Bethesda construction update: Solaire 7607 Old Georgetown Road apartment tower (Photos)

The finishing touches are being put on the exterior of Washington Property Company's new Solaire 7607 Old Georgetown Road apartment tower in downtown Bethesda. Inside, workers are now completing the interiors of the individual apartment units. Some of the first kitchens and appliances are now visible in lower level apartment units from the street below. As of this morning, I still cannot find any official website with leasing information online, or an opening date for first residential move-ins.

Demolition permit requested for La Madeleine in Bethesda

The developer of a new high-rise residential building has requested a demolition permit for the vacant La Madeleine restaurant at 7607 Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda. A notice is now posted on the restaurant, which will be razed to make way for the new development.

Signage removed from La Madeleine in Bethesda

"Ze chateau! Ze chateau!" Mon Dieu!! La Madeleine closed a while back at 7607 Old Georgetown Road. But it's still painful for French cuisine fans to see the signage now stripped from the building. It will be demolished to make way for another downtown Bethesda high-rise. Quelle horreur!!

Redevelopment moving forward at La Madeleine site in Bethesda

A long-planned redevelopment project is gearing up to start construction on the site of the La Madeleine cafe at 7607 Old Georgetown Road. Construction permit applications have been filed to begin work on a 22-story residential tower. The project was originally proposed by Washington Property Company in 2018 as a 24-story tower, and was to be delivered in June 2021, before encountering delays. La Madeleine abruptly closed about two months ago with no explanation.

La Madeleine temporarily closed in Bethesda

La Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe has unexpectedly closed "temporarily" at 7607 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. No explanation has been provided by the restaurant for the closure.

The property is expected to be redeveloped in the future, but that would obviously be a permanent - not temporary - closure, leaving prospective diners to speculate why the restaurant has gone dark. Recorded music was still emanating from speakers outside the shuttered establishment last evening.

La Madeleine suddenly "temporarily" closes in Bethesda

La Madeleine has been closed for the last three days at 7607 Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda. The owner says the closure is "temporary," and due to "an emergency maintenance issue."

While there is a redevelopment planned for the restaurant property, the plans for that have not even been approved by Montgomery County yet. It would literally be impossible to break ground on that project before later in 2019 at the earliest, so if the restaurant were to permanently close now, it would not be because they're kicked out for the development.

Development replacing La Madeleine "will do justice to the downtown," WPC says

There were few new details released at a public meeting last night regarding the residential tower planned to replace La Madeleine at 7607 Old Georgetown Road, but developer Washington Property Company provided more detailed renderings of its design. One piece of breaking news at the meeting was that WPC is branding the new building with its Solaire moniker, adding it to a growing portfolio of properties under the Solaire brand in lower Montgomery County.

WPC was represented at the meeting by its VP of development, Janel Kausner, and attorney Bob Dalrymple. They plan to submit their preliminary and site plans to the County in the coming weeks; their sketch plan has already been approved by the Planning Board. A board hearing on the latest plans will likely be held in January.

If all plans are approved by the board, WPC anticipates construction will begin in June 2019, with a June 2021 delivery date. Dalrymple said WPC is seeking a ground floor retail tenant that will activate the building's corner on Old Georgetown Road.

The new Solaire tower, the second in downtown Bethesda, will be 24 stories and 225' tall. All parking will be underground, and parking and loading access will all be from the Commerce Lane side of the property. That will provide a continuous pedestrian-only sidewalk along Old Georgetown in front of the building.

There will be no blank walls on the tower, which is designed to be attractive from all 360 degrees of view. WPC promised the architecture "will do justice to the downtown zone." The building will make a direct connection to the Bethesda Place courtyard from its second level.

Public meeting scheduled for La Madeleine redevelopment in Bethesda

The preliminary and site plans for redevelopment of the La Madeleine site at 7607 Old Georgetown Road are likely to be submitted to Montgomery County next month. They propose replacing the restaurant with 200 residential units and up to 3000 SF of retail. A public meeting on the plans will be held on Thursday, August 30, 2018 at 7:00 PM, at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, located at 4805 Edgemoor Lane. The meeting will be in Conference Room D.

Washington Property Company unveils plan for La Madeleine site in Bethesda (Photos)

The property currently home to La Madeleine at 7607 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda hasn't changed much since the restaurant opened in 1990. But what is around it has, leaving the suburban-style eatery with surface parking to stand out among increasingly-dense downtown Bethesda. That will change, under a new plan unveiled by developer Washington Property Company at a public meeting last night in Bethesda.

One of the owners' daughters was at the meeting; the owners are in their 90s, and decided to sell to WPC. Attorney Bob Dalrymple represented WPC, and had to address the biggest issue in the room - residents' disappointment over the pending demise of La Madeleine.

"We don't want to lose it," one attendee said. Residents compared the loss of La Madeleine to the recent shuttering of Barnes & Noble, as the loss of a community gathering space, citing its atmosphere of "community and warmth." Some expressed a desire to have the French cafe return in the ground floor of the new building. Dalrymple cautioned them not to get their hopes up, noting that such an outcome would require mutual interest by the restaurant and WPC.

An employee of La Madeleine in attendance said high rent was the reason the Pike & Rose outpost of the chain closed. Rents aren't likely to be cheap in a new building in 20814 - that's just the reality of a jurisdiction that places massive taxes and costs on property owners.

What the new building will have, is 200 residential units and a modest 2500-2700 SF of ground floor retail. Dalrymple said the developer would like curb cut access from Old Georgetown and Commerce Lane, but that the Maryland State Highway Administration may restrict access to Commerce.

There were essentially no architectural or design details presented last night, but some massing diagrams were displayed. The building could be up to 225' tall.

Dalrymple said WPC plans to submit its Sketch plan to the County this month, with a Development Review Committee scheduled for April. A public hearing would likely be held by the Planning Board in June. If approved, the Preliminary and Site plans would be submitted in September, with a hearing on those held by the board in January 2019. Groundbreaking would begin as soon as just six months later, with an estimated delivery of the building in June 2021.

First residents move in to The Henri, La Madeleine to close at Pike & Rose

The first residents of The Henri moved into the brand new apartment building at Pike & Rose yesterday. They were greeted with a champagne toast by the building management, and are officially the first residents of the Phase II section of the development. The ground floor of the building includes high end retail like Sephora (now open), and Sur la Table, and will eventually boast a restaurant.

On a sadder note, today is the last day for La Madeleine at Pike & Rose. This is the latest location the apparently-struggling but long-running chain has closed. The downtown Bethesda La Madeleine remains open for business.