Discovery move is all about why Knoxville beats MoCo in business climate

Discovery Communications is moving from Silver Spring to New York City because it is a content company? Not quite. Unless you believe they film their Shark Week programs in giant water tanks on the seventh floor of their Silver Spring headquarters - as many embarrassed Montgomery County elected officials apparently do. Put aside the spin in Discovery's press release, and carefully study their public statements to media yesterday, and you'll find the real story here is A) why Knoxville has a better business climate than Montgomery County, and B) the big Discovery "move" may actually be a big layoff of extraneous workers, as the company merges with Scripps.

The County's spin, of course, is that there "was nothing Montgomery County could do to retain Discovery." Discovery is a content company! They need to be near other content and advertising companies in New York! Aren't taxes terrible in New York City? Isn't the cost of living even higher in New York City?

Ah - but there's the key point. Discovery's move isn't about New York in the end. Analyze Discovery's public statements, and you find there's no certainty as to how many jobs are going to New York City. Some key high-level positions had already been moved to Discovery's current New York base of operations. Some positions at Scripps in Knoxville will also be moved to New York in 2019.

Scripps already has over 1000 employees in Knoxville doing a lot of the business and administrative jobs that many Discovery employees are doing now in Silver Spring. Again, read Discovery's statements carefully - they don't mention x-number of jobs moving from Silver Spring to Knoxville (or to New York). It could be that Montgomery County not only suffers the shame of losing one of its few Fortune 500 companies, but almost certainly also winds up with hundreds of unemployed Discovery workers as a result. Knoxville will gain all of the jobs Discovery needs from Silver Spring, but not likely all 1300.

Knoxville has everything Montgomery County's elected officials keep telling us we don't need - lower taxes, suburban living, and highway infrastructure. Discovery's press release noted "infrastructure" as a key reason they chose Knoxville. It's very easy to see why:

Discovery's new HQ in
Knoxville is right at an
interchange with I-40

The new Discovery campus in Knoxville is right on Interstate 40, a major cross-country route from California to North Carolina. In fact, they've got an on-ramp right next to them.

Discovery's new Knoxville HQ
is only 18 minutes by car from
the airport

Discovery's future Knoxville campus is also only 18 minutes by car from McGhee-Tyson Airport. Try getting to an airport in 18 minutes from Montgomery County (Hint: You can't).

Tennessee has no income tax. Property taxes are about half of what they are in Montgomery County, even on a million-dollar home. The Volunteer State's sales tax rate is 7%. There is no estate tax, and after a recent change in Tennessee's tax law, the "Hall Tax" on interest and dividend income is being phased out by 2021. The latter change is simply the capstone on why Tennessee's tax structure is so business (and worker) friendly. Robin Ficker was absolutely correct yesterday when he cited taxes as a factor in the Discovery move.

When you consider that neither Discovery, nor New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, cited any specific number of jobs moving to New York yesterday, the picture becomes more clear. Some key positions may well move to New York, and Cuomo and Mayor Bill Blasio can celebrate winning the "global headquarters."

But Discovery is the real winner here. By moving the real nuts-and-bolts of their company to Knoxville, they and their employees (however many actually get moved) will both save bigly on their annual tax bills. Significant layoffs that would have been bad publicity for the company in Silver Spring now get hidden and deodorized by a "big move" and merger.

Montgomery County, as usual, is the real loser. Not only has no major corporation relocated its headquarters here in twenty years, but now we've lost one of the few Fortune 500 companies we had.  We've lost the taxes Discovery and many of their employees paid.

This is a major financial blow to Silver Spring, as well. Residential buildings continue to replace workplaces in downtown Silver Spring at a rapid pace. There are now fewer workers eating lunch at restaurants as a result. Residents of new apartment buildings in Silver Spring are dining out for lunch in downtown Washington, Tysons, and other growing job centers in Northern Virginia. Turning the Discovery HQ into an apartment building won't help matters.

Discovery's new low-rise,
suburban office park campus
in Knoxville (Google Maps)

If you look at the new Discovery national headquarters campus in Knoxville, it's just that - a suburban office park campus. Nearby are roads and commercial strips that look like Rockville or Gaithersburg. Much like Apple, Google and other successful corporations, Discovery has traded urban for suburban.

It looks more like Rock Spring
than downtown Bethesda -
adjacent water bodies included

Just beyond either side of the suburban commercial area where Discovery will be are single-family home neighborhoods along tree-lined streets. Sure, certain companies are willing to take a financial hit to be "downtown" on a transit station. Discovery obviously isn't one of them, and neither is Apple or Google. Montgomery County's office parks aren't the problem - it's our anti-business County Council, taxes and gridlocked transportation system that are the problems.

Single-family homes on
tree-lined streets near the
new Discovery HQ in
Knoxville (Google Maps)

Montgomery County can lower its taxes. After throwing record amounts of money at Montgomery County Public Schools in recent years, and the results only getting worse by the year, we know spending money is not the solution to the decline in our public schools. Wasteful spending was epitomized last year by the Council spending over $20000 on a security camera system I was able to find for less than $1000 online - including installation. Imagine how many other un-itemized expenditures like this one there are in the operating and capital budgets, and the potential for cuts becomes crystal clear.

Attempts to blame Gov. Larry Hogan for the Discovery debacle only open the door to blaming our County Council for the loss. "The first County Council to lose a Fortune 500" certainly has a nice ring to it. When apologists say, "We were going to lose Discovery no matter what the incentive package was," they are actually correct. Without a business-friendly tax system, without a new Potomac River crossing to provide an 18-minute trip to the airport, without a functioning and complete master plan highway system, and without elected officials who understand international business in the 21st century, Montgomery County is always going to be the loser.

Starbucks construction permit requested at Pike & Rose

There have been rumors that the Starbucks at Pike & Rose might eventually relocate into the ground floor of the soon-to-open Canopy by Hilton hotel at the property. Now a construction permit has been requested from Montgomery County for a Starbucks at 11860 Grand Park Avenue, which is in the block of the hotel. It would be below the hotel's two-story event wing. If it ends up happening, I'm sure residents of the condos atop the hotel, and in The Henri across the street, will be delighted - especially on cold mornings like this.

Pho pop-up now open in Bethesda (Photos)

The Pho Pop-Up restaurant is now open at 4901-A Fairmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda. They are serving 3 varieties of pho: Beef, chicken, and vegan mushroom. Spring rolls are available as a side dish. Their hours are 11:30 AM to 8:00 PM daily - including Sundays now.

AT&T Mobility to open at Montrose Crossing

AT&T Mobility will open in the
storefront at far right at
Montrose Crossing

AT&T Mobility is the latest tenant to sign on at the new addition to Montrose Crossing. The store will join CAVA Grill, Pieology, Five Guys, Honeygrow, and Allure in the building that replaced Timpano Italian Chophouse. Montrose Crossing is at the interchange of Montrose Parkway and Rockville Pike.

WSSC tackles another water main break in Bethesda (Video+Photos)

The latest water main to burst is at the intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Del Ray Avenue, just a block over from the one on Cordell Avenue that lasted several days. This is also near where the WSSC had troubles caused by another utility damaging their infrastructure while digging under the roadway last year.

Spice 6 Modern Indian Restaurant to open in Bethesda

Spice 6 Modern Indian will open this Spring at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The local chain has locations in Hyattsville and Vienna. Like so many twists on Chipotle, the fast casual Spice 6 will allow you to customize kebab plates, rice bowls, wraps, curries, naan pizzas and salads. Their menu will accommodate vegan, halal and gluten-free diets.

The dishes at Spice 6 are devised by the Katmandu-born Chef Upendra Thapaliya. There, he was executive chef at the five-star Shangri-La hotel, where his cuisine won many prestigious awards. One could argue even Chipotle can't claim those kind of credentials, so it sounds like a very promising addition to the mall.

Guess, Specs NY close; new retailers opening at Westfield Montgomery Mall (Photos)

Guess has closed its store at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, one of the biggest names to close at the retail center. The chain closed 60 stores nationwide last year. Also clearing out this weekend was designer sunglasses retailer Specs New York. Specs is the second sunglasses retailer to announce a closure here in the last month.

Guess

Westfield is bringing in some new retailers early this year, to fill recently-vacated spaces in the remodeled mall. Altar'd State is a growing women's fashion chain that promises "a modernized Christian shopping experience." "By giving more than we receive," the company's website promises, "we stand out for good to glorify God."

Guess

Intimissimi, an Italian apparel chain, specializes in lingerie for women, but also sells pajamas, underwear, t-shirts, socks and accessories for men. Their closest stores right now are in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to their website location search. At least one of those is in a Westfield property.

The corridor outside of the
now-vacant Guess space

Specs New York

Redwood still battling to reopen after pipe floods Bethesda Row restaurant

Redwood Restaurant and Bar on Bethesda Lane remained closed yet another night. A new sign posted offers a conflicting message to the more optimistic one currently on their Facebook page.

The sign says they now hope to reopen "early next week" (which is now early this week, given that today is Sunday). They say a remediation crew is scheduled to work inside the restaurant until then. Last night, coiled hoses were visible on the floor of the dining room.

There is one bit of good news - Redwood is promising free soup when they reopen. With these temperatures, I'm sure many will be taking them up on that offer.

One Burger at Community closes in Bethesda (Photos)

After holding on another two months with a slimmer menu and focus on high-quality hamburgers, One Burger at Community has closed. The Mark Bucher establishment began life as Community, an all-day, upscale diner concept in the new 7770 Norfolk luxury apartment tower. It seemed to draw crowds well enough, but dropped hours and many menu items at the start of November last year.

Bucher's other popular venture in the same building, Medium Rare, was open and packing them in Friday. Meanwhile, One Burger at Community was dark to begin the day. A sign blamed weather-related water problems. By early evening, however, Community had announced "we have closed" on their Facebook page.

While the specific cause of the closure has not been announced publicly, I must note Community is the 13th restaurant/bar with a late-night focus to close in downtown Bethesda since Montgomery County Council Hans Riemer's failed "nighttime economy" initiative.

Quincy's for lease in downtown Bethesda (Photos)

There have been rumors off-and-on about the owners of Quincy's getting the financial backing they need to reopen the shuttered bar at 4920 Del Ray Avenue. It's been vacant since March 2017. Those rumors now appear to be moot with the posting of for-lease signage at the building Friday. Quincy's was one of 12 downtown Bethesda nightspots to close, after Montgomery County Council President Hans Riemer's disastrous "nighttime economy" initiative ended up destroying the nighttime economy in downtown Bethesda.

Bethesda was hit the hardest by Riemer's fiasco of any town in the County. The other Quincy's locations remain open for business. To add insult to injury, Riemer had promised restaurant and bar owners he would end the County government's antiquated and arcane liquor sales monopoly, only to later do a 180° and take steps to preserve and strengthen that hated monopoly. That liquor regime alone puts a heavier financial burden on MoCo restaurateurs and bar owners, compared to their peers in D.C. and Virginia, in an already-slim profit margin business.

Cordell Ave. water main break worsens, WSSC finally responds (Photos)

The water main break that has been flowing on Cordell Avenue near Caddies, Alatri Bros. and Gringos & Mariachis for several days began spewing water out of the middle of the street yesterday. WSSC crews finally responded last evening, after letting the worsening leak run unchecked this week. Heavy ice and slush developed in the roadway, due to the widespread pooling Friday.

Firefighters investigating black smoke at Highland House in Friendship Heights

Montgomery County firefighters are responding to a report of black smoke coming from the roof of the Highland House apartments in Chevy Chase. Firefighters searching the basement, top floor and roof, and examining the building from the rear, both said there was "nothing evident," according to scanner reports. Further examination of a rooftop boiler indicated a malfunctioning unit, that was emitting black smoke. Firefighters will now check all stairwells, after confirming there was no smoke or fire on the 24th floor below the roof.

MoCo Council's war on the homeless spreads across the pond

The Montgomery County Council's war on the homeless, including a proposal to ban panhandling, appears to be contagious. A British official is demanding the Thames Valley police remove homeless people from the streets before the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, scheduled to take place on May 19 at Windsor Castle.

Our County Council has set a similar deadline. Claiming they will end homelessness by housing every single homeless person by December of this year, they conveniently are seeking to pass laws criminalizing homelessness, in an apparent scheme to drive the homeless away - - to make it appear they were successful.

But what's so interesting about the British case, is that Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council leader Simon Dudley's talking points are almost identical to those of our Montgomery County Council. "A large number of adults that are begging in Windsor are not in fact homeless," Dudley wrote to police, "and if they are homeless they are choosing to reject all support services ... In the case of homelessness amongst this group, it is therefore a voluntary choice.”

The Montgomery County Council, during their last attempt to pass the panhandling law, claimed that the homeless asking for money in Montgomery County are actually "professional panhandlers" who travel here from outside the County each day. They provided no evidence to support their claim. A national non-profit organization condemned the County's proposal at that time, writing that the Council was trying to "criminalize homelessness."

Similarly, homeless advocates in Windsor blasted Dudley for his claims. “For someone to ask for loose change, your self-esteem is at its lowest," Murphy James of the Windsor Homelessness Project told The Guardian. "No one does this from choice. We shouldn’t be demonising these people, but asking them what we can do to help.”

A public hearing will be held on the panhandling ban on January 30 at 1:30 PM at the County Council Office Building.

Bethesda Safeway stocked up for the bomb cyclone - and the next one (Photos)

We're having a hard time finding evidence of global warming in Bethesda right now, but there's no difficulty finding winter storm supplies at the Safeway at 5000 Bradley Boulevard. Even better, they are open 24 hours - - one of only four round-the-clock businesses left after the disastrous "nighttime economy" initiative of Montgomery County Council President "Helpless" Hans Riemer ended up wrecking downtown Bethesda's nighttime economy.

Windshield fluid/anti-freeze

Ice melter!

Firelog!

Snow shovels

Rock salt- and it's classic
Morton brand