Police respond after Bethesda resident throws contents of apartment onto street below

Montgomery County police filed an emergency mental health petition with the state of Maryland, after a disruptive and potentially-dangerous situation unfolded on Cordell Avenue in Bethesda late Saturday morning. According to a witness, a resident on an upper floor of the apartment building at 4715 Cordell began tossing the contents of their unit down onto the street and sidewalk below. Police were called at 11:49 AM, and the response ultimately included eight police cruisers and two ambulances. The building, Cordell Place, provides permanent housing for the homeless with supportive services.

Clark Building renovation update at Bethesda Metro Center (Photos)

Renovation of office tower property 7500 Old Georgetown (a.k.a. The Clark Building) at the Bethesda Metro Center continues. The facade refresh, with gradient tones of white and grey, appears nearly complete. Work continues on the ground level plaza, lobby entrance, and lobby interior. Anchor office tenant Clark Construction is expanding to Northern Virginia. Clark has leased space at the Silverline Center in Tysons.

Office work, transit use aren't recovering in Montgomery County, new data show

New Google Mobility data for Montgomery County show that transit use has only picked up by 1% since spring 2022, and that fewer workers are toiling in on-site offices than were this past spring. The data use a five-week period just before the pandemic hit the United States, January 3 - February 6, 2020, as the baseline. In reports I've posted over the last two years, numbers for office and transit use have been poor, as expected. But we've also seen some surprising shifts in behavior, which continue in the latest period examined here, from June 23 - August 4, 2022.

For starters, with the overwhelming message from governments and the media being to drop precautions and go back to business as usual, it's intriguing that there's been no significant increase in transit use in Montgomery County since President Joe Biden's State of the Union address. And would you have expected that the number of residents going into an office in Montgomery would actually decline by 12 percentage points since then, as well? Time spent in offices of employment in spring 2022 was 30% less than the pre-pandemic period; this summer it was 42% less than early 2020. The return of vacation travel may have been a factor - but not entirely, as summer 2021 office use was only 2 percentage points higher at 44% below the pre-pandemic period.

Use of public parks in Montgomery County has bounced back since spring. This summer, residents were 19% more likely to be in a park than they were during the pre-pandemic period of 2020. Shopping in stores and supermarkets has picked up since spring, too. The percentage of people going into retail stores compared to this past spring has doubled, but still remains 16% below pre-pandemic shopping levels. Residents' patronage of grocery stores is up 5% from spring 2022, but is 1% less than the pre-pandemic period. 

Montgomery County residents this summer are spending 10% more time at home than they did in the January-February 2020 period, the new data show. The data collected by Google is limited to those users who have opted in to allowing the tech giant to track their phone's location. It measures both the frequency of visits, and the amount of time those users stay in the places categorized in the results, such as grocery stores, transit stations and parks.

The St. James Performance Club "Coming Soon" in Bethesda (Photos)

"Coming soon" signage has been posted across the future home of The St. James Performance Club at 6828 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Last week, I reported on another promotional effort by the fitness chain, a "Pre-Opening Center" that will open soon across the street. The actual club is anticipated to open early this winter.

Assault at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, the 8th reported there since May 18

Once again, Montgomery County police were called to Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, after another 2nd-degree assault was reported there last night, August 21, 2022. The assault was reported at the mall at 6:37 PM Sunday. This was the eighth 2nd-degree assault at the mall since May 18. The Montgomery County Police Department announced earlier this month that it would be establishing a "resource room" at the popular retail destination.

Signage installed at The Scoop at Cabin John Village

The sign is up at The Scoop, the new ice cream shop opening soon at 7909 Tuckerman Lane at Cabin John Village in Potomac. You can see the interior is pretty close to finished, but does not yet have menu boards or other interior signage. The Scoop replaces Baskin Robbins. Is it an upgrade or a downgrade? We'll find out soon!

Armed robbery on Elm Street in Bethesda

Montgomery County police responded to a report of an armed robbery at a business on Elm Street in Bethesda Thursday afternoon. The robbery was reported at an "appliance/electronics" store in the 4900 block of Elm Street at 2:40 PM. AT&T is the only store on that block that would fall into that category. An AT&T store in Rockville was robbed later that same evening.

Smoke Island opens in Bethesda (Photos)

Bethesdans can finally set sail for Smoke Island. The local tobacco store chain's newest location is at 7913 Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle neighborhood. As you can see, the shelves are fully stocked with cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, pipe tobacco, e-cigarettes and liquids, vaporizers, hookah equipment and accessories, flavored wraps, and rolling papers. Smoke Island has existing locations in Wheaton, Silver Spring, Rockville and Tenleytown.

Bethesda construction update: 4909 Auburn Avenue apartments (Photos)

It's been about five weeks since my last update from the redevelopment site once occupied by the venerable Auburn Professional Building at 4915 Auburn Avenue in Bethesda. Work appears to still be in the excavation phase for the underground parking garage. 4909 Auburn Avenue, an 11-story apartment building, will house 167 residential units, ground-level retail/restaurant space, 3 levels of underground parking, and a pass-through that creates a new pedestrian connection between Imagination Stage and Battery Lane Urban Park. Potomac Development Group is the developer, BCT Design Group is the architect, and Donohoe is the construction contractor.

Assault at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Montgomery County police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda Wednesday night, August 17, 2022. The assault was reported at 7:49 PM. This was the seventh 2nd-degree assault reported at the mall since May 18. The Montgomery County Police Department recently announced it would be opening a "resource room" at the property.

Amazon Fresh sets opening date at Chevy Chase Lake

The anchor retail tenant of Chevy Chase Land Company's new Chevy Chase Lake development now has an opening date. Amazon Fresh will open there on September 1, 2022. This will be the first Amazon Fresh store in Montgomery County to feature the company's Just Walk Out payment technology. Another Amazon Fresh will be opening very soon on Shady Grove Road, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg at the 270 Center.

Westbard Giant ready for Halloween (Photos)

I had to reach for a jacket to go outside early this morning, and it's still August. An equally-premature but more welcome sign of fall's approach is the Halloween section at Giant at the Westwood Shopping Center, soon to be Westbard Square. Here you will find candy, costumes and accessories, toys, decorations, in-home decor, and window clings. If you insist on making it a healthy Halloween, there are even boxes of Pumpkin Spice Special K cereal.

Maryland governor candidate Dan Cox visits Montgomery County Fair

Dan Cox, the Republican nominee for governor of Maryland, stopped by the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in Gaithersburg. The candidate met and spoke with voters, toured the exhibits and attractions, and visited the Montgomery County Republican Party tent. One stop of particular interest to the gubernatorial hopeful was the 4-H Sheep & Swine Club booth, where he participated in the 4-H raffle. Cox was a Champion sheep (Shropshire) showman and shepherd in Maryland 4-H from 1986-1991. 

Photo via Dan Cox for Governor

Rock Bottom marketed for lease again in Bethesda

The suspense over the future of Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery at 7900 Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda took yet another turn yesterday. While the restaurant remains open for business as usual, its landlord, Papadopoulos Properties, put its large space back on the market for lease. The company did this before, in October of 2019, but there were apparently no takers at that time.

Given the collapse of nightlife in downtown Bethesda over the last decade, the move by Papadopoulos in 2019 cast doubt on the future of Rock Bottom at that time. Such concerns only increased when the restaurant closed altogether during the Montgomery County Council's pandemic indoor dining ban, rather than keep operating with takeout service as most restaurants did. However, Rock Bottom stunned many observers when it abruptly reopened in June 2020, when Montgomery County allowed indoor dining to resume at 50% capacity.

Since then, Rock Bottom has successfully kept going for over two years. It remains a popular destination in a town where 20 nightspots have shuttered since 2012, under the County Council's disastrous, anti-business policy decisions. Rock Bottom has novelty in being an active brewery in downtown Bethesda, where the Council's failed "nighttime economy" initiative hasn't generated any new ones, and preceded the cratering of said economy. The bar even hosts a weekly stand-up comedy show on Saturday nights, including this coming Saturday, August 20.

Papadopoulos also put the St. Arnold's Mussel Bar space at 7525 Old Georgetown Road back on the market yesterday, as well. A key difference is that space has been vacant for two years, and has been the site of multiple business failures (The Box, Dry Fried Wings, Tyber Bierhaus, St. Arnold's) since 2013. So that is more of a redoubling of efforts, as opposed to a new development. 

Will the addition of the Element 21 (already open) and Solaire at 7607 Old Georgetown Road (now under construction) apartment towers boost foot traffic that might help a future tenant in the St. Arnold's space? We shall find out. 

Rock Bottom's space and prime location would certainly make it one of the most viable places for an enterprising, aspiring nightlife mogul to attempt something big. There are two floors to work with, offering the kind of potential that it also there for the taking by the future La Catrina Lounge, opening soon at 4935 Cordell Avenue. Are you that aspiring mogul? Check out the listing for Rock Bottom.