Bank is last obstacle to
Westbard groundbreaking
The other shoe has dropped at the wing of the Westwood Shopping Center expected to be demolished in the next twelve months. Rite Aid closed in December, and now its next-door neighbor Capital One has announced its own closing date. The bank branch will permanently close at the end of its final business day on May 20, 2020, according to a Capital One statement.
Both businesses needed to vacate before that portion beyond the Giant grocery store could be demolished. If landlord Regency Centers' staging plan remains the same, the demolition will allow construction of the new Giant building to begin, allowing the grocery store to keep operating in its current building until the new one is ready for occupancy.
Groundbreaking is already almost a year behind schedule on the 22-acre redevelopment of Regency Centers' property along Westbard Avenue and Ridgefield Road in southwest Bethesda. There have been rumors Regency may seek to amend their site plan further to replace a planned apartment building on the Westwood Center II site with senior housing. If true, that would be another improvement in the plan, reducing the development's impact on school overcrowding.
