The remaining tenants of the Westwood Shopping Center in Bethesda have been told they will have to vacate their spaces by November 30, 2023, according to a source familiar with the situation. That deadline was given in eviction notices that were received by tenants of the strip center on June 6. Tenants have the option to lease a space in the new Giant building that is nearing completion on the other side of the property at 5400 Westbard Avenue, part of Phase 1 of the new Westbard Square development that is replacing the shopping center, which was built in 1959.
Tenants have until November 30 to decide if they wish to stay on in the new building. So far, only Giant, the Westwood Barber Shop and Voorthuis Opticians have signed leases. Some tenants have reported that the leases they were offered in the new Giant building were 1.95 times the rate of their current leases, essentially double what they are paying now. All existing businesses remain open at the shopping center, and will be able to do so through November 30, according to the source. Property owner Regency Centers has promised that the existing Giant store will not close until the new store opens.
14 comments:
"Some tenants have reported that the leases they were offered [were] . . . essentially double what they are paying now."
Property developers and their building-owning cousins: helping communities thrive.
In MD, only the court can issue eviction notices.
Anybody know if the barber shop plans on nearly doubling the cost of a haircut. How about eye exams and glasses. Just wondering how a business can recoup a two fold increase in rent around here. You can't pay the folks that you find to work for you less. Will the utilities be less or what.
The eye glass place has a few locations, and based on what they charged me, they'll still make plenty of money.
The barber shop has much more competition, and men generally aren't willing to spend much on haircuts. I think it will be tough for them.
Once Swensens Ice Cream Parlor closed up shop, that strip mall went into the toilet.
@9:23 AM
Source RE eviction notice? What the county has done to this road and shopping center is despicable.
@9:23 AM
Doing what they do best. Induced upward mobility.
Reply to Anonymous said...
In MD, only the court can issue eviction notices.
As a store owner in Westbard shopping center, we received the eviction notice from the property owner Regency Center Leasing office as per the lease.
" and based on what they charged me, they'll still make plenty of money."
You have no idea what their overhead, insurance, labor, loan costs are. It's like saying 'she drives a Lexus so she must be rich'. Equally absurd.
Shannel - I have been a customer of the Westbard Barber Shop for decades. The owner is Phung Dinh, a Vietnamese immigrant, and an American success story. She is struggling to get the space she wants at a price at which she can offer reasonably priced haircuts. MoCo has millions for large corporations but nothing for small businesses. There is something rotten with our County Government.
After all the inconvenience and driving out long time tenants, we'll get the same stores back - just more expensive versions. And more traffic.
The Westbard Giant butcher, baker, parcel pickup man and cashiers have likely quietly been told they aren't in line to get a new luxury townhome on the site, despite what was said previously. Maybe a stripped MPDU 1 bed apartment?
The myopic visionaries eliminate road lanes, place bumps that cripple traffic in the area and then double the rent. I wonder who in carnation will be the prospective tenants of the new development?
@ 1258 That sounds right.
@ 1017 She'll figure a way. Hard working always wins. Blaming folks doesn't help.
Just as an aside, Shanel, just maybe 'not blaming' as a synonym of 'lessened accountability,' is exactly at the root of many of our myriad problems in the world today. Just saying.
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