GEICO campus, Brookdale Park trees facing the clearcut chainsaw in Friendship Heights

What would Warren Buffett do? Well, we know what the Montgomery County Council and Planning Board will do. The recent mega-downsizing of GEICO from its lush, longtime campus in the Friendship Heights area of Chevy Chase to a modest office in Bethesda is quickly leading to a massive redevelopment of that land long feared by neighbors. Central to the plans to building luxury apartments and townhomes on the site is the removal of almost all of the large trees from the 29-acre campus.

"This includes trees that are over 50 inches in diameter; some have been there for more than 100 years," the Little Falls Watershed Alliance warned in a email. "LFWA opposes this large scale destruction of the trees as well as many other elements of the plan that will have a negative impact on the environment." Developer EYA is also seeking permission to remove trees from Brookdale Park, the organization said. LFWA is encouraging residents to email the Planning Department and County Council, and ask them to preserve the trees.

Nazlymov Fencing relocates to church in Bethesda

Nazlymov Fencing has relocated in Bethesda. Its former location at 7747 Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda has closed. That former Jewelry Exchange building is slated for demolition to make way for a new apartment tower. Classes have moved to Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ at 1 Westmoreland Circle NW at the Maryland/Washington, D.C. line. One twist caused by the move is that fencing classes will no longer be available on Sundays. Nazlymov is offering to cancel memberships for students who cannot reschedule from Sundays to an alternate day. En garde!

Mural repainted on Parking Garage 35 in Bethesda

A lot of work has been going on at the Woodmont Rugby Public Parking Garage 35 in downtown Bethesda this spring. That included having the facade repainted, but...oops! There was a public art mural on the Woodmont Avenue side, and it was painted over or removed. Heckuva job, Brownie! You may recall that artist Megan Lewis won the Bethesda Urban Partnership Paint the Town competition six years ago, earning the opportunity to paint this work. She then painted the mural in the summer of 2020, amid the pandemic lockdowns. Well, it had to be sketched out and repainted all over again this month!

New electronic sign at ON St. Elmo in Bethesda

ON St. Elmo has added a new electronic sign to its facade at 4915 St. Elmo Avenue in downtown Bethesda. The digital sign features scrolling messages. ON St. Elmo opened in November 2024. Their space has been home to several memorable nightspots in Bethesda history, including Union Jack's and the famous Shark Club.

Cryptic Woodmont Avenue closure message puzzles Bethesda residents

A digital sign board placed on Woodmont Avenue between Elm Street and Bethesda Avenue has been displaying a message for several days. "Woodmont to be closed on or about 6/1/26." It doesn't specify why, for how long, or which segment of Woodmont it applies to. Over the last few days, I have combed through the Montgomery County Department of Transportation website news releases and projects page, and find no information about this closure. I've also reviewed the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center newsletters going back several weeks, and have found no mention of this. I asked MCDOT on X about the closure two days ago, and have not received a response as of this writing.

This will potentially be a major disruption to traffic in the Bethesda Row area and beyond. It will impact residents and businesses alike. And it is only a few days away. The public really needs to be informed by Montgomery County of the specifics of this closure.

Suspect arrested in North Bethesda Marriott hotel shooting death

Montgomery County police have arrested a suspect in the May 14, 2026 fatal shooting of a hotel guest outside of the North Bethesda Marriott Hotel and Conference Center at 5701 Marinelli Road in Rockville. Terrance Brainell Williams, 41, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Quentin Tyrone Davis. Police initially had reason to suspect the alleged shooter had fled on foot to the nearby White Flint Metro station. But after reviewing surveillance video, they identified a person seen walking from a car toward the hotel just prior to the shooting. That same person was seen returning to the vehicle immediately after the shooting, and driving away.

Detectives allege that individual is Williams. They also assert that Williams and Davis knew each other prior to the shooting. Williams is being held at the County jail pending a bond hearing.

Sneak peek: The Food Market in Bethesda (Photos)

Here's a sneak peek at the interior of The Food Market, the highly-anticipated restaurant opening at 4720 Hampden Lane, in the ground floor of the Hampden House apartment tower. As you can see, the interior fit-out is complete. Equipment and seating are in place, some with plastic covers still on. A plethora of artworks await hanging upon the beige walls of the dining room. This lease was quite a coup for developer Saul Centers.

It was way back in November 2024 that I broke the news that Chef Chad Gauss would be expanding his American cuisine concept from Baltimore and Columbia to downtown Bethesda. The Food Market specializes in steaks, seafood, inventive vegetarian dishes, stand-by appetizers like mozzarella sticks, and a number of international flavors ranging from tacos and pork belly to yellowfin tuna meatballs and red curry butternut squash soup. We don't have a Bethesda menu or opening date yet, but I can tell you that they are currently hiring for all positions.

Ed Hale racking up endorsements in Maryland governor race

Baltimore businessman Ed Hale has picked up the endorsement of several prominent Maryland Republicans as the June 23 primary election rapidly approaches. Delegate Kathy Szeliga (R - District 7a) and her district colleague Ryan Nawrocki (R) announced they are backing Hale at a press conference. Nawrocki picked up on one of Hale's signature issues, lowering utility bills, by noting that Governor Wes Moore's electric bill relief plan provides less than $13 a month to ratepayers. "Not even the price of a gumball," Nawrocki said.

Hale has also pulled off something of a coup in earning the endorsement of his biggest primary rival's own 2022 running mate. Gordana Schifanelli ran for lieutenant governor that year on a ticket with Dan Cox, who is running again this year with a different running mate, Rob Krop. Schifanelli not only isn't running alongside Cox this time, but has come out in support of Hale. An attorney from Queen Anne's County, Schifanelli retains a significant statewide following from that high-profile 2022 race and her own independent activism. 

At a separate press conference, Schifanelli touted Hale's "wisdom, his experience, his knowledge in business." Referring to Hale's rags-to-riches success story, and the moribund state of the Maryland economy, Schifanelli responded to the biggest critique of Hale by his primary opponents: his recent party switch from Democrat to Republican. "I don't care if he was a Democrat, or if he's a Martian, for that matter, if he has experience to fix this economic disaster," she said. Szeliga also took that attack line head-on, recalling that Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump were once Democrats.

Retail building for sale in downtown Bethesda

A partially-leased retail building in downtown Bethesda has hit the market for sale. 4707-4711 Chase Avenue is the former home of Besta Pizza and Hope Floats, the latter of which moved to a new spot at 7625 Wisconsin Avenue a few years ago. Those storefronts are vacant, but Autobody Dimensions is still located on the second floor. 

The asking price is not provided in the online listing, which does note that the prospective buyer will be subject to a ground lease, which has 36 years remaining on it. We don't know the specifics of this situation, or what adjustments might be made in negotiations with a prospective buyer, but ground leases can complicate matters for the buyer and seller. 

Foremost, under the typical ground lease arrangement, it means that 36 years from now, the property and all improvements the new owner might make revert to the ground lease holder. So your investment as the buyer is depreciating over time, while the property continues appreciating for the ground lease holder over the next four decades.

True Food Kitchen space being marketed as available for lease in Bethesda

Is True Food Kitchen on the way out in Bethesda? The restaurant's space at 7100 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda is now being marketed for lease, with immediate availability. True Food Kitchen opened there, in the ground floor of the Solaire Bethesda apartment tower, in June of 2017. Assuming a 10-year lease, this is a year short of the termination date. The proposed monthly rent for the 6500-square-foot space is available upon request, according to the online listing. True Food Kitchen remains open for business at this time.