The writing's on the wall - literally - about Max Brenner opening at Bethesda Row this Saturday, June 22.
You may have seen the projection on the building above Mon Ami Gabi, Häagen-Dazs and Bethesda Row Cinema over the last few evenings. A projector mounted on a truck parked nearby is splashing a series of chocolate messages on the wall.
If you haven't seen them, here are some photos:
A second downtown Bethesda landowner is bucking the mixed-use development trend.
An application is before the Montgomery County Planning Board requesting permission to add 2 floors to the Sleepy's mattress store building on Wisconsin Avenue. The store is near the new Bethesda Post Office, and across a public alley from the Strathmore Apartments.
The applicant seeks to retain the surface parking lot, and add an elevator and handicapped van parking space.
Planning Board staff is recommending approval under the condition that the applicant make sidewalk, alley, lighting and parking lot improvements.
This sounds fine to me, but I have 2 small concerns:
The staff's proposal to screen the parking lot from view of the sidewalk, and the apartments in back, does raise safety issues. One of the advantages of roadside surface parking is the ability of passing motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and police to note any criminal activity taking place in such lots. Given that the lot has been there for years, is it really necessary to "hide" it? I would think shielding the apartments from headlights might make sense. But screening the street side doesn't.
The other concern is that the Planning Board staff report notes stair access from the lot to the alley. And that a lower-level business tenant can be reached from the alley via that staircase. However, a disabled person could not. I'd be interested to know if there is an alternative access method for customers with disabilities.
United Bank has closed its River Road branch in the Kenwood Professional Building in Bethesda.
The space is now for lease.
United retains two other Bethesda branches, on Old Georgetown Road and on Wisconsin Avenue.
Dissatisfying all-around, future luxury residential building 4831 West Lane is heading back to the Montgomery County Planning Board with 2 minor adjustments from planning staff:
A 15' setback from the property's western boundary, and a 15' setback from the northern boundary.
This is unlikely to satisfy nearby homeowners who have expressed concerns about the project's size, and the possibility that traffic volumes will exceed Montgomery Lane's capacity.
Transit-oriented development folks could ask, on the other hand, how planners who claim to be "smart growth" gurus could approve a 7-story building only a football's throw from Metro. While a 10-story building is going to loom over single-family homes in the Sacks subdivision. Does that make any sense?
The Arlington Road corridor was always going to be a huge challenge, and someone was sure to be dissatisfied no matter what, for that reason.
You have a residential neighborhood right behind the library. And homes and townhomes new and old.
That part of town was once claimed to be where affordable apartments would be provided. Developers and their buddies on the County Council made sure that didn't happen. Instead, boutique luxury mini-hulks and $1M+ townhomes began to pop up.
There are only so many sites around Metro, and so many in that spot have now been wasted in that fashion.
On the other hand, if you approve so many townhomes, don't you then have to rethink the idea of a 7-story building right next to them? This is what happens when you have a County Council beholden to developers: a complete hodgepodge mishmash.
Maybe they should call 4831 West Lane "Hodgepodge Lodge."
This particular building has a small section of glass at the entrance, but the rest is simply mundane. I cut-and-paste, therefore I am.
And, man, get a load of that sketch of the future building at Hampden and Arlington Road. Holy Berlin Wall, Batman!
Let's hope that's not the finished product. Yikes.
My speculation on the mystery site of a new, 7-story, 60-unit luxury Toll Brothers condominium has been confirmed as correct by one source.
The project reportedly will be at 4915 Hampden Lane. See my earlier post for more details.
No sooner had Bisnow.com reported a new, 17-story residential building proposal for 4990 Fairmont Avenue, than homebuilder Toll Brothers hinted it wanted in on the downtown Bethesda development game.
Toll Brothers reportedly will announce its intention to construct a 7-story, 60-unit luxury condominium building, at an undisclosed site within walking distance of Bethesda Row, today.
Where is the mystery location?
One clue is that Toll Brothers is claiming it can start construction this fall, which would be impossible without permits.
I have no clue where the Toll Brothers site is, but I do recall a building of these exact specs being approved for the corner of Arlington Road and Hampden Lane in 2008.
Unless I've lost my wits, I don't believe there is a 7-story condo yet at that corner.
So, could it be that Toll Brothers is the mystery firm behind the shell company "Hampden Lane Associates, LLC," that received approval for a 60-unit building there over 4 years ago?
An associated, low-rise "Apartment Building for Homeless People" at 4917 Hampden Lane was a controversial part of that deal. But regarding the larger building, a group of neighbors called "Concerned Families of City Homes" expressed opposition at that time, as I recall. These were residents of City Homes townhomes on the same block.
Toll Brothers is giving an on-sale date of Spring 2014; again, impossible unless permits are already in-hand.
So my guess is the corner of Arlington and Hampden for Toll Brothers. I could be wrong, but I'm not aware of any other 7-story, 60-unit development already approved in downtown Bethesda.
If I am wrong, please post a comment below. All we can do is wait for Toll Brothers' announcement later at this point.
