Signage installed at 5ense of Thai in Bethesda

Permanent signage has been installed over the future storefront of 5ense of Thai at 5314 Zenith Overlook at Westbard Square in Bethesda. The sign is not yet lit up, and we can't get a sense of the progress on the interior fit-out of the restaurant, as the windows are still covered. 5ense of Thai specializes in the cuisine of southern Thailand. Their signature dishes include Chumphon Pad Thai, Crispy Whole Fish, Seafood Volcano, and Chili Soft-Shell Crab.

As Bethesda apartment supply grows, rents only continue to skyrocket

"Abundance bros." on their book tour should make a stop in downtown Bethesda. Here, as in virtually all of the United States, the housing market is wholly detached from free market forces. YIMBYs and Abundance bros. alike continue to argue their warmed-over Reaganomics theory that simply by increasing the supply of housing, prices will come down. It hasn't happened in 99.9% of cases in America, and it certainly isn't happening in Bethesda, Montgomery County, or Maryland. In fact, two new pricing thresholds have been crossed by the new Hampden House apartment tower at 4700 Hampden Lane: studios in the $2000s, and 1-bedrooms in the $3000s. 

How quaint the dare of the post-"Great Recession" builders to venture well north of $2000 for a 1-bedroom apartment in Bethesda last decade appears now. $2400 was shocking at the time. That now barely gets you into a studio at Hampden House, where those bedroom-less units range from $2,297 (530-square-foot studio) to $2,387 (576 SF studio). And aside from one 1-bedroom floor plan that starts at $2,946, all 1-bedroom units range from $3,016 to $3,653.

Hampden House stands between two other new apartment towers, The Elm (2021), and The Charles (which is expected to welcome its first residents this fall). Thousands of new apartments have come online over the last 11 years in downtown Bethesda, but rents continue to skyrocket. And rather than apply downward pressure on older rentals, the staggering increases simply provide justification for their rents to surge upward, as well. 

This is the same result we see for house prices: the new townhome next to an industrial auto repair facility or parking garage is $1.x million. The duplex (now allowed by the County Council under the false pretense that it would provide "affordable housing," a farcical claim) with front and back yard areas will therefore be $2.x million. At that point, even older colonials in 20816 with large front and back yards and many more bedrooms can justify passing the $3 million mark. The trend line is clear: the more supply is delivered into the market, the higher the rents go.