Bethesda demolition update: Connor Building (Photos)

Window shoppers at the Connor Building on Wisconsin Avenue are getting a grand view - of Woodmont Avenue. It's almost hard to tell what's holding up parts of the building from that angle, as demolition progresses. The site is being cleared for the new Marriott headquarters and hotel.

Little Falls Parkway debacle continues (Photos)

The shoddy, rush-to-judgement "solution" ostensibly designed to make Capital Crescent Trail users safer while crossing Little Falls Parkway continues to cause more problems, while instead reducing safety for everyone. In addition to - incredibly - obscuring the view of cyclists and joggers approaching the roadway where drivers once had a clear view, the pylons were placed too close to the lane borders. You can confirm that by examining these photos. Notice many of the pylons are improperly placed inside the lane markers of the now-lone travel lane for cars.

As a result, someone has already struck one of the pylons. Half of the pylon was laying in the roadway on Sunday. The project also represents an illegal use of funds. While all of the cost went to a "road diet" to obstruct drivers, the money was taken from a trail maintenance fund. You can't use trail money for a road diet project, making this an illegal use of taxpayer funds. The Montgomery County Council, as of press time, has taken no action on this illegal use of funds. There is substantial evidence several councilmembers were directly involved with the plan to take punitive measures in this latest strike in the Council's war on cars.

Lucky Strike lit sign installed, Brow Art 23 coming to Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda (Photos)

A lighted sign for the future Lucky Strike Social bowling alley and gastropub has been installed over the Westfield Montgomery Mall entrance closest to their space. No sign inside yet, where Lucky Strike is expected to open February 17.

In other mall news, Brow Art 23 is taking over the just-vacated American Classic Clothing space. The chain advertises itself as the "eyebrow threading experts," also offering makeup and henna tattoos. They have over 100 locations nationwide.

Speaking of takeovers, Chocolate Moonshine Co. has taken over the also-recently-vacated Peet's Coffee and Tea kiosk near Talbots on Level 1. They still have their Dining Terrace location, as well. This past weekend, they were appropriately offering a 10-piece Super Bowl Assortment.

Theft at Bethesda Metro Center, pedestrian struck on 7 Locks Rd. + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on February 2, according to crime data:

Theft. Bethesda Metro Center.

Drug arrest. 7500 block Holiday Terrace.

Theft. 5300 block Western Avenue.

Collision/property damage. 7100 block Arlington Road.

Pedestrian struck. Seven Locks Road at Charred Oak Drive.

More signage goes up at Medium Rare in Bethesda (Photos)

Medium Rare, the steak and frites restaurant expanding from D.C. to Bethesda, has some more signage installed. Hours have been stenciled on the door, and some text has been added to the front window. Medium Rare had been anticipated to open last month, but should be opening soon.

For more details on the Bethesda location of Medium Rare, read my exclusive report. Medium Rare is on the Fairmont Avenue side of the 7770 Norfok luxury apartment tower.

JBG restarting 7900 Wisconsin/Trader Joe's development in Bethesda (Photos)

The JBG Companies' redevelopment of a large site fronting Wisconsin and Woodmont Avenues in Bethesda that was tabled in 2015 is back on. Demolition permits have been requested for 7900 Wisconsin Avenue, 7924 Wisconsin Avenue, 7934 Wisconsin Avenue, and the vacant Autodentz facility at 7909 Woodmont Avenue. If you've followed my reports on this project over the years, you know JBG requested these same permits back in 2014, before calling off the demolition and halting the project.

At delivery, 7900 Wisconsin will be a 17-story, luxury apartment building with 475 units, grocery store-anchored ground floor retail, underground parking, a rooftop pool, and a bikeshare station. It will include a through-block cut-through for pedestrians between Wisconsin and Woodmont.

7900 Wisconsin
rendering by JBG

Some neighboring property owners tell me they have been informed that JBG will be beginning work on the project sometime this year. Obviously, demolition of the existing structures is the first step. Clark Construction is reportedly out as the contractor for the project.

JBG had reached a preliminary agreement with Trader Joe's to anchor the 7900 Wisconsin development in 2014. When the project was halted, JBG said it was seeking additional financing. Others speculated that Fitness First, a tenant in the existing 7900 Wisconsin office building, had a longer lease than JBG realized. Fitness First has claimed to be expanding its space, and has been on a social media advertising blitz recently.

Once demolition permits are in hand, the Fitness First controversy will be settled one way or another.

3 pedestrians struck, assault on Woodmont Ave. + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on February 1, according to crime data:

Pedestrian struck. Waverly Street at Montgomery Avenue.

Pedestrian struck. 7400 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Assault. 7700 block Woodmont Avenue.

Collision/property damage. 5600 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Collision/property damage. 5500 block Kirkwood Drive (Springfield).

Collision/property damage. 7100 block Democracy Boulevard.

Pedestrian struck. Old Georgetown Road at Rockville Pike.

Collision/property damage. 1800 block E. Jefferson Street.

Value City Furniture opening Feb. 9 at Montrose Crossing (Photos)

Value City Furniture is scheduled to open Thursday, February 9 at the Montrose Crossing shopping center. The shopping center is located at the Montrose Parkway interchange on Rockville Pike.

Bethesda construction update: World of Beer (Photos)

World of Beer seems to be picking up steam on the build-out of its new Bethesda location, in the Bethesda Avenue side of Artery Plaza at 7200 Wisconsin Avenue. The restaurant had originally been scheduled to open before the end of 2016.

Burglary on Fairfax Ct., robbery on Seven Locks Road + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on January 31, according to crime data:

Burglary. Fairfax Court.

Assault. 5400 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Vehicle burglary. 6100 block Maiden Lane.

Vehicle burglary. 7600 block Whittier Boulevard.

Assault. 5800 block Inman Park Circle.

Pedestrian struck. Scotland Drive at Seven Locks Road.

Collision/property damage. 10200 block Fernwood Road.

Robbery. 11300 block Seven Locks Road.

Theft. 12000 Parklawn Drive.

Westbard developer hires firm to verify existence of African-American cemetery in Bethesda

Developer Equity One/Regency Centers has hired Kensington-based Ottery Group to investigate an African-American cemetery believed to be on property it is seeking to redevelop in the Westbard area of Bethesda. There is strong evidence from eyewitness accounts that the cemetery was desecrated during construction of Westwood Tower by another developer in the late 1960s.

The Little Falls Watershed Alliance reports that two archaeologists with a strong background in historic African-American cemeteries, Dr. Rachel Watkins, Professor of Archaeology at American University and Dr. Michael Blakey, Professor of Archaeology at the College of William and Mary, will join the effort along with the Macedonia Baptist Church nearby on River Road, and the Montgomery County Department of Parks.

As you may recall from my previous reports, the known site of the cemetery has asphalt and fill on top of it, which will have to be removed to allow for scanning by ground-penetrating radar. A second challenge will be locating remains that reportedly were illegally moved to adjacent land by construction workers building Westwood Tower. One of the many buildings planned for the massive redevelopment of "Westbard" would intrude on both the cemetery site, and the stream buffer of the Willett Branch. Delineation of the cemetery would either require those plans to be revised, or for remains discovered to be relocated under Maryland law.

Representatives of the Macedonia Baptist Church were outspoken on the need to properly investigate what happened to the cemetery - and to hold those responsible accountable - at a LFWA event last year. I second their sentiments on this potentially immoral and criminal act 50 years ago.

MoCo Council humiliated again as Rosslyn scores Nestle corporate HQ

750 jobs are coming to...Rosslyn, not Montgomery County, as Northern Virginia handed the impotent Montgomery County Council their briefcases again in the economic development game this week. Monday Properties announced Wednesday it has signed Nestle as the anchor tenant at 1812 N. Moore Street, a 35-story office tower in Rosslyn, Virginia. Nestle's corporate headquarters will relocate to the building from California, a state with an increasingly-poor business climate like MoCo.

$16 million in incentives from Arlington County and Virginia (humiliatingly, a small fraction of the $62 million-and-counting MoCo and Maryland taxpayers had to shell out just to move the Marriott deck chair down the Titanic deck from Rock Spring to downtown Bethesda) were just part of the success story. More business-friendly tax rates and regulations, Metro proximity and direct highway access were some of the advantages Rosslyn enjoyed. "Virginia offers a business-friendly environment," Nestle said in a press release Wednesday.

"Easy access to transportation" was a major factor, according to the Washington Post. 1812 N. Moore is right at the Rosslyn Metro station, and has direct highway access to I-66, I-395, the Whitehurst Freeway, Jefferson Davis Highway, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway, plus straight shots to Reagan National and Dulles airports.

Virginia was already home to over 70 corporate headquarters, and to many more Fortune 500 corporate headquarters than Montgomery County or Maryland. Nestle is a Fortune Global 500 company.

According to the Post, Virginia had been courting Nestle for over a year. Not a word was spoken about pursuing Nestle by Montgomery County elected officials during that time. As the top food company on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Nestle would have been a good fit for the White Oak area, near the FDA. Or in an office tower above the Wheaton or Bethesda Metro stations. The Council didn't even try.

And so, the humiliation continues. Montgomery County has failed to attract a single major corporate headquarters in two decades. It is the only jurisdiction in the D.C. region to suffer a net loss in private sector jobs since 2000; all others around us had a net gain. Our elected officials' intentional failure to complete our master plan highway system has left us with the worst traffic congestion in the nation, and no direct access to Dulles International Airport, the preferred flight hub for international companies.

As a result, Montgomery County finds itself a bedroom community for the job centers elsewhere in our region. Our private sector economy is moribund. The County is running a long-term structural budget deficit, as expenditures continue to swamp revenues. Even our once top-rated school system in now in a steady decline.

It's clear our County elected officials don't understand how the private sector business world works, and have no interest in learning. Time and again, they've proven they can't hit major league pitching when it comes to economic development. The results are being borne by the taxpayers in the form of record taxes, to make up for the low revenues our incompetent County Council has generated through its failed policies.

Voters will have to finish the job in 2018 they began by approving term limits in 2016. Throw the bums out.

Sexual assault on Nebel St., car stolen on Nicholson Lane + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on January 30, according to crime data:

Vehicle burglary. 4600 block Maple Avenue.

Vehicle burglary. 4400 block Maple Avenue.

Disorderly conduct. 4300 block East-West Highway.

Assault. 5400 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Pedestrian struck. 5500 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Burglary. 5000 block Randall Lane (Sumner).

Collision/property damage. 8000 block Summer Mill Court.

Burglary. 7800 block Scotland Drive.

Stolen car. 5500 block Nicholson Lane.

Sexual assault. 11600 block Nebel Street.

Theft. 12000 block Rockville Pike.

Collision/property damage. 12000 block Rockville Pike.

Sign installed at uBreakiFix in Bethesda (Photos)

The sign is up at uBreakiFix in the former Potter Violin space at 8019 Wisconsin Avenue. Once open, they will fix everything you broke from cell phones to tablets to video game systems, with a 90-day warranty on repairs.

As MoCo tries to urbanize Westbard, WMATA finds transit use there declining

To hear the Montgomery County Council and Planning Board tell it, the low-density, suburban "Westbard" area of Bethesda nowhere near Metro is a prime spot for high-density urbanization. WMATA, which has to set its budget based on more real-world data, says otherwise.

In what is already a two-bus transit desert, WMATA is proposing to reduce what little bus service there is even further. Among ridership-based cuts on the table, is reducing rush hour service on the T2 Metrobus from every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes. Such a cut would make using the bus even less viable for commuters.

Should the service cut be made, transit capacity would be reduced 50% during peak travel times. That should require the County to recalculate its transportation impact analysis entirely. By the most conservative estimate, the growth allowed by the 2016 Westbard sector plan will bring over 3000 people and over 4000 more cars to a 1.5 block area in the next 5 years. A Maryland State Highway Administration official became alarmed at a Development Review Committee last year when he heard the County planned to not pursue any projects to increase vehicle capacity on River Road, despite the growth numbers I just cited.

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has said, when I asked him a few years ago, there are no plans - and no money, he emphasized - to add a new bus route to the Westbard area. Now the T2, which runs between the Friendship Heights and Rockville Metro stations via River and Falls Road, could provide even less service. To give you an idea of how far Westbard is from Metro, you can literally reach Rockville Town Center faster from River Road on the T2 bus than by subway. Oops.

The cuts are not a sure thing. WMATA is trying to drum up public support for new taxes and fare hikes using the specter of cuts. But the important point is that WMATA decides which routes to put on the chopping block based upon ridership. WMATA's decision shows that the already-minimal use of transit in automobile-dependent Westbard is in decline, not increasing.

For all of its talk about transit, the County Council didn't feel it was a priority in the Westbard sector plan it passed last May. The Council deleted a planned transit center from the Westbard Avenue redevelopment of property owned by Equity One/Regency Centers, and dropped any firm requirement for a new shuttle service. No member of the Council uses transit to commute regularly.

Once again the Council and Planning Board have proven to be shoot-from-the-hip amateurs at (sub)urban planning, approving Metro-proximity density where there is no Metro - and where Metro itself is now bearish on future demand for transit. Humiliating.

2 domestic violence assaults in Bethesda, 2 regular assaults + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on January 29, according to crime data:

Drug arrest. Tapp'd Bethesda.

Theft. 5400 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Assault. 5400 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Domestic violence assault. 5200 block Pooks Hill Road.

Domestic violence assault. 7400 block Bradley Boulevard.

Assault. 1000 block Farm Haven Drive.

Pike & Rose central leasing office to open next month in N. Bethesda (Photos)

Federal Realty is consolidating all leasing for the three rental apartment buildings at Pike & Rose into one leasing office on Grand Park Avenue next month. The space, formerly occupied by Yogaso, is currently under construction inside.

Pallas, PerSei and the newest addition, Phase II's The Henri, have been branded as the Residences at Pike & Rose for marketing purposes. Each retains its name, however, as drivers on Montrose Parkway are greeted by signage for The Henri. A condominium development atop the future Canopy by Hilton hotel, 930 Rose, already has its own leasing office on Old Georgetown Road at the development.

Until March, prospective tenants can visit the existing leasing offices in the Pallas and PerSei apartments, or call 844-268-2023.

Mail piles up outside abandoned Bethesda office building (Photos)

Somebody forgot to give a forwarding address to the U.S. Postal Service when tenants departed the doomed Apex Building at 7272 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. Mail and newspapers continue to be delivered, and are piling up outside the now-locked doors of the vacant office building. The Washington Post, Bloomberg and Barron's are among the publications not getting to their subscribers at the moment.

The paperboy has been tossing
these into the courtyard at the
Apex Building

Barron's

Bloomberg Businessweek
stays warm on a subway grate

Sex offense on Nebel St., 3 drug busts + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on January 28, according to crime data:

Drug arrest. Old Georgetown Road at Glenwood Road.

Drug arrest. 4900 block St. Elmo Avenue.

Drug arrest. East-West Highway at Connecticut Avenue.

"Other sexual offense." 11600 block Nebel Street.

Assault & battery. Apartment in 11900 block Parklawn Drive.

Assault. 5400 block Randolph Road.