Asbestos removal project begins at Westwood Shopping Center in Bethesda

Westbard Square property owner Regency Centers is preparing for demolition of the 1959 Westwood Shopping Center strip mall in Bethesda. One of the preliminary steps is removal of asbestos from the building. That project has just gotten underway, according to a notice posted on the window of the former Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor/Anglo Dutch Pools & Toys space at 5460 Westbard Avenue. 

The remediation project is anticipated to be completed by February 9, 2024. Giant, the last tenant in the structure, is scheduled to move out at the close of business tomorrow night. It will reopen Friday in its brand-new space atop the adjacent Westbard Square building. The strip mall will be replaced with an apartment building with retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, which is expected to open by 2027.

Asbestos removal begins at doomed Bethesda building

An asbestos removal project is underway in the space formerly home to Hannah's Barbershop at 8007 Norfolk Avenue. It is expected to be complete by August 27. The structure housing this space and several other businesses is going to be torn down to make way for The Clairborne condos. Hannah's has moved into the nearby Gallery Bethesda II building.

Asbestos removal begins for Avocet Tower project in Bethesda

Asbestos is being removed from structures on the future site of Avocet Tower in downtown Bethesda. These include the former 2nd District police station, and an adjacent retail property. Both will be demolished to make way for the new project. Avocet Tower will be an office and hotel development at 7373 Wisconsin Avenue, and is being developed by StonebridgeCarras and Buvermo Investments, Inc.

Asbestos project starting at doomed Bethesda buildings (Photos)

Fitness First recently announced it will close at 7900 Wisconsin Avenue on June 30. But an asbestos removal project is starting inside their building this week, according to a notice on the front door. Awkward.

7900 is just one of several older structures on Wisconsin and Woodmont Avenues that will get the asbestos treatment, and ultimately, be demolished. In their place will rise The JBG Companies' 7900 Wisconsin mixed-use project, anchored by a Trader Joe's grocery store.

Part of a parking lot on one of the properties has been taken over with construction fencing ahead of the demolition.

New Bethesda bakery postpones opening after discovering asbestos

The owner of a "happy, healthy little bakery" scheduled to open by now was likely unhappy to find a decidedly unhealthy substance in her bakery's space - asbestos. Red Bandana Bakery has had to postpone its opening, after encountering asbestos during build-out of the interior of its space in the Bethesda Medical Building at 8218 Wisconsin Avenue.

Asbestos remediation began yesterday, and is scheduled to be completed by January 10. It is very common to find asbestos in the older buildings of downtown Bethesda, as has come to light during the high number of demolitions following the Great Recession.

The good news is that Red Bandana will be able to resume work on the interior by later next week, and a new opening date has been scheduled for February 21. When they open, they'll be offering gluten-free, vegan, low-sugar and low-fat bakery items, salads, breakfast and lunch, Swing's coffee and espresso, Pearl Fine Teas, and Zenful Bites juices.

Bethesda construction update: 8008 Wisconsin Toll Brothers project (Photos)

An asbestos removal project has begun at the vacant Bethesda Valet dry cleaners and Ranger Surplus store, both inside a strip center being demolished to make way for Toll Brothers' 8008 Wisconsin Avenue condominium project. The asbestos project is scheduled to continue until the end of March. Some demolition work has been done inside these, and in the "Beer House" around the corner at Woodmont and Cordell Avenues. That house is also coming down.

Bethesda Valet

Bethesda Valet

The "beer house"

Beer House

Beer House

Beer House

Ranger Surplus

Ranger Surplus

Ranger Surplus 

Ranger Surplus

Asbestos removal to begin at Connor Building (Photos)

The tenants have cleared out at the Connor Building at 7720 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda. It will be demolished this fall, but much like the doomed office building on Bethesda Avenue, the asbestos has to be removed first. Removal is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Let's take one more walk through the arcade, and what's left of the empty Kabob Bazaar. The building's site will become home to a Westin hotel.