TOLL BROS. BETHESDA LUXURY CONDO CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE

Toll Brothers now has an official schedule for its City Living luxury condo project at Hampden Lane and Arlington Road, near Bethesda Row.

The 60-unit building will begin construction this September.

Toll Bros. will open sales April 14, 2014.

It expects first settlement in March 2015.

The developer anticipates the project will generate $67 million in revenue.

TOLL BROTHERS ERECTS SIGN TOUTING FUTURE LUXURY CONDO BUILDING NEAR BETHESDA ROW (PHOTOS)

Toll Brothers, as I reported several weeks ago, is planning to build a luxury condo building at the corner of Hampden Lane and Arlington Road in Bethesda.

Now the company has erected a sign on the site, which currently holds a boarded-up haunted house.

I was expecting the Mystery Machine to pull into the driveway any second.

TOLL BROTHERS TO ANNOUNCE NEW DOWNTOWN BETHESDA LUXURY CONDO BUILDING TODAY

No sooner had Bisnow.com reported a new, 17-story residential building proposal for 4990 Fairmont Avenue, than homebuilder Toll Brothers hinted it wanted in on the downtown Bethesda development game.

Toll Brothers reportedly will announce its intention to construct a 7-story, 60-unit luxury condominium building, at an undisclosed site within walking distance of Bethesda Row, today.

Where is the mystery location?

One clue is that Toll Brothers is claiming it can start construction this fall, which would be impossible without permits.

I have no clue where the Toll Brothers site is, but I do recall a building of these exact specs being approved for the corner of Arlington Road and Hampden Lane in 2008.

Unless I've lost my wits, I don't believe there is a 7-story condo yet at that corner.

So, could it be that Toll Brothers is the mystery firm behind the shell company "Hampden Lane Associates, LLC," that received approval for a 60-unit building there over 4 years ago?

An associated, low-rise "Apartment Building for Homeless People" at 4917 Hampden Lane was a controversial part of that deal.  But regarding the larger building, a group of neighbors called "Concerned Families of City Homes" expressed opposition at that time, as I recall. These were residents of City Homes townhomes on the same block.

Toll Brothers is giving an on-sale date of Spring 2014; again, impossible unless permits are already in-hand.

So my guess is the corner of Arlington and Hampden for Toll Brothers. I could be wrong, but I'm not aware of any other 7-story, 60-unit development already approved in downtown Bethesda.

If I am wrong, please post a comment below. All we can do is wait for Toll Brothers' announcement later at this point.

THE BAR METHOD FITNESS STUDIO TO OPEN IN BETHESDA

NEW TENANT IN

LIONSGATE CONDO

BUILDING

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive

The Bar Method, a fitness studio promising a fat-burning, body-sculpting and posture-improving workout, is moving into a vacated retail space on the ground floor of the Lionsgate building in Bethesda.

Boasting celebrity endorsers like Anna Paquin, Zooey Deschanel and Denise Richards, the company says its Bethesda studio will open in 2013.

FURNISHING YOUR BETHESDA APARTMENT? SPEND LAVISHLY, OR JUST GIVE THE IMPRESSION YOU DID

First, you have to get your downtown Bethesda apartment or condo.  But then, you have to furnish it.

A few days ago I wrote about the 20%-off sale that ends today at Urban Loft on Cordell Avenue.

But what if their high-end furniture would bust your budget?  Try Gallery St. Elmo, a consignment furniture gallery.  You never know what may appear in their showroom from one week to the next.

New arrivals at Gallery St. Elmo: Crate and Barrel sofa,
chair, and end tables - add coffee table for
an instant living room!

They have furnishings and accessories in a range of prices, so you can fool your guests into thinking that living room is brand new, and you spent a lot on it.

Live the Bethesda lifestyle for less at Gallery St. Elmo.

Gallery St. Elmo, 4938 St. Elmo Avenue.  301-654-0576.

WHY IS EVERY BRICK IN THE EXTERIOR OF THE CHASE CONDOS BEING REPLACED?

The latest mystery repairs to confound the curious in downtown Bethesda are at The Chase on Woodmont Avenue.

Covers shield exterior ventilation from dust and debris at The Chase

It seems like every brick in the building's facade is being painstakingly replaced.  I'm not an engineer, much less a mason, so I have no idea why this is being done.  I can't recall this happening at another building in Bethesda in my lifetime.

Where's Fix-it Felix when you need him?

Two notable points about this:  First, the last unit was finally sold in this building not long before this work began.  Ironically, one of the selling points to buyers was that the building had just been renovated.  So if you bought there, you probably thought you'd enjoy living without major maintenance projects for a while.  Guess again!

These masons don't just do windows...

...the brick replacement is quite extensive.

Second, I recall some discussion online about masonry tuckpointing at The Chase.  Again, I'm no expert on that, but that is an intermediary step taken short of a full brick replacement.  I cannot find that particular message board posting today - and of course, you can't trust anonymous postings online anyway.  The masonry reference didn't make much sense at the time.  But I wish I'd paid more attention to that discussion, given this new context.

NEATO VENETO

A PHANTOM CONDO PROJECT

AND THE

MYSTERIOUS FUTURE OF

4901 CORDELL AVENUE

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!!

Cordell Avenue is a tale of two blocks.  The first block, between Old Georgetown Road and Norfolk Avenue, has a number of good restaurants like Tragara and Matuba, but - with the major exception of the Caddies on Cordell patio - can tend to be fairly dead at night.  Once you walk east of Caddies, there just isn't much energy or activity there.

Go to the second block, however, and you have Freddy's Lobster and Flanagan's Harp and Fiddle with outdoor patio buzz, and residents coming and going at Triangle Towers and The Palisades apartments.  It's a lot more welcoming at night.

One of the "dead spots" is a small building at 4901 Cordell.  Six years ago, it was to be demolished and replaced by a boutique, mixed-use luxury condo building, called The Veneto.

Now, before I go any further, I'd say that there's no reason the existing building couldn't be renovated into a nice set of restaurants and shops.

But the owner and developer was intent on knocking it down for The Veneto.

I had mixed feelings about the Veneto project.  You can check out a nifty little Adobe Flash presentation of The Veneto at the architect's website.

Certainly the design is a lot more upscale than the current structure.

What's nice about it?

Well, it certainly was ambitious for the lot size.  It would really bring the corner of Cordell and Norfolk to life, but only if it had the right restaurants.

It had a clever parking solution in its odd, underground garage configuration.

What don't I like?

The design is still fairly bland.  It's not unique in any way, shape or form despite the claims on the website.  This building could be in Rockville, New York City or Clarendon, and nobody would know the difference or even care.

My biggest beef with The Veneto was its lack of affordable housing.  In addition to getting a free pass from the Planning Board on public-use space and parking minimums, The Veneto was almost the poster child for the infamous Bethesda concept known as the "boutique condo building."

As you can read on the website, there were only going to be 2 condos per floor, and then a sumptuous penthouse atop the building.

According to the planning document I saw, there was not even one affordable unit in the building.  You would think the Planning Board could have insisted on at least dividing one unit into 2 or 3 smaller apartments as MPDUs.

So the bottom line on this project's "value-added" score is pretty low.

The Veneto would definitely improve the neighborhood, by activating at least the corner, and part of two blocks which are currently dead at night.  It would bring light, energy and activity, perhaps like that found on Norfolk near Rock Bottom, Hanaro and BlackFinn today.

But it would add nothing architecturally, nor would it address the need for affordable apartments and condos to attract younger residents to Bethesda.  Strictly for the Daddy Warbucks set.

The bigger question, though, is what is the fate of 4901?

While The Veneto seemed to sail through the Planning Board's cakewalk of an approval process, it was never built.

After years of delay, there are vacant and abandoned storefronts.

Now, even the jewelry store is closing for good.

A sign is offering the existing building for sale or lease, and even suggests the seller will assist in renovating and updating the building.

We can speculate that The Veneto was a casualty of the real estate bubble bursting, especially given its high-end, limited target demographic.  I don't think it's a tragedy, given its many shortcomings.

But having said that, the location could certainly use some life at night, whether it's the existing building, The Veneto, or a more architecturally-imaginative blend of restaurants, market rate apartments and luxury units.

Let's hope a grander yet more value-added concept prevails.

BATTERY LANE RESIDENTS OPPOSE PLAN TO INSTALL PARKING METERS

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has proposed installing parking meters on Battery Lane, between Old Georgetown Road and Woodmont Avenue.  Some residents are organizing to oppose the plan, and have posted a petition online to stop it. 

Lauren Lefkowitz, who started the petition, says the recent repaving of Battery left only about 20 street parking spaces.  These are relied upon heavily by visitors and servicepeople like plumbers or electricians.  Private lots, not surprisingly, utilize permit parking at the various residential buildings.

Friends and Residents of Battery Lane emphasizes the quiet, residential nature of Battery Lane.

As always, these are complicated issues.  Obviously, the County Executive, and if they approve it, the County Council, want revenue.  Once again this year, the county budget is scheduled to grow, rather than shrink, despite an ongoing structural deficit.  Politicians who won't make tough cuts or restructure government have received little criticism in the local press.  Is anyone surprised that they have gained a false sense of invincibility?

So, there's no question, they are scrounging through the sofa cushions and knocking off the citizens' bank accounts for every last dime, to fund a budget bigger than last year's.

At the same time, parking will be getting even worse on Battery in the next few years.  Two major developments are moving through the planning process now.

What officials don't want is the same thing they didn't want when other parts of downtown Bethesda redeveloped:  free parking.

Back in the 90s, if I recall correctly - and please correct me if I'm wrong - where there wasn't "free" parking outright, you didn't have to feed the meter after a certain hour.  As politicians sought more money to play with, they turned to parking meters in Bethesda.

This led to the Pajama Parkers:  exhausted residents running outside at various hours to put more money into the parking meter.  In some cases, older buildings didn't have enough spaces; in others, street parking was cheaper than leasing or buying a space.

I'm foggy on the details, but clearly remember the uproar and the Pajama  Parkers.

Guess what?  Government won.

Fast forward to today.

I think it may be premature to install meters on Battery, until we know exactly what type of businesses, restaurants, bars, etc. will be on the ground floor of these developments.  It might make more sense to go to a permit system, by which residents could give guests a permit to park.

Plus, the demand for parking will be less the further west on Battery you are.  Surely, the grocery store in the Woodmont/Battery development on the old Ramada Inn site will offer its own free parking.  I'd also expect at least 2 of these new, private garages to be open to the public.

Unfortunately, if the new developments contain popular businesses that attract many patrons, meters on Battery would be almost unavoidable, if there is not free parking available within the new buildings.  There would be spillover, and those cars would be hogging the spaces that visitors of residents on Battery Lane need.

I think the best approach would be to not make county revenue the top priority in this situation.  The real priority is, how do we preserve or create parking spaces for visitors of Battery residents?  How do we avoid charging someone who simply wants to park his or her car, and jog or cycle along the Bethesda Trolley Trail?  And how do we balance the current parking problem with the pressures of the future development?

I'm not very optimistic.  Every time I'm hit up for paid parking in the rural exurbs (I'm talking about you, downtown Frederick), or at a hospital parking lot nowhere near a Metro station, or anything else people would want to snag a space for, I feel ripped off.

We're moving towards a future where every inch the car moves, and every parking space the car fills - including in front of suburban homes! - will incur a charge.  I predict that - as we move towards more play money budgets of $6, 7, 8, 9 billion - the council will float the concept of paid permit parking in single-family residential neighborhoods countywide.  Write that down.  Each additional car will be an extra charge.  Scary, right?

So even if you don't live in downtown Bethesda, pay attention to parking issues like those on Battery.  Today's urban parking penalties are tomorrow's suburban parking payday for big-spending politicians.

APRIL FOOLS:

BETHESDA ROW

PARKMAGEDDON

STARTS APRIL 1st

After Yet Another Delay, Bethesda Ave. Parking

Lots Will Close Forever in 34 Days

They really mean it this time, folks! You gotta believe 'em! I mean, they wouldn't give us a date and then call it off, right?

The development project that cried wolf is back. Two mixed-use buildings will be constructed at the intersection of Bethesda and Woodmont Avenues over the next few years. As we've all heard, Lot 31 and its diminutive brother across Woodmont are being destroyed to make room for luxe condo palace The Darcy and its sibling across the way.

Nearly 300 parking spaces will be lost for almost 3 years at Bethesda Row. As you also know, eventually, we'll regain those spaces and more within the new development's public-private parking garage.

In the meantime, this is really going to hurt business at Bethesda Row. Aside from offering free valet parking, there is little businesses can do. Given that the county owned the lots, this was poor planning. The sites should not have been developed without constructing a new garage or lot nearby first. Yet here we are nearing a virtual Parkmageddon at Bethesda Row.

After several delays, Montgomery County has officially announced that the two lots will close "on or about April 1." I asked county spokeswoman Esther Bowring why the developers had stalled again. "It's my understanding that the paperwork has taken longer than expected," she said.

So reset your Doomsday Clocks again for a parking experience 300% more fun than we have now, coming April 1.

HO HUM:

BETHESDA'S LATEST

GATEWAY CONDO

PROJECT FAILS TO

IMPRESS

Following years of delay, the Trillium condo project at the northern gateway of downtown Bethesda has been altered yet again.

The long-empty site has its latest plan, and it leaves much to be desired. First, the proposed building is smaller and far shorter than it should be, within walking distance to Metro. Density in that spot shouldn't be the maximum because that walk to Metro is not a short one.

Second, the design is decidedly ho hum. A cross between a hospital and a cookie cutter office office building, the Trillium is poised to be the latest gateway property to disappoint.

At the south entrance to town, you are confronted with Staples. This was a chance to do something bold. When arriving in Bethesda, you should be greeted by bold architecture, glass, steel and innovative design. Maybe an 8 story fountain.

Instead, we're getting this bland, utilitarian and squat commercial style building. To top it off, the C-shaped courtyard design faces drivers entering Bethesda, from the plans I've examined.

The vague promise of a grocery store that will draw people to the site suggests one name: Wegmans. But will it really be Wegmans, or Harris Teeter, which the same developer has contracted with in one of its DC projects? I will say that getting Wegmans would go a long way to compensate for the underwhelming design.

It's not too late to come up with an alternative. The Planning Board needs to stop trying to throw up skyscrapers in residential neighborhoods, and start trying to build them in downtown Bethesda instead. And it's time to start rejecting the same old, cookie cutter designs every other town is using.

The building that stands at the gateway to Bethesda ought to represent Bethesda.