A church property in the elite 20816 zip code of Bethesda could become the next cookie cutter townhome or - even more controversial - apartment development. Washington Baptist Church at 5144 Massachusetts Avenue has just listed its property as available for sale. The asking price for the 2.15-acre plot is $14,995,000. While a Montessori school tenant and cell service antenna leases can provide short term revenue to the purchaser, the online sale listing notes the redevelopment potential of the site, which is in the exclusive Westmoreland Hills neighborhood.
One must wonder if this planned sale was a driving force behind including Massachusetts Avenue in the zoning text amendment rammed through last year by the Montgomery County Council. According to the ZTA map, this property is eligible for multifamily housing.
Such redevelopment would be contentious, but the Montgomery County Council and Planning Board have established a rock-solid track record in recent years of steamrolling over resident opposition, ignoring civic associations who don't sell their membership out to the Council, and paying zero price at the ballot box for doing so. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
13 comments:
We're now complaining about potential multifamily development on (checks notes) sleepy Massachusetts Ave? Lol.
Ever notice that they never raze, resell & build housing from synagogues, temples or mosques around here?
8:35: Yes, bad planning should be called on the carpet every time.
Country clubs and Catholic churches are the last large properties in that part of the county that could be redeveloped.
I could see St Bart's and Little Flower merging and another "new neighborhood" from EYA take their place.
I don't fully understand the obsession of redeveloping within the Beltway. There are large swaths of land and strip malls in White Oak and Burtonsville, for example. Two new shopping centers in those areas included zero new housing units.
A whole new shopping center with a new Amazon Fresh grocery, but no new houses.
“the next cookie cutter townhome”
Funny how single-family home subdivisions are never described thus.
“…the zoning text amendment RAMMED THROUGH last year by the Montgomery County Council.”
Oh, please.
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
The congregation realized that they no longer need the church. This isn’t some sort of conspiracy to shut down religion..
He whines about the county budget, then whines about new housing going up that would bring more taxpayers and money to the area.
12:29: SFH neighborhoods in 20816 and most older parts of the county actually can't be described as cookie cutter. They feature a variety of home models, often customized to the first owner's specifications, and multiple builders in many neighborhoods.
Yes, the ZTA was rammed through over massive resident opposition.
No longer need the church? Have they fallen away? Make it make sense.
1:50: New housing by itself generates more new costs in services and infrastructure than it does in revenue. That's why we have a structural budget deficit despite rapacious housing construction this century. The proof is in the pudding, and the tasting thereof.
Montgomery County has clearly decided to be a bedroom community of corporate offices located in DC and Virginia. (Get the income tax revenue from residents employed in other jurisdictions). A fine strategy, so long as you don’t ruin the features that make ithe area appealing to such employees- good schools, decent highways, country clubs, low crime, etc.
Unfortunately, Friedson and the rest of the County Council pursue only the tax $s and not the quality of life features that justify them. 😩
7:41: We're down to just country clubs on your list - MCPS is a shadow of its former self, all unbuilt highways were canceled by the Council, and we're in the midst of a six year violent crime wave and ransacking theft.
Not EYA. I’m am so tired of their cookie-cutter homes.
@Robert well yeah, the revenue comes from more residents paying taxes and spending money in the community.
8:22: That revenue alone is insufficient, as our County budget structural deficit proves. We can't keep up this crazy idea that just building homes is an economic development strategy. It's been a total disaster.
@5:40 AM I agree. Their inventory has always been limited to overpriced housing. The latest development in the Westbard neighborhood is overpriced *and* flat-out uggo.
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