Bethesda office building to be "entirely transformed" by 2026

A 40-year-old office building in downtown Bethesda is about to be "entirely transformed," Transwestern and the Ronald D. Paul Companies have announced. 7830 Old Georgetown Road will be getting a facelift and renovations to better position it for today's tough office market. The building has been particularly popular with medical professionals, and the the updates will retain suites suitable for medical use, as well as general office suites. 7830 Old Georgetown has 30 covered parking spaces, which are leased by the month. The renovations and upgrades will be completed by next year, if all goes according to schedule. Hickok Cole is the architectural contractor for the project.

JBG UNVEILS OFFICE BUILDING PROPOSAL FOR 4733 BETHESDA AVENUE (PHOTOS)

The JBG Companies unveiled the latest iteration of a redevelopment project that's been in the works for over 7 years last night in Bethesda. A new office building is the centerpiece of a proposal for the redevelopment of an existing office building at 4733 Bethesda Avenue, and the former Thyme Square restaurant next door.

View from across Woodmont Avenue

Going with office space is fairly risky move in Montgomery County right now, with two gleaming Class A office buildings at 7550 Wisconsin and 4500 East-West Highway unable to attract the high-profile corporate tenants they had originally planned for, and both struggling to find smaller businesses to replace those larger ambitions.

Yet JBG has developed some impressive office buildings in places like Friendship Heights, and their representative last night said the firm believes downtown Bethesda is a desirable place to work. I can't argue with that statement.

Bethesda Avenue view

The new office building has some resemblance to the hotel proposal it replaces, except the alternating window sections on the side have all been slid to the far left. What was formerly Thyme Square appears to become a small building labeled "Market" in the renderings shown last night. This project will potentially be involved in the creation of an at-grade Capital Crescent Trail along Bethesda Avenue, should the Purple Line be built in the future. JBG has expressed willingness to assist in developing that cycle track, which many CCT advocates have argued will put riders and pedestrians at risk crossing Wisconsin Avenue.

Developing the office project will require demolition of the existing 4733 office structure, perhaps the tallest building ever to be demolished in downtown Bethesda, by my recollection. JBG's representative said the method of demolition has yet to be determined, but that the work will be done "very carefully." The smaller building next door will be renovated, not demolished.

JBG says that even after potential approval by the Montgomery County Planning Board, it does not expect construction to begin on this project for another 2 or 3 years. The future of the plaza between this project and the Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema remains a hot topic of discussion for developers, planners, and residents.

Images courtesy The JBG Companies
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PLAZA TAKING SHAPE AT NEW CLASS A OFFICE BUILDING IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

Carr Properties' 4500 East-West Highway Class A office building was designed to include a public plaza at the corner of East-West and Pearl Street. That plaza is now beginning to take shape. It could help not only as an amenity for future workers there, but also to attract a restaurant tenant to the building's ground floor.

The nearly-finished office project remains without any tenants as of this writing. I actually found an old story which revealed that one of Montgomery County's most recent fumbles in attracting a major corporation involved this building. Instelsat S.A. was scouting potential new homes for its headquarters, then located in the District off of Connecticut Avenue. According to the article, the firm  seriously considered the 4500 East-West building, but ultimately opted to go to Northern Virginia. Instelsat is now the anchor tenant in Macerich's impressive Tysons Tower, Fairfax County's first billion dollar property.

Other tenants at Tysons Tower include Deloitte Consulting, which leased 88,000 SF.

In addition to the higher cost, and less-friendly business environment of Montgomery County, traffic congestion and lack of direct access to Dulles Airport were obviously factors, as well. Intelsat's CEO, David McGlade, specifically cited "a first-class transportation system" as one of the company's must-haves in choosing a new headquarters. Tysons Tower has direct access to the Capital Beltway, the new 495 Express Lanes (which are only on the Virginia side of the Beltway), and the Tysons Corner Metro station. In the near future, the building will have direct rail access to Dulles Airport, when the Silver Line is extended there.

Access to the Bethesda Metro station is one of the major advantages 4500 East-West has going for it. But as anyone who drives in downtown Bethesda knows, traffic is a nightmare, as is trying to reach the Beltway from here during rush hour. Driving to here from Dulles Airport or vice-versa? Fuhgeddaboudit!

BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: 4500 EAST-WEST HIGHWAY OFFICE BUILDING

4500 East-West Highway, a gleaming new Class A office building in what some are calling the future "Pearl District" of downtown Bethesda, is nearing completion. One minor detail - the building still has no tenants, reflecting more upon the moribund office space market in Montgomery County than on the building itself. Viewed from different angles, the glass facade has a very modern look, while other sides of the building echo some of the more traditional office towers of the downtown area. Carr Properties redeveloped this former home of the Bethesda McDonald's, and the project is being constructed by Bethesda's own Clark Construction.

Click on photos to enlarge for greater detail:

FORMER BETHESDA MCDONALD'S SITE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE (PHOTOS)

The future Class A office building on the former Bethesda McDonald's site, at 4500 East-West Highway, is really starting to take shape. Delivery of the project is expected this summer, and it appears to be on-schedule from the exterior. It does seem to be living up to the artist renderings at this point, but it will be interesting to see it at night with the lights on.