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Equity One, which took over several large Westbard Avenue parcels from Capital Properties last November, has launched its effort to redevelop a significant portion of the Westbard sector plan area in Bethesda. Over the weekend, a letter from Equity One CEO Jeffrey Olson was delivered to residents of nearby neighborhoods, announcing the company's plan to improve multiple sites. Equity One has closed on a Citgo gas station, the Bowlmor bowling alley, Westwood Tower apartments, Manor Care Springhouse of Westwood nursing home, and a piece of land along River Road. As expected, the firm states that it plans to close on the Westwood Shopping Center and Westwood Center II early next year. Residents were directed to a website called Westbard Vision, which has some basic information and offers registration for email updates.
The letter and site invite residents to two introductory meetings, one on the evening of January 29, 2014, and an alternative meeting on the morning of February 1. Representatives of Equity One will be in attendance to explain what they have in mind for the area, and to get feedback from residents.
I think this is a positive first step by Equity One, given that Capital Properties never held any such meeting. Capital Properties never even contacted residents at all. It will be especially useful if it is not one of those "coloring book" charettes, where a developer already has a finished plan it introduces, and then essentially asks residents what colors it would like to use.
Some of the issues that should be front and center are: the history of the Westbard area (although that is somewhat weighted towards the properties down on River Road more than Westbard Avenue, and includes significant African American and Native American sites), the modern history of neglect by county planners and politicians of the Westbard area, overcrowding in schools that serve Westbard Avenue, transportation issues, transferring Full Service from one Citgo to the other in light of the many elderly residents who currently rely on it, the topography of the land in relation to adjacent residential areas, the fate of residents of the nursing home on Ridgefield Road, and the question of what redevelopment - if any - is appropriate in height and density for these properties.
The Westbard area is not a town center, but rather a commercial area that provides essential services to residents of nearby neighborhoods. Like most suburban areas of the county, it has a few apartment buildings scattered here and there. But that is quite different from a dense, concrete canyon. The ultimate question will be, does the proposed redevelopment serve the nearby residents and continue the essential service and retail functions, while not being cookie-cutter, oversized or incompatible with a tree-dense suburban area? Developments most directly impacted by any changes would include Park Bethesda, Westwood Tower, Westbard Mews, Springfield, Kenwood, The Kenwood, and Kenwood Place. While there is good but limited hours access to Metro via Ride On Route 23, the Westbard area is not within walking distance of Metro by any planning metric. Therefore, dense, transit-oriented development is not possible at this site.
It would go a long way if Equity One can demonstrate - at the appropriate point in the process - that the architecture would be distinctive, and that the new spaces created might acknowledge some of the history of the area unknown to most people. That it will bring elements that are actually needed, such as a real, sit-down family restaurant on Westbard Avenue, an ice cream store, a hardware store, etc. And can the Westwood Shopping Center either keep Giant, or get Wegmans? If redevelopment doesn't benefit the residents, it won't gain much support.
But again, I believe this is a good start by Equity One. Capital Properties' ham-handed approach was a compete disaster from the beginning, in contrast. Let's see how the meetings go and what they and residents have to say.
6 comments:
Giant will stay. They make huge revenues at that location.
Hopefully the new owners will improve the parking lot lighting and distance between the parking spaces.
And fix that big dip in the pavement by the stop sign at Anglo Dutch... The main reason I'm concerned about Giant leaving is that they gave up their 99 year lease in favor of one that ends in 2017, I believe. The only reason I can think of to do that would be to negotiate a lower rent. Equity One's CEO has said rents are significantly below market at the shopping center, and that Equity One will raise them. Ahold might or might not be willing to pay.
Giant's lease is up in 2019. They pay about $1/sf and the market rate for the space is $40/sf. That will totally destroy the great profitability of the store. My guess is Wegman's makes an aggressive run at the location.
Yeah, groceries aren't a high-margin business these days. They've gotten a small break via the county council literally entering the grocery market, and declaring that Walmart cannot open stores in the county. That's a government intervention more like Cuba than America. But while they've forced working families to keep paying more for groceries, meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is about to reinvent the whole grocery business!
Check out their other developments. They are pretty ugly with big box chains surrounding open parking lots. They don't seem to enhance the environment in which they are located.
That's what's odd about this project. Equity One is best known as a shopping center operator, rather than for New Urbanist development. Theoretically, if Equity One stuck to enhancing retail on Westbard, it might actually be an ideal company to come in here. But if the development is more about adding residential towers than adding restaurants or desired retail, it's not going to be a good fit at all.
I would like to hear some solid examples from Equity One of retail or restaurant brands they have good relationships with, that they believe would be potential tenants on Westbard. Also, they have room to add new retail/restaurant space on that parcel over past Rite Aid, without demolishing the current shopping center. And Westwood Center II is a nice building with vacant space. How about adding some popular tenants, and bringing some life to what is some very nice architecture?
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