WHITE FLINT MALL DEMOLITION UPDATE (PHOTOS) - PART 5

Welcome to the fifth installment of The Dark Side of White Flint, a frank and candid study of the less-"wunnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful" side of urbanizing the suburbs.

To check out the first 4 photo galleries of the demolition of White Flint Mall, click here.

One has to wonder why a "smart" growth organization gave White Flint an award as a smart growth community. With the exception of one JBG tower I actually think is quite nice, the main drag through White Flint looks the same as it did 20 years ago.

Except that a pleasantly futuristic, upscale suburban mall is rapidly being reduced to piles of rubble.

Maybe it was the Gordon Gekko #FirstWorldProblems Award.

Just because you can do a thing, doesn't necessarily mean you should do a thing. Especially just for the cause of the unholy dollar.

Councilmember Roger Berliner, how would you describe the "new" White Flint?

"More muscular," Berliner said on one of many vanity programs funded by taxpayers on Montgomery County Channel 6.

From the pictures below, White Flint certainly looks muscular. Downright Schwarzenegger-esque... the way he looked after reading the box office totals for his last movie.

Muscular?

Take these photos, add text from the pro-development White Flint propaganda, and you have a wonderful, coffee table volume entitled, Charles Atlas Shrugged.

Seriously, though, you can click to enlarge these photos to examine every ghastly detail. Note the supports holding up the last surviving parts of the mall from collapse. The dream is about as real as the "White Flint MARC Station" is at this point. (Remember that one?)

Welcome to the Dark Side, and stay tuned for more.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY BRT TASK FORCE CHAIR'S DEVELOPER TIES REVEALED

WINSTON STANDS TO PROFIT FROM LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, WHILE ADVOCATING BRT-RELATED DEVELOPMENT

The public relations disasters for Montgomery County Bus Rapid Transit advocates just keep on coming.

Among the most memorable were the revelation that the BRT vehicles would move 15 miles in 50 minutes.

And that Communist Chinese officials were advising the county government on the development of its BRT system.

Just last week, the Montgomery County Planning Board sent planning staff back to the drawing board, after Master Planner Larry Cole and others produced fictional BRT data that was not even close to real-world accurate.

Cole also tried out this whopper: he said traffic volume on area roads will increase 70%.  The solution? Cole recommended reducing current highway capacity by 33% on roads like Rockville Pike, by turning already-jammed car lanes into bus lanes.

Let's add that up, folks:  to handle volume increase of 70%, reduce capacity by 33%.

Huh?

These people not only need a calculator, but also some spray-tan.  Because they obviously don't get out very much. Here's the real world numbers, Mr. Cole: at 4:00 PM last week, it took me an hour to drive from Bethesda to Rockville Town Center. The Pike was crawling, and lights were not synchronized, contrary to government statements otherwise.

You're going to make that 33% worse?

One secret driving force behind BRT has been that land along the BRT routes will be eligible for taller, denser, urban-style development. Whether anyone rides the Emperor's New Bus, or not.

Now a Washington Post article has revealed BRT Task Force Chair L. Mark Winston's ties to development interests.  According to the Post, Winston stands to profit from local transit-oriented development projects. Hmm.  Sound familiar?

But wait, there's more!

Winston's law firm, Glazer Winston, is all about real estate development. On its website, Winston's firm touts the following:

"In its Real Estate practice, the Firm represents local, regional and national real estate owners, developers and investors in the acquisition, development, financing, leasing and sale of office and industrial properties, retail shopping centers, apartment projects, hotels and raw land."

Isn't this a conflict of interest, to chair a commission pushing a pro-development agenda that you could also profit from, if successful?

What lands around the county might Glazer Winston have a financial interest in, now or in the future?

The final irony?

Winston - a fervent advocate for the rest of us to get out of our cars, and take the bus - says "it has been a while" since a rode a bus himself.

Classic Montgomery County elite hypocrisy. Smart growth, transit-only advocates should take the medicine they prescribe for everyone else.

EXCLUSIVE FIRST IMAGES OF 15-STORY KETTLER APARTMENT BUILDING PROPOSED FOR 7535 OLD GEORGETOWN ROAD AND COMMERCE LANE IN BETHESDA

Developer Kettler last fall proposed a new, luxury apartment building for the former bank site at 7535 Old Georgetown Road and Commerce Lane in downtown Bethesda.

Now the first images of what the 15-story, 120-unit "tower" might look like from several angles. 15 stories that close to Metro sounds awfully short, if the Planning Board is really sincere about "Transit Oriented Development."

I just don't get this idea of having a whole lot of 10-15 floor buildings spread all over town, and looming over houses (e.g. The Darcy) and smaller condos (e.g. the Eastham's building that is going to basically "eat" Crescent Plaza). As opposed to putting all of these units into taller buildings right at the Bethesda Metro station. You're getting a lot of traffic, and the farther away the building, studies show, the fewer who ride transit. I don't think we'll run out of banks anytime soon. But we are running out of gas stations rapidly. Some may laugh about that, but we'll check who's laughing when a "superstorm" hits Bethesda, and we run out of gas. Ha ha, ho ho, indeed. Remember, Metro and buses all shut down. Good luck with that.

I'm willing to give Kettler a chance to show how this could be a design unique to Bethesda, and offer some sort of public amenities, before making a final judgment on the project. It's certainly not as bad as some that are currently under construction, architecturally. I'm just not being knocked out by the design at this stage.

PIKE AND ROSE: ANOTHER MOCO MISADVENTURE IN ARCHITECTURE

Not again. The "new" designs for future mini-Manhattan Pike and Rose resemble the lackluster ones previously revealed. Clusters of non-descript office towers and mixed-use town centers sit, bump-on-log style, astride a once-bustling shopping center, a half-hearted paean to "The Man."

We're giving up Toys R Us for this?

In that case, I don't want to grow up, Geoffrey!

The plan aesthetically refutes all of the buzz phrases so-called "Smart Growth" development advocates enjoy deploying in planning work sessions nationwide.

To use one of their phrases, there's no "there" there.

Examine the close-up of what seems to be the Bethesda Lane or Rockville Town Square of Pike and Rose.  Context aside, where are you in this scene? Can you identify a single architectural feature that says Pike and Rose, White Flint, Montgomery County, anything? (Please leave it in the comments if you can!).

The comparison to Bethesda Row is indeed a stretch. Bethesda Lane is probably one of the few town centers anywhere that actually has an identity of sorts.  But at Pike and Rose, one could be in New Jersey or Portland or at any of the other bland, nondescript town centers in the DC area.

And why does it look like the grand curve of Old Georgetown Road has been whipped into an old-fashioned, 4-way urban intersection?  Not only is the new work disappointing, but they're going to iron out one of the few road stretches with character in the area to boot? L'Enfant may rise from the dead if he hears of this.

Speaking of roads... That trench labeled "Montrose Parkway" at the top?  That's supposed to be a six-lane Rockville Freeway. And without the Rockville Freeway (and additional MARC and Red Line capacity), this whole White Flint plan simply cannot handle the influx of cars it will bring.

It's no secret I opposed the White Flint plan as passed by the Montgomery County Council.  But if you're going to "transform" an area, at least do it responsibly, and utilizing designs that improve the aesthetics and quality of life for residents.

Despite my opposition to the WF plan, I would probably approve the 2 towers (one already built) and the "ziggurat" development proposed by JBG nearby.  While not Dubai-esque, at least they have something to offer artistically and help define a location.

Maybe it's early, and the buildings shown are placeholders for exciting designs to come at Pike and Rose. But at the moment, what's being touted is only reinforcing what I had predicted long ago.

In the richest county in the richest country in the world, why are we content to take an architectural back seat to Dubai, Hong Kong, and Shanghai?

ROCKVILLE TOWN SQUARE CELEBRATES 5 YEARS... WITH BETHESDA ROW CUPCAKES?

The same day that The Gazette published an edition bearing a gaffe-ridden ad sticker, the City of Rockville experienced a municipal pride faux pas of its own.

Last Tuesday, Rockville Town Square turned 5.  City elders and property owners held a celebration there.  According to The Sentinel, the birthday cupcakes given out were from... Bethesda?!

Yes, Georgetown Cupcakes at Bethesda Row, to be precise.

Of course, the fact that Federal Realty owns both Bethesda Row and Rockville Town Square explains why Georgetown Cupcakes would be involved.  But why would the city commit such an obvious gaffe, when cupcake shops like Cake Dreams and The Cakery are within their city limits? Predictably, it takes someone like me to point this out, but weren't Rockville residents offended by "imported" cupcakes to celebrate a city milestone?

Speaking of offense, I wonder how former Mayor Doug Duncan feels about being repeatedly referred to as "Dan Duncan" in the Sentinel article?

The City of Rockville and Federal Realty, for insulting the taxpayers of Rockville with outsourced confectionary goods, you are the winners of the Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row "Rick Perry Award."

"Oops."