Fountain activated at Hampden House in Bethesda (Video + Photos)

Here's something you don't see often these days: A new water feature being installed and activated in downtown Bethesda. Many fountains of all sizes have been left to decay, switched off, or simply demolished over the last few years. Well, there's a new one on the plaza outside of the new Hampden House apartment tower, located at 4915 Hampden Lane. The fountain's sculpture is titled Khnum, and is by local artist Lisa Scheer. She has several other public art installations in the region, including at Reagan National Airport, the Petworth Metro station, Park Van Ness Center, Clarendon Center, and Tysons Park Place II.

Bethesda's new Lidl grocery store now a selling point for apartments

The new Lidl grocery store at 7625 Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda has very quickly become a selling point for nearby apartment buildings. It's only natural that Bethesda Place, which stands atop the store at 7701 Woodmont Avenue, has added a picture of it to its website. But the Solaire 7607 Old Georgetown apartment tower right next door is also getting in on the action. A sign placed on the sidewalk in front of the building asks passersby to "imagine carrying your groceries this far home," and provides a QR code for the property's website. 

Some rental buildings in close proximity to Lidl have some catching up to do. Element 28, two doors up from the store on Old Georgetown, is still only listing the new Trader Joe's store in the 8001 Woodmont apartments. The Metropolitan, right across Old Georgetown from Lidl, doesn't mention the new store on its website yet, either.

Looking toward Lidl from the
Solaire 7607 Old Georgetown

Fire at The Elm apartment tower in Bethesda (Photos)

UPDATE - 7:48 PM: MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer reports the cause was a malfunctioning microwave, and that there is no further fire or smoke present in the building.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service personnel are responding to a fire at an apartment tower in downtown Bethesda. Around 7:00 PM this evening, a fire was reported in a unit on the 9th floor of the The Elm at 4710 Elm Street, one of the tallest residential buildings in Montgomery County. A ladder could be seen extending to an upper floor. The fire started in the kitchen of the apartment, MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer said. 

No injuries have been reported so far. More than a dozen units are at the scene. It's concerning that the years-long extended closure of Elm Street at Wisconsin Avenue hampers full ease of access to the building by emergency vehicles. This could be problematic in a major emergency event.

8200 Wisconsin Avenue apartments in Bethesda rebranded as "8200W"

8200 Wisconsin Avenue, a landmark apartment tower on downtown Bethesda's "main street," has gotten a branding makeover. While the iconic "8200" numerals over the entrance remain the same for now, new logos posted at the building and on the internet have added a "W" to read "8200W." The new branding is also utilized on an updated website for the property. Of course, among longtime residents, just saying "8200" is enough that people know which building you are talking about. It's hard to think of another local building with that kind of street-number-only name recognition within a certain geographical area. The closest in my mind would be 5530 and 5454 Wisconsin in Friendship Heights, particularly if you are in the healthcare field as a professional or patient.

Rooftop lighting activated at Hampden House in Bethesda (Photos)

The new Hampden House apartment tower at 4700 Hampden Lane - like its next-door neighbor at 7272 Wisconsin Avenue - stands out in architectural design among the many "base-podium" buildings constructed since the Bethesda Downtown sector plan was passed in 2017. One of the features many have been waiting to see is the rooftop lighting of the building. That has now been activated, and was lit last night. Is this all there is, or is there more lighting yet to be lit up there? Let's hope so, so the fine architectural lines up there can fully pop at night, like they're supposed to. But it's a great start, and better than the nothing we are used to getting these days.

I suppose beggars can't be choosers, as many other buildings with distinctive rooflines like this in recent years have either been forced to entirely shut off their accent lighting, or have chosen not to install it from the beginning. The Darcy in Bethesda, and the Cambria Suites hotel in Rockville Town Center come to mind. Two things we need more of on the skylines of Montgomery County's urban areas: corporate headquarters logos, and lights, lights, and more lights! Imagine New York City's high-rises blacked out at night. Nuts!

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.

Bethesda construction update: Hampden House apartment tower (Photos)

Construction is in the home stretch at Hampden House, the new apartment tower at 7316 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. An official website for the property is now live. Hampden House will provide 366 residential units, and 10,110-square-feet of restaurant and retail space. The latter currently includes designer lighting retailer Visual Comfort & Co., and restaurant The Food Market. One retail space remains available for lease. Developer Saul Centers anticipates a late-2025 delivery.

Planning extension sought for new Bethesda Row apartment building

Federal Realty is seeking an extension from the Montgomery County Planning Board for the review of the Preliminary and Site Plans for a proposed new apartment building at 7070 Arlington Road at Bethesda Row. The plans were both scheduled to be reviewed during the board's April 24, 2025 meeting. Federal Realty, which owns Bethesda Row, is asking for a two-month extension until June 26. The board will consider the extension request at its meeting tomorrow, Thursday, April 10, 2025. Planning staff are recommending approval of the request.

Attorney Patricia Harris says the reason for the request is that the Preliminary Plan that was submitted last December cannot be certified by Montgomery County without a noise analysis. That analysis is currently being completed. Once the noise analysis is submitted to the County, it will take about two months for the Preliminary Plan to then be certified, Harris says. 

If approved, the reverse-L-shaped apartment building would replace Uncle Julio's, several storefronts on Arlington Road next to Uncle Julio's, and a large portion of the parking lot behind the existing stores and restaurants on the south side of Bethesda Avenue (i.e. the Apple Store, Levain Bakery, etc.). The 100' tall structure would have retail and restaurant space in its ground floor, as well as a vehicle pass-through tunnel for deliveries, moving vans, and ride-sharing vehicles. Theoretically, then, Uncle Julio's could lease a ground floor space and return in the new building.

Renderings courtesy Federal Realty/Hickok Cole

Paris Baguette posts more "coming soon" signage in Bethesda

Paris Baguette Bakery Cafe has posted more "coming soon" signage in the windows of its future storefront in the Sophia Bethesda apartment tower at 4924 St. Elmo Avenue. The 3000-square-foot corner space fronts onto Fairmont Avenue, and the pedestrian paseo between Sophia and the Ellis Bethesda apartments. South Korea-based Paris Baguette has a massive menu of French and Korean baked goods, hot lunch and snack items like tiny pizzas and pigs-in-a-blanket, and coffee and tea beverages. There's even a whole line of donuts, including cronuts and mochi donuts. Stay tuned for an opening date!