Here are some scenes from the construction of 7272 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda over several recent days. Some of the most important work at the Carr Properties project is being done at night, especially when it requires further lane closures on Wisconsin. 7272 includes both an office tower (The Wilson) and a residential tower (The Elm) atop a ground level base, and the future Purple Line station below that.
27 comments:
why does bobby delete comments? cant stand the criticism?
wow 33 pictures and a video - stellar reporting there bobby.
6:04AM He's good on his own neighborhood's issues. But he's thin-skinned and vindictive. And never apologizes.
You may want to consider sticking to the pictures from further out to provide a bit of visual context. The photos you took from across Wisconsin as well as down the block were interesting, you can really see the scope of the project. In my opinion the close-up photos don't really add much, since they could be from any construction site.
Some very nice photos there! You can see that the base with all the lobbies and above ground parking are built, and they are now pouring the separate office and residential towers that rise above. Some very cool cantilevers on that office tower!
Amazing that this huge project is already up to the seventh residential floor, but still has 21 more levels to go, so it eventually be four times higher than it is now. From the lowest level on the west side at the Purple Line and the Capital Crescent Civic Green, to the top of the mechanical penthouse, it will be about 350’ tall, or over twice as tall as the new 170’ tall 4747 Bethesda building. This will truly be a pair of soaring highrise towers, and a new iconic landmark in Bethesda.
Of course the new Marriott HQ, 4 Metro Center, Avocet Tower and Saul Centers Metro Tower will be nearly as tall, all about 285’ to 325’ high including penthouses, so our skyline is about to be dramatically transformed. For reference, the Chevy Chase Bank Towers are about 250’ tall.
6:32AM - who would know or care about anything you said? You are obviously Bobby trying to add comments to your posting. Pathetic.
6:42 AM
Sorry, I’m not Robert. I’m just someone who is commenting about some very important new development in the city. I’m so sorry that I wasted your valuable time. I guess, according to you, we are only allowed to troll each other on this site, and not have any sort of discussion about how the city is changing.
Please continue to post your interesting comments. 6:32 and 7:35 AM. They are especially valuable since they often provide fresh analysis and evaluation. I appreciate your input enormously.
Dyer's providing us a safe, well lit environment here to discuss and exchange ideas. I like it!
I am really curious on how the bridge between the two residential towers at the Elm will look and feel. This could be a chance for an iconic new “postcard” image for the city. Perhaps our own junior version of the bridge on the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore.
Maybe they will be bold enough to put in a circular section of glass flooring in the bridge, a bit like the Moon Door on the Game of Thrones.
6:32/7:35 is definitely not "Bobby." I very much appreciate his/her's insight.
The unofficial mayor of Bethesda covering our rapidly changing city!
Wow a Moon Door? This could add new meaning when Robert suggests he will slam a troll through the glass coffee table...
Carr might have to change the name of the building from The Elm to The Eryie.
Note to self, don’t rent the apartment with the roof terrace directly below the Moon Door...
What will be done with the brown brick building that doesn't have windows, which is located in the back of this development and seems to abut the new building at 4747 Bethesda Ave?
12:13 PM The CEO of Foulger Pratt agrees with Dyer- even on the highway and additional Potomac Crossing need.
So, do you know more about development than the CEO of Foulger Pratt?
The CEO of Folger Pratt clearly stated that most of the reason for the new office development in NoVa was primarily geographical, and not something that can be easily fixed.
Namely, NoVa has two airports, connected by a freeway. MoCo has no international airports.
NoVa has a freeway to downtown DC. Building a new freeway through MoCo to the DC line, and expecting DC to extend it to downtown is simply impossible.
NoVa is extending the Metro to Dulles Airport. Not possible since we don't have a freakin' airport. We will of course soon we will have a new Purple Line, connected to 4 different Metro stations on three different lines, connecting two very large existing urban areas (Bethesda and Silver Spring) and tons of residential areas that are currently under-served by mass transit.
The Silver Line primarily extension connects DC with Tysons, Reston Town Center and Dulles Airport. Many new projects have been announced near the new Silver Line stations, but very few have actually started construction.
Of course NoVa has a much higher office vacancy that either DC or MoCo, but is still overbuilding speculative office developments and hundreds of acres of data center that employ very few.
Yes, of course MoCo could be more friendly to business, and yes another bridge across the river, and running the Purple Line from Bethesda to Tysons.
1:35 PM Your "woe is us" attitude that we're stuck to geography doesn't ring true to me.
Foulger Pratt's CEO laid out exactly what is needed: infrastructure.
1:35: No, that's not only wrong, but it's not even what Pratt said. The whole point of the new bridge across the Potomac would be to give Montgomery County an international airport, with quick and direct access to Dulles.
Completing our master plan freeway system is not only feasible, but has to be done whether we like it or not, in order to compete in the region. If Montgomery County's leaders were gung ho to build freeways into the District, you can be sure business leaders in the District would quickly get the backbone to oust freeway opponents on the DC Council.
Just keep in mind how quickly the anti-BRT MoCo Council turned into the biggest proponents of the mode when commanded to by their developer sugar daddies.
Running the Purple Line to Tysons would be a complete waste of money when we can far more cheaply run the Red Line down the center of the new Potomac crossing to meet the Silver Line at Dulles. Private firm paying for it, instead of taxpayers. Think about it.
And, Saul Alinsky, once again you have to be corrected that the only reason NoVa has a higher vacancy rate is because THEY BUILT MORE OFFICE SPACE speculatively based on HIGH DEMAND that was cut short when the Obama-Paul Ryan sequestration scheme was implemented.
Pratt CLEARLY STATED that demand is far, far higher in Virginia than MoCo, THE DAMN HEADLINE ABOVE THIS ARTICLE quotes Pratt as saying "there's no comparison" between booming NoVA and moribund MoCo.
"give Montgomery County an international airport, with quick and direct access to Dulles."
Montgomery County already has that. Even if there were a Second Crossing and Outer Beltway, the entire area south of Rockville is closer to Dulles via the Beltway.
And even without the Second Crossing, Gaithersburg and Germantown are closer to Dulles than all of the southern half of Fairfax County.
8:13: A second entry for Dumbest Comment of the Year.
Put your "as the crow flies" map down and try driving any of the distances you mentioned. You'll quickly realize how wrong you were.
If you think you can get from Germantown to Dulles Airport faster than from southern Fairfax County, I have got a bridge to sell you, old sport.
Dyer @ a few minutes before midnight:
All of the distances were measured along the roadways - 1-95/395, I-495 and the Dulles Toll Road.
When was the last time you drove between one part of Fairfax County to another during rush hour?
4:43: When was the last time you drove between Germantown and Dulles Airport during morning rush hour?
So maybe if you live in MoCo, and insist on driving to an airport, it would be a dumb idea to book a weekday flight out of Dulles early in the morning, or a 5PM flight out of BWI. Or just take the Metro to Reagan, and save yourself the frustration and parking cost. Reagan is one of the most convenient and subway accessible international airports In the world. In my opinion, you pay a bit of a premium, but so much easier than driving and parking at a remote airport like Dulles and BWI.
Better yet, if you are going to Baltimore, Wilmington, Philly, New York or Boston, just take a very relaxing Amtrak Northeastern Regional or Vermonter train from Union Station. If your company is paying for the trip, take the Acela. It’s much easier to get work done on a train, so you can save your company money by combining travel time and work time, with less driving and parking at airports.
6:38: The Acela now goes to Mumbai and Shanghai? LOL
Good luck getting a direct flight to the important Asian business cities tomorrow morning out of National or BWI.
And if elected to the council will you get a non stop from DCA to Shanghai?
I specifically stated Acela makes more sense than flying if you are going somewhere on the East Coast. You know, like to New York, another large Amazon corporate location, a likely destination for many new Amazonians.
5:32: We weren't discussing travel to New York - the topic is international business air travel, for which Dulles is the premiere hub in the region.
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