Developer begins trash removal at vacant properties in Bethesda

The developer of the stalled Artena Bethesda project has begun removing trash and debris at the vacant properties at 7938-8008 Wisconsin Avenue, and 8011-13 Woodmont Avenue, in downtown Bethesda. Computer components, a portable grill, and other sizeable items are gone. Scattered trash and broken glass remain. The Virginia-based developer was cited for multiple code violations at the site earlier this month, and the eyesore properties have repeatedly been broken into by vagrants and the homeless. It has been a near-square-block size dead zone that is dark at night, hardly a safe and welcoming stretch for solo pedestrians along three major downtown streets, but a situation the Montgomery County Council is content to allow indefinitely. Heckuva job, Brownie!

Bethesda vacant properties hit with more code violations by Montgomery County (Video + Photos)

The vacant retail buildings associated with the long-stalled Artena Bethesda redevelopment project have been hit with another round of code violations by Montgomery County. Just a month after the Virginia-based developer was cited for failing to clear sidewalks in front of the properties at 7938-8008 Wisconsin Avenue, and 8011-13 Woodmont Avenue, code inspectors have issued multiple code violations for rubbish, dead limbs, computer components, electrical cords, dinnerware, and even a portable grill. The violation notices warn of fines and further consequences for "repeat offenders."

Meanwhile, the developer has just requested another extension for the project from the Montgomery County Planning Board. Incredibly, in a 69-page staff report, no mention is made of the ongoing code violations, vandalism and entry by vagrants and the homeless over many years, and the impact on the surrounding community of this decade-spanning eyesore. And the report shows only the 8008 Wisconsin lot being redeveloped with a single building, leaving the other parcels between that and the 8001 Woodmont apartment tower as they are...for how many more years? The staff report doesn't say. What are the taxpayers even paying these planners for?

Our Marxist-totalitarian-left County Council, which stymied original 8008 Wisconsin developer Douglas Development by demanding a Communist-style seizure of land by the government to the point that Douglas gave up and sold the property to Toll Brothers, is fully content to have these dilapidated structures greet those entering downtown Bethesda on Wisconsin Avenue from the north. The Council doesn't give a damn about you, or downtown Bethesda - even while smugly running for re-election, and in some cases, a promotion to County Executive. It's outrageous.

Landscapers cut back overgrowth at stalled-out development site in downtown Bethesda

Landscapers tackled overgrown shrubs, bushes, and other assorted vegetation at the historic building that once housed the iconic Sir Walter Raleigh Inn steakhouse at 8011 Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda yesterday. The lot is one of several vacant properties that were supposed to be redeveloped as the Artena Bethesda apartments many years ago. That project remains stalled after several false starts, leaving the abandoned commercial buildings on them to fall into decay, and to be invaded by vagrants. The result has been to create an eyesore for much of a block between the former surplus store at 8008 Wisconsin Avenue and the 8011 Woodmont apartment tower, as well as on the Woodmont side.

Informational signs removed or spray-painted at stalled Bethesda development site

Informational signs regarding the redevelopment of abandoned properties at 8008 Wisconsin Avenue have been removed on the Cordell Avenue and Woodmont Avenue sides, and the signage on Wisconsin has been painted over with black spray paint. 8008 Wisconsin and the adjacent Artena Bethesda project have each been stalled for about a decade, leaving vacant storefronts decaying away in a prominent location. Buildings on both sites have been broken into frequently by vagrants. The developer of Artena Bethesda acquired the 8008 Wisconsin property 13 months ago, so it is possible that an entirely new project may be in the works that will combine both lots.

Fence broken by intruders at vacant Bethesda property repaired

The "security" fence around the property at 8008 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda was repaired yesterday. One or more intruders smashed the fence and crushed it downward to illegally gain access to the vacant buildings there earlier this week. Vagrants and vandals have repeatedly broken into the vacant storefronts at 8008 and 8000 Wisconsin Avenue, as well as the "beer house" behind them at the corner of Cordell and Woodmont Avenues. 

The buildings and lots in question have become eyesores, a danger and a public nuisance while the 8000 and 8008 Wisconsin redevelopment projects have repeatedly stalled out over the last decade. A fire and flood were started in one of the buildings by intruders this past fall. Montgomery County is apparently unwilling or unable to exercise control of the situation.

Intruders are back inside vacant Bethesda buildings

Intruders have once again broken into the row of vacant storefronts between 8000 and 8008 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda. A fire and flood caused by a burglar inside one of the buildings a few months ago, along with a rampage of window smashing on the block, led to a moderately-stronger attempt to secure the properties. Alas, the most noticeable intrusion since then has occurred during the Christmas holiday. A portion of the security fence was damaged on the Cordell Avenue side of the property to gain access to the site. The situation has been caused by major delays in the two redevelopment projects planned for 8000 and 8008 Wisconsin; the developer of the 8000 site recently acquired the 8008 property from Toll Brothers, but groundbreaking for the Artena Bethesda tower at 8000 Wisconsin has again stalled out despite demolition permits being pulled for that portion of the block.

Artena Bethesda developer acquires adjacent 8008 Wisconsin property from Toll Brothers

Newly-acquired 8008 Wisconsin property is
outlined in red; total land area now 
controlled by Aksoylu Properties is
designated in blue

Toll Brothers has made no public announcement as of this morning, but the homebuilding giant has sold its 8008 Wisconsin Avenue property to Aksoylu Properties, the real estate firm that owns the adjacent 8000 Wisconsin lot in downtown Bethesda. Aksoylu has been gearing up to break ground on its long-delayed Artena Bethesda project on that assembled site. Now it also has control of the property next door, which is about half the size of the 8000 Wisconsin lot. Alas, it would be very expensive at this late stage to throw out its approved Artena preliminary, sketch and site plans to reimagine the Artena as a much larger development.

Of course, that cost might be offset by both the additional residential and retail units that would come with a larger project, along with the massive savings of being able to excavate and construct on both lots using the same contractors at the same time. Aksoylu also has the option of going forward with the Artena, and using the newly-acquired 8008 land as a staging area for construction. The sale closed October 31, 2023, according to state real estate records. Aksoylu paid Toll Brothers $9,125,000 for the property.

The great Bethesda beer house chair mystery (Photos)

The old Dunmor's (a.k.a. "The Beer House) has been closed since September 8, 2016 at 8013 Woodmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda. It is one of several properties attached to the long-delayed redevelopment of 8008 Wisconsin Avenue, which have been left as vacant eyesores, and fenced off for seven years. A couple of mismatched chairs have now appeared on the porch of the beer house. 

One is an office chair, and the other looks more like a kitchen chair. It's quite a vantage point, atop a crumbling crawlspace, part of which has been bashed in by man or beast - or some combination of the two. As Ace Ventura said, "Do not go in there. Wooooooooooo!" We might need to call Detective Ventura in to solve this mystery.

8008 Wisconsin Avenue development back on (again!) in Bethesda

One of the longest-delayed redevelopment projects in downtown Bethesda is back on, potentially under new ownership. Toll Brothers is asking Montgomery County for an extension to the preliminary plan approval it received from the Planning Board several years ago for 8008 Wisconsin Avenue. The proposed two-year extension would allow groundbreaking to begin as late as October 16, 2025. That would be more than a full decade after local real estate giant Douglas Development first attempted to redevelop the property, which includes the former Ranger Surplus store and Bethesda Valet on Wisconsin Avenue, and Dunmor's (a.k.a. The Beer House) at 8013 Woodmont Avenue.

Required public notification sign
erected Monday at the site

Douglas Development was making a big push into downtown Bethesda around the middle of the last decade, acquiring several new properties. 8008 Wisconsin was one, and the potential crown jewel was a development that would have been on the former Exxon, Pines of Rome and Tommy Joe's properties along Wisconsin, Hampden Lane and Montgomery Lane. But after Montgomery County officials interfered, demanding Douglas give them a chunk of the property for a bus rapid transit right-of-way, the 8008 project stalled out amid protracted negotiations.

The extended delay apparently ended up deep-sixing the project, which included a restaurant on the Woodmont side. Douglas ultimately sold the property to Toll Brothers in 2016, and switched its focus to updating the Shops of Wisconsin (where it brought a Target store as a hedge against the possible future departure of Trader Joe's, an unavoidable rumor once a second Trader Joe's was revealed as the anchor tenant up the road at 7900 Wisconsin), acquiring smaller properties around town, and on the Exxon/Pines of Rome project. That last project, too, ended up falling through the cracks, joining 8008 Wisconsin in "development hell."

Despite two very impressive and successful Bethesda developments, Hampden Row and Amalyn, Toll Brothers was unable to bring 8008 Wisconsin to fruition. The existing structures on the site have become eyesores and targets for vandals and squatters in the ensuing years. Now, Toll Brothers says an unidentified developer is prepared to purchase the site from them, and immediately proceed to redevelop it under the approved plan. For that reason, it is seeking the extension, to facilitate that transaction.

The extension request will be reviewed by the Planning Board. It is not yet on any published Planning Board agenda. Toll Brothers' request comes as the also-delayed Artena Bethesda project is getting ready to break ground directly next door at 8000 Wisconsin.

Bethesda's "beer house" seven years later (Photos)

There is some activity at the rear of the stalled Toll Brothers 8008 Wisconsin Avenue project site in downtown Bethesda. It looks like a shipping container has been brought in, and as a result, the gate was opened in the fencing along Cordell Avenue. That gave an opportunity to get some photos from the public sidewalk of the "beer house," a.k.a. Dunmor's Beer & Wine, seven years after it closed for a redevelopment that has yet to take place. And of the rear of the Wisconsin-facing vacant retail strip that once included the Ranger Surplus store.