Children's Inn at NIH puts Woodmont House up for sale

The Children's Inn at NIH has put the Woodmont House group home at 8324 Woodmont Avenue on the market for $3,495,000. A task force assembled by the charity recommended putting the facility up for sale after concluding fewer families needed the use of it. Woodmont House was opened in 2010 as a residence where patients in less-critical phases of treatment at NIH could stay with their families.

Now, the charity says, there is an increase of more-critical patients who need to be closer to the treatment facilities on the campus. Those who still need the accommodations Woodmont House provided will be housed in a duplex on the NIH campus, which the NIH has made available to Children's Inn to purchase.

The Woodmont House received a special exception in zoning from Montgomery County when it was approved, and that exception is now being touted in the real estate listings as a selling point. While it seems unlikely a charity or government would pay such a high price to acquire Woodmont House, it does show the uncertainty of awarding such exceptions if they convey to the next owner. A less costly property could become a halfway house or drug treatment center, posing a far greater danger to nearby residents than the Children's Inn facility they supported eight years ago.

More likely, a developer will acquire the site for a small condo building, but you never know. The seven-bedroom, nine-bath home's special exception for a non-conforming use allows for "countless options!" according to the listings. Neighbors will want to monitor this story going forward.

Another intriguing angle on this sale: Pharmaceutical giant Merck contributed more than $5 million to the purchase and operation of Woodmont House. Now, after only seven years, it is being put up for sale. Merck still gets the tax deductions, but those dollars didn't go as far as they could have elsewhere in this case, unless the full value was already spent on those served at the house.

Rockville Pike lane closures Tuesday by NIH/Walter Reed in Bethesda

Expect single lane closures in both directions on Rockville Pike (MD 355) in Bethesda on Tuesday, January 24, between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM. The closures will be in the block between Jones Bridge Road and Cedar Lane, in front of NIH and Walter Reed.

This is related to the project that will build a tunnel underneath the Pike, and high-speed elevators down to the Medical Center Metro station on the east side of the state highway.

BRAC MD 355 tunnel project scheduled to begin Tuesday in Bethesda

Construction of a pedestrian tunnel under Rockville Pike (MD 355) to create a safer pedestrian connection between the Medical Center Metro station and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was expected to begin in mid-2017. But contractor Clark Construction has already requested a noise waiver from Montgomery County, and the County states that the preliminary work will begin Tuesday, December 13.

The project, on which the Montgomery County Department of Transportation is the lead agency, is being fully funded by the federal government (a.k.a. you, the federal taxpayer) to the tune of $110 million. In addition to the tunnel, high-speed elevators open to the public on the Walter Reed side of the Pike will give access to the Metro underground.

Once excavation of the tunnel gets underway (they are going to use cut-and-cover rather than a boring machine to dig the tunnel), there will be lane closures on Rockville Pike. That will pile-on to the existing traffic nightmare.

Completed projects on Jones Bridge Road and Connecticut Avenue, which promised to move cars between Walter Reed and NIH and the Beltway, turned out to be a complete failure and waste of taxpayer dollars. Residents gave up big chunks of their front yards for nothing. The line to turn left onto Connecticut during the afternoon rush is, if anything, longer than it was before. Jones Bridge is a nightmare, as is 355. And traffic now backs up from the on-ramp to the Inner Loop, jamming traffic on Connecticut. 

Long stretch of Beltway
that runs alongside
Walter Reed campus would
have been the logical place
to use $110M to construct
ramps and flyovers to keep
base traffic off local roads

Hopefully this project won't deliver such disastrous results, but the money $11 million spent on that, the $110 million going to the tunnel, and the "Herculean efforts of Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin and Congressman Chris Van Hollen," - to quote County Executive Ike Leggett - would have been better spent on forcing the feds to require direct access ramps into and out of Walter Reed from the Beltway. 

We are led by very stupid people, folks. Montgomery County needs to be smart to move forward, and we clearly don't have that leadership now. What good is all of the "deep intellect" and "experience," if you don't know what the hell you're doing?

Update 12/12/16: The project is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, December 13 and end in May 2020.

NIH DECIDES ON GROWTH PLANS: HOW WILL THEY IMPACT BETHESDA?

The National Institutes of Health has reached a decision to implement a long-range master plan for its main Bethesda campus, according to a document scheduled to be published today. NIH chose this alternative from several options, following public comment and environmental studies. The decision will now allow for "potential growth in NIH personnel, new construction, additions, renovations, demolitions, and upgrades in site utilities," as the report states.

NIH claims that Montgomery County Public Schools will be able to accommodate any increase in students, should it add additional employees over the next 20 years. At present, NIH expects 3000 current Bethesda-area off-site employees and contractors to be shifted to the Bethesda campus. It assumes, therefore, that their kids are already enrolled in the school system.

The report says that NIH is committing to retaining the campus-like feel of the facility in any further on-site development. Reviews will be conducted every five years over the 20-year life of the plan.

Allowed under the plan will be renovation and expansion of laboratory facilities.

Traffic impacts will not be insignificant. The planned shift of 3000 people to NIH will add 12% more NIH employee-driven vehicles to rush hour traffic on Bethesda roads around the site. It will generate an estimated additional 432 AM and 439 PM automobile trips. The report places great faith in the Purple Line and Bus Rapid Transit being implemented by the time the employees are transferred to the main campus. Of course, the Purple Line is in serious jeopardy, the BRT hasn't a dime in funding, and neither may have a significant impact on NIH-related traffic. That's because the Purple Line is far south of NIH, and the BRT ridership potential has been greatly overstated by its proponents. Why would someone board a BRT when there is a Metro stop on-site? Metro is far faster than BRT would be.

Parking provisions, which have been controversial in the community, will allow 1 new space for every 3 new employees moved to the campus. Noise levels will remain the same, and air quality will be within current government standards, the report predicts. NIH does predict, however, that its production of wastewater will increase, and it will enter discussions with the WSSC about upgrading its sewer facilities on-site.

JOSÉ ANDRÉS PEPE FOOD TRUCK ADDS BETHESDA ROW AS A STOP!!

INCREDIBLE!

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive

World-famous chef - and owner of Bethesda Row's Jaleo - Jose Andres has announced what downtown Bethesda has been waiting 6 months to hear:

His Pepe food truck will be adding Bethesda Row as a stop from now on!  Pepe will also stop at the NIH campus.

Pepe's menu will include:

Butifarra Burger
Pollo Frito
Escalivada
Pepito de Iberico
Spanish Grilled Cheese
Futbol Club Barcelona
Jamon Serrano y queso Manchego
Pepito de ternera

Andres is perhaps the highest-profile restauranteur to "turn the tables" on the popular food truck phenomenon, by launching his own truck.

In terms of downtown Bethesda restaurants, Bold Bite recently launched a rolling hot dog cart out of its Fairmont Avenue location.

The competition for lunch dollars is just getting started.  Andres' expansion into Montgomery County (Friendship Heights and Rockville Town Center are also on the list of stops) could lure more big names and DC food trucks to downtown Bethesda.

RED MANGO FROZEN YOGURT IS COMING TO BETHESDA!

Red Mango is opening a shop on the Bethesda campus of the NIH.

The chain, founded by CEO Dan Kim in 2006, isn't entirely new to the region.  You may have been to the Red Mango in Clarendon.

Frozen yogurt and smoothies are the house specialties.  In fact, Red Mango is rated #1 in that restaurant category by Zagat.

Some of the best flavors, in my opinion, are Madagascar Vanilla, Honey Badger, Cake Batter, Peanut Butter, Sugarcane Cola, Chai and Mojito.

Smoothies come in ultra-healthy (Healthy Bones, Revitalizing Energy) and 1970s Elvis-in-Vegas (Banana and Peanut Butter) flavors.

Red Mango also serves frozen lemonades, Coffee Chillers, Artisan hot chocolate, and parfaits.

Red Mango should open this year at NIH.

Red Mango, 10 Center Drive, MSC 1086, Bethesda.