A redevelopment of the Shell gas station at 7628 Old Georgetown Road now has the green light from Montgomery County. A construction permit has been added by the county for the future TD Bank building there.
The project did not generate controversy when it passed through the development process. But it has generated some negative reaction among commenters on my blog - and from me - for contradicting virtually every precept of urban planning in modern cities. As well as for being totally inconsistent with the prevailing use of the properties around it. The site will be dead after bank hours, the block will be lonelier for pedestrians at night, and the potential of a plot steps away from Metro is lost. Particularly if the gas station site could be combined with adjoining property. Not to mention the real crisis of having an insufficient ratio of gas stations-to-drivers in a growing Bethesda.
Consider the Norfolk-Cordell II building as a contrast to this plan. A small site, but jam-packed with Smashburger, Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins, and a rooftop nightlife spot - Roof Bethesda. With an open glass facade, the building activates that corner, and generates activity in the neighborhood at all hours.
8 comments:
Seems like such an idiotic waste of space to have such low density here. Pretty rare you see a property owner with such a poor understanding of the value they're wasting - treating a prime piece of land as if it were out in Olney or something.
Please understand with all the gas stations going away or torn down we need more banks. It's obvious, why can't you see the big picture here.
Isn't it weird how the less people actually use bank branches the more of them seem to get built?
I can't replace a gas station with an app on my phone though.
This is really poor urban planning.
That part of Woodmont is already a dead canyon at night, with the back of apartment buildings on both sides.
We need a project that will activate that area that's so close to the Metro!
Why would the county approve a DRIVE THRU bank next to a major transit station? Makes no sense.
Any way to petition this?
This is so frustrating. But I would like to think that there is a semi-reasonable explanation for it, besides the ineptitude of the developer. Perhaps the site is too small to be able to build anything dense enough, and adjacent sites could not be acquired? Maybe the bank's offer was better than what a more active use could have offered? Regardless, it's a discouraging setback for downtown.
They do have some space to work with since they are combining the neighboring house's lot as well.
I thought perhaps it was too small of a space intially, but consider that a developer is building a high rise on the former BP station at the corner of Old Georgetown and Fairmont.
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