Bethesda Avenue retail building for sale

The retail building currently leased to Cork 57 at 4910 Bethesda Avenue is now on the market for sale. Cork 57 has three years left on its lease, with a five-year renewal option after that. The asking price for the building is $2,313,988, according to the online listing. Built in 1948, the property includes two parking spaces right outside the storefront.

Bethesda Lidl construction update (Photos)

Here's a look at the progress on construction of the new Lidl supermarket at 7625 Old Georgetown Road at Bethesda Place. You can already tell the lighting inside the store will be much brighter than it was in the Safeway that previously occupied this space. Shelving is now going into place, as well as display cases. The latter look like bakery display cases.

1 Bethesda Dental Center opening at Bethesda Metro Center

1 Bethesda Dental Center will open soon at Suite B005 at 3 Bethesda Metro Center. The dental clinic is scheduled to open on August 2, 2024. This is an expansion of Chevy Chase Dental Center, which is located at 5406 Connecticut Avenue NW. The practice is led by Dr. Akram Sannaa, who has owned Chevy Chase Dental Center for the last six years. Appointments can be scheduled online.

"One Bethesda Dental Center is dedicated to providing comprehensive, compassionate, and personalized dental services for patients of all ages," the practice's website says. "Our state-of-the-art facility combines advanced technology with a warm and welcoming environment to ensure your comfort and satisfaction. Our experienced and friendly team, led by Dr. Sannaa, prioritizes patient education and preventative care, ensuring you have the knowledge to maintain optimal oral health. We are committed to making your dental visits as pleasant and stress-free as possible, with flexible scheduling options, a relaxing atmosphere, and personalized treatment plans tailored to meet your unique needs."

Chevy Chase Land Co. takes another big swing at office market in Friendship Heights

The Chevy Chase Land Company is announcing completion of a second major repositioning of one of its office properties in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area. After winding up a $25 million set of upgrades to its iconic 2 Bethesda Metro Center office tower this spring, the firm has now made several significant updates and additions to its 5425 Wisconsin Avenue office building in Friendship Heights. The building rises eight stories above the company's Collection at Chevy Chase development. Like 2 Bethesda Metro Center, it is also located steps from an entrance to a Red Line Metro station.

Bethesda-based GTM Architects designed a set of new amenities and reimagined spaces that CCLC believes will make the building much more competitive in the office market. Companies are seeking spaces that are inviting and engaging enough to lure workers back to the office, and create new settings and opportunities for employee collaboration. To these ends, 5425 Wisconsin has added a new tenant lounge space with a 60-person training and conference room, pub-style collaboration booths, Trackman golf simulator, shuffleboard table, arcade zone, catering kitchen and bar area. A separate set of post-pandemic-lockdown enhancements were made to the building's lobby in 2022.

“The amenities we have now incorporated into 5425 Wisconsin are literally a ‘game changer’ for our tenants,” Chevy Chase Land Co. EVP of Asset Management Jason Winans said in a statement. “We’re providing a relaxing club-like space for tenants to escape the confines of the desk so they can interact for both meetings and social time in an immediately accessible game room, as well as conference area.”

Tenants of 5425 Wisconsin will join those of 2 Bethesda Metro Center in the CCLC's branded Ascend amenity program. Occupants of one participating building are able to take advantage of on-site amenities at the other buildings in the program. All of the current Ascend properties are located in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area, and connected by transit.

Photos courtesy Chevy Chase Land Co.

Landmark downtown Bethesda building for sale

Three months after a historic building at a major Bethesda crossroads sold at a loss, the owner of a landmark building at another busy downtown crossroads is hoping for a better result. The iconic PeriPoint Building at 5001 Wilson Lane is now on the market. Interested parties must contact Bethesda-based real estate firm RELM, Inc. to inquire about the asking price, which is not given in the online listing. 

The PeriPoint is currently fully-leased, although the listing does not detail the tenants, nor the duration of their leases. It sits at the intersection of Wilson with Old Georgetown Road, Arlington Road, and St. Elmo Avenue near Bethesda Elementary School. Longtime residents will recall the PeriPoint's early years, most likely for the vacuum cleaner repair shop it housed for many years. Additional stories and a rooftop space were added to the one-story building in 2008, creating an architectural gem in the process. The original base structure is nearly 100 years old.

Kit Kat Banana Split McFlurry arrives at Bethesda McDonald's

McDonald's is launching a new, limited-time-only Kit Kat Banana Split McFlurry. It's expected to be available nationwide in the coming week, but is already here at the McDonald's at 5214 River Road in Bethesda. Could we be one step closer to a return of the Banana Milkshake at McDonald's? Probably not, but one can still dream of a better world. Also back for a limited time is the Smoky BLT Quarter Pounder with Cheese.

Upgraded Tesla Model 3 at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda (Photos)

Westfield Montgomery Mall is located in one of areas of the country with the greatest adoption of electric vehicles. It also has a Tesla store. Therefore, it's not surprising that the company has been showcasing the new upgraded Model 3 at the mall. The Model 3 now comes in the new color choices of Ultra Red and Stealth Grey. Changes to the interior include wrap-around ambient lighting, ventilated front seats, acoustic glass, "studio quality sound from every seat," and a rear touchscreen display.

Avocet Tower lights up for July 4 in Bethesda (Photos)

Avocet Tower displayed a patriotic lighting scheme for the Independence Day holiday. The office tower and hotel property was lit up with shades of red, white, blue on the skyline of downtown Bethesda at 7373 Wisconsin Avenue. The LED accent lighting can change colors, and often fits the holiday, occasion or cause of the moment. 

Assault at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Montgomery County police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda Monday night, July 1, 2024. The assault was reported at the mall at 8:40 PM Monday. 

This is the eighth assault reported at the popular retail center this year, as violent crime at the mall continues to outpace the totals of last year. The property had managed to go assault-free since April 14 - until Monday. 

By contrast, only five assaults were reported at the mall in all of 2023. Montgomery Mall is currently on pace to triple last year's total.

Several of this year's assaults have taken place as shoplifters attempted to flee the mall with stolen merchandise, including one on March 5 that came to light last month when Montgomery County police released a photo of the suspect whom they alleged assaulted a Macy's employee.

Woodmont Crescent shifts marketing strategy for vacant storefronts in Bethesda

The ownership of the Woodmont Crescent building has turned to Bethesda-based H&R Retail to market its empty storefronts at 7766 and 7770 Norfolk Avenue for lease. New signage from the commercial real estate firm has been posted in the windows of the ground floor spaces. Previous signage from a different leasing firm had shown renderings of a possible restaurant use. The building lost longtime tenants The Blue House and Random Harvest in recent years, as well as the offices of MoCo360, which relocated to North Bethesda. Major renovations and improvements have been undertaken at the property in the time since, including the installation of an elevator. More remodeling is ahead inside Starbucks, which is the anchor tenant of the building.

Bethesda construction update - Hampden House apartment tower (Photos)

Here's a look at the latest progress on the construction of developer Saul Centers' Hampden House apartment tower at 7316 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda. The building will hold 366 residential units, and 10,110-square-feet of retail and restaurant space. One ground floor retail space has been leased by designer lighting retailer Visual Comfort & Co.; two retail spaces remain available. A late 2025 delivery is anticipated for Hampden House.

Police seek suspects in Park Potomac assault

Montgomery County police are seeking the public's help in identifying and located multiple suspects in the June 22, 2024 aggravated assault at the Park Potomac development. Police say that as many as four suspects ganged up on the two adult victims around 4:10 PM that afternoon, in the 12500 block of Park Potomac Avenue. The suspects displayed unspecified weapons, and assaulted both victims.

Police describe the suspects as three or four Black females in their late teens. If you have any information about the suspects or this incident, you are asked to call police at (301) 279-8000. 

On Saint Elmo nearing the finish line in Bethesda

The construction process has been long, but On Saint Elmo is finally moving toward opening at 4915 St. Elmo Avenue in Bethesda. A sign crew was working to prepare the facade for installation of a permanent sign above the entrance this past weekend. Promising "coastal Mediterranean culinary and nightlife experiences," the restaurant and lounge will be led by chef partner Bryant Haren. A California native, Haren is a veteran of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Del Mar at The Wharf in Washington, D.C., and BARCA Pier & Wine Bar in Alexandria.

Initial operating hours are anticipated to be 3:00 PM to 3:00 AM Tuesday through Saturday. Development of On Saint Elmo has been quite a journey, given that the space was first leased in May of 2022. Demolition of the former tenant TAPP'D Bethesda's interior began in July 2022. This space had two much more famous former tenants, Union Jack's and The Shark Club. 

The size of the venue gives On Saint Elmo great potential as a nightlife spot, if they can pull it off. Let's hope they can, as nightlife is nearly nonexistent in downtown Bethesda since the Montgomery County Council's disastrous 2012 "nighttime economy" initiative resulted in over 20 nightspots closing, cratering the nighttime economy altogether. Stay tuned for an opening date.

Ernesta to open at Bethesda Row

Ernesta, a custom rug retailer, has leased the storefront at 4816 Bethesda Avenue at Bethesda Row. The space was recently vacated by plant shop The Sill. Ernesta's claim to fame is selling carpets that are exactly the size you need, rather than selling them in standard rug sizes. "One-of-a-kind style requires one-of-a-kind sizing," is one of the company's mantras. 

Ernesta offers a variety of rug materials, including ones that are suitable for outdoor use, or are pet-friendly. Design assistants will be available to guide customers in a "warm and welcoming space." Ernesta currently has only one showroom, on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. The Bethesda Row showroom will open this fall.

More construction ahead inside Norfolk Ave. Starbucks in Bethesda

If you were annoyed by the construction being done inside the Starbucks at 7700 Norfolk Avenue in downtown Bethesda earlier this year, get ready to be annoyed again. More interior alterations are now planned for the coming months at the store. The interior of the Starbucks has already been reduced in size, to allow for the additions of an elevator and elevator lobby for the building the store is on the ground floor of. Not yet known, is whether the new round of construction will require any temporary closures like we saw during the early 2024 work.

Bethesda restaurant owners facing July 5 court date for unpaid rent

The saga of Zuma by Chef Ninja continues to play out at 4866 Cordell Avenue in downtown Bethesda. If back rent is not paid by this Friday, July 5, 2024, the stage will shift to the Maryland District Court in Rockville at 1:30 PM that afternoon. According to a court summons posted at the restaurant, the owners of Zuma have not paid rent to landlord Greendell, LLC from September 2023 through May 2024. Along with late fees, they allegedly now owe Greendell a grand total of $116,202.33. 

According to Maryland judicial records, the unpaid rent case remains open as of this morning. The same records state that a separate de novo appeal trial, in a tort case filed by Greendell against the Zuma owners, is currently scheduled for July 18 in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

Zuma opened in October 2023. By mid-January 2024, it had already closed. The landlord ordered the property sealed the last week of January, posting a notice declaring that the police would be called if anyone entered the premises. A month later, a court summons was posted at the restaurant, after process servers were unsuccessful in delivering the summons to the Zuma owners in person.