discovery Communications HQ from downtown Silver Spring.

Obviously, property owners such as those at 1455 Research Boulevard can't be blamed for all this. They, understandably, are not going to simply wait for a future ousting of the Montgomery County cartel from power to maximize their investment. So we are likely to end up with more residential housing at this site. The Council is not sad about that, as their developer sugar daddies want them to keep Montgomery County bad-for-business, so that prime office park sites can become residential housing sites instead. Virginia prepares and markets such office/industrial properties extensively to international businesses, and reaps the spectacular results; Montgomery County just waits for someone to build housing on them. Too bad that Montgomery County residents will continue to shoulder the increasing tax burden to make up for all of this lost business and commercial revenue. Heckuva job, Brownie!

Hyatt Regency Bethesda is ready for Mardi Gras...are you? (Photos)

The Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel at 7400 Wisconsin Avenue is ready for Mardi Gras this Tuesday. Its customizable accent lighting is set for the New Orleans colors of purple and green. Are you ready for Mardi Gras in Bethesda? The downtown has lost its New Orleans cuisine restaurants, but you can still head to Barrel and Crow at 4867 Cordell Avenue for crab beignets, Spiced Shrimp and Grits or Andouille and Seafood Gumbo; to Black Market Bistro in Garrett Park for a po boy or their New Orleans-Style Shrimp and Grits; to Popeyes in White Flint; or to Kelly's Cajun Grill in the Dining Terrace food court at Westfield Montgomery Mall.

Montgomery County minimum wage to increase by 50 cents on July 1, 2025

Montgomery County's minimum wage is set to increase on July 1, 2025, reflecting the region's inflation rate, as mandated by County law. The adjustments will see a 50-cent per hour increase across all employer sizes. Effective July 1st, large employers (those with 51 or more employees) will be required to pay a minimum wage of $17.65 per hour. Mid-size employers (11-50 employees) will see their minimum wage rise to $16 per hour, and small employers (10 or fewer employees) will be required to pay $15.50 per hour.

The wage increase is directly tied to the 2.9 percent rise in the consumer price index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers in the Washington, D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria area in 2024. This increase over the 2.8 percent seen in 2023 triggered the adjustment, which the County says ensures the local minimum wage maintains its purchasing power in the face of rising costs.

“Raising the minimum wage to account for inflation is an important step in ensuring that all Montgomery County workers can earn a fair wage that supports their well-being,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said in a statement. “As the cost of living continues to rise, this increase helps workers and families keep pace while also benefitting local businesses by putting more money back into our community. By indexing the minimum wage to inflation, we are providing a long-term solution that adjusts to economic conditions, making sure that working people are rewarded fairly for their contributions and that our local economy stays strong and resilient.”

County estimates state that this minimum wage increase will boost the income of those receiving the minimum wage by $1,040 this year. The minimum wage law was passed by the Montgomery County Council in 2017, and was spearheaded by Elrich, who was a Councilmember at that time.

Maryland bill would force hunters to use "non-toxic" ammunition

Democratic lawmakers in the Maryland General Assembly are seeking to ban the use of lead ammunition by hunters in the state. House Bill 741 and Senate Bill 634 would mandate that hunters of any type of game in Maryland utilize "non-toxic" ammunition by no later than July 1, 2029. "Non-toxic" ammunition is defined in the bills as ammo containing 1% or less lead content. The bills would also alter the definition of "hunt" to no longer exclude "the sport of fox chasing."

The Sportsmen's Alliance, an organization representing the interests of individual hunters, anglers, and trappers, opposes the bills. It warned of the economic damage such a ban would have in Maryland. "Hunters contribute $328 million to the economy, directly support over 4,100 jobs, and provide over $29 million to state and local taxes," the Alliance noted in a statement. "This is a loss the Old Line State cannot afford." The Maryland Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee will hold a hearing on the Senate bill on March 4, 2025 at 1:00 PM.

Photo courtesy Maryland Department of Natural Resources

The Cordell event space opens in Bethesda

The Cordell, a new event space, has opened at 4865 Cordell Avenue in downtown Bethesda. A lighted sign was just installed on the building, which was previously home to restaurants Grapeseed and Lucy. The 4,000-square-foot hall can welcome 250 guests for stand-up receptions, 150-175 guests for banquet-style seating, and up to 150 guests for dinner seating. One of the first events drew a big crowd - and police officers - after the line of cars waiting for parking valets blocked the driveways of next door neighbor Triangle Towers.

Sign installation earlier this week

Triangle Towers high-rise in
the background

Sophia Bethesda installs outdoor seating, Paris Baguette "coming soon" in ground level

Paris Baguette Bakery Cafe has posted "coming soon" signage at its future home in the ground floor of the Sophia Bethesda apartment tower at 4924 St. Elmo Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Ahead of the French bakery and cafe's arrival, seating has been installed on the remodeled paseo that the new development shares with the apartment tower next door, the Ellis Bethesda. Sophia's penthouse units recently opened for tours, and the earliest residents in the building have given the property overwhelmingly-positive reviews on Google.

“We’re excited to welcome residents to Sophia and invite the larger community to celebrate these lovely new apartments and penthouses,” John Segreti, Principal and Executive Vice President at developer Duball, LLC said in a statement. “We put a lot of attention to detail and designed this community to be inviting, not only to residents, but to everyone in Bethesda. We’ve achieved that with a gorgeous community that is unparalleled in this area, which has been reflected in the fact that many of our largest floorplans have already been leased.”

Paris Baguette "coming soon"

In-unit features at Sophia include quartz countertops, tile backsplashes, stainless steel appliances and kitchen islands, spacious closets, and in-unit washers and dryers. Bathrooms offer tiled bathtubs and showers and marble vanities. The penthouses additionally provide 10-foot ceilings, top-of-the-line- appliances, built-in wine fridges, marble countertops, upgraded washers and dryers, ample natural light, and indoor/outdoor living with multiple balconies, patios and terraces. 

Construction starting inside Paris Baguette

On the rooftop deck 23 stories above Bethesda, residents find a skyline pool and spa with water feature. Heading inside on the roof, an interior sky lounge contains a bar, fireplace, and a billiards and game area. The building's fitness center has a strength training room and a yoga studio with space for HIIT. Additional building amenities include meeting and co-working spaces, a demonstration kitchen, an Uber lounge, a solarium and a pet grooming spa. For virtual tours, or to schedule a real-life tour, see the Sophia Bethesda website.

Majority of Maryland residents have considered leaving the state, poll finds

The University of Maryland Baltimore County continues to drop new results from its recent poll of Maryland residents, and the hits just keep on coming for the state's struggling and inept elected officials. Yesterday's release showed that a majority of the residents polled have considered moving out of Maryland to another state within the past year. A full 53% said, yes, they have considered leaving Maryland in the next few years.

Montgomery County has seen a flight of the rich to lower-tax jurisdictions in the region this century, and those expats have taken millions of dollars in tax revenue with them. There were no longer enough high-end shoppers to sustain the stretch of Wisconsin Avenue in Friendship Heights that was once touted as "Montgomery County's Rodeo Drive," leaving behind rows of empty storefronts. Maryland experienced a similar exodus after passing its "Millionaires' Tax" in 2012, only to find that 1000 millionaires had fled the state just two years later.

54% who were interviewed by UMBC said Maryland is a "poor or fair" place to start a business. That's not surprising, given that 67% of respondents also agreed that the state's economy is moribund. 

Maryland not only has gained a terrible reputation as an anti-business state internationally, but is increasingly seen by aging residents as a terrible place to retire, as well. The largest group of respondents, 37%, said Maryland is a "poor" state to retire in. 64% concluded that Maryland is a "poor or fair" retirement destination. Again, not very surprising, as increasing numbers of retirees leave Maryland behind for Delaware or Florida.

Almost half of those polled said Maryland is a "poor or fair" state to seek a K-12 education in. That's quite a drop from two decades ago, when Maryland's schools were seen as among the best in the nation. Only 11% believe Maryland is an "excellent" place to find a job. Well, you can't blame them: most of the jobs that give Montgomery County and Maryland low unemployment rates are actually located in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Bethesda's newest CVS Pharmacy sets closing date

Earlier this month, I reported that the newest CVS Pharmacy in downtown Bethesda would close in March, but the corporate office had not yet announced a closing date. Customers having prescriptions filled at the 7235 Wisconsin Avenue store this week report that they have been informed this location will permanently close on March 19, 2025. The store opened in the former Riggs/PNC Bank building in December 2022. It recently closed temporarily due to a water main break in January.

67% of residents agree Maryland economy is moribund

Last decade, this website was a lonely voice in the media landscape warning that the economies of Montgomery County and Maryland were moribund. Since 2018, powerful voices such as the editorial board of The Washington Post, two-time County Executive candidate David Blair, and even Maryland Governor Wes Moore have reached the same conclusion. Now, an overwhelming majority of Maryland residents are also saying the state's economy has stagnated. 67% of residents polled by the University of Maryland Baltimore County declared Maryland's economy as "poor" or "fair." Results of the poll were released Tuesday by UMBC.

49% of residents told pollsters that Maryland is "on the wrong track." 62% are concerned about the amount of taxes Maryland residents pay. That's not a major shock, as Maryland is one of the states with the highest tax burden in America, and Montgomery County has the highest tax and fee burden of any jurisdiction in the Washington, D.C. area. 77% of residents want lawmakers to focus on crime, but would probably be surprised to learn that the only crime bills likely to pass in the current session of the state legislature will loosen up on criminals, instead of cracking down.

Downtown Bethesda cafe for sale

A downtown Bethesda cafe is being marketed for sale as a turnkey business opportunity. From the photos and description, it appears to be the French Press coffee shop at 4918 St. Elmo Avenue, in the ground floor of the recently-renamed Ellis Bethesda apartment tower. The online sale listing touts a gross sales projection of $450,000 this year, with an asking price of $220,000. A plan by the owner to move out-of-state is given as the reason for the sale, but the purchaser will receive 2 free weeks of training before that happens.