Bethesda restaurant shut down by Montgomery County health department (Photos)

Bistro LaZeez, located at 8009 Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda, has been shut down by the Montgomery County health department. The restaurant has been closed for at least a week, but an official County notice appeared on the front of the building yesterday, forbidding Bistro LaZeez from serving food or beverages until further notice. It is dated February 8, 2018.

While health inspection records show inspectors found "critical violations" of the County health code inside the restaurant last fall, they also show that those violations had been corrected. There is no indication of why the restaurant has been closed recently, nor what the health department's reason was for now shutting it down.

Bethesda construction update: Brightview Bethesda (Photos)

There has been so much breaking news over the last month, I have fallen behind on a couple of the construction projects in the Woodmont Triangle. Here are some photos from the site of the future Brightview Bethesda. Donohoe is the construction contractor for the project, which is a senior assisted living apartment building at 4907 Rugby Avenue.

4 Bethesda Metro Center could have 600 apartments under residential option

Brookfield's sketch plan documents for its 4 Bethesda Metro Center project lay out two main options for the development: 500,000 GFA of office and retail space, or 500,000 GFA of residential and retail. Under the latter option, there could be as many as 600 residential units in the building, which would sit atop the Bethesda Metro station.

4 Bethesda Metro Center can
be as tall as 290'

The height of the building is limited to 290' by the Bethesda Downtown sector plan. Studio, IBR, 2BR and 3BR units are expected to be offered, if the residential option is chosen. These are new details that were not yet determined at Brookfield's presentation last fall.

Slapfish to open at Montrose Crossing

Slapfish will be in the space at right

Fast-casual seafood chain Slapfish will open a restaurant this year at the Montrose Crossing shopping center. It will be located in the new retail structure facing Rockville Pike, in the space next to Honeygrow, which is now open. While Slapfish has primarily been a western U.S. chain, it is making inroads here in the Mid-Atlantic now, with another location planned for One Loudoun.

Fish tacos, shrimp burritos, fish sandwiches, chowder fries and a variety of lobster dishes are just some of the items on the menu. Slapfish will also work seafood from our region into the choices. Whether they can make work what Lobster ME couldn't, will be interesting to watch.

Small changes to Edgemont II high-rise plan, some action on Christopher condo's complaints (Photos)

Attendees at a required public meeting for the proposed Edgemont II residential building last night didn't hear any major changes to the plan introduced last year. Most notably, the number of units was reduced from 175 to 160. Several small changes and clarifications by developer Equity Residential were in response to comments made at that previous meeting, however.

Equity Residential's Ben Stoll said the facade treatments for the south side of the building were revised, the Woodmont Avenue sidewalk will get Bethesda Streetscape-design upgrades, and power lines will be buried. The building will still be 15 stories, but the gap between it and the existing Christopher condo tower is now described as being 43 feet. Several illustrations showed how the building will look from units in The Christopher that will face it.

Many in the audience were residents of The Christopher. Stoll had some news regarding their complaint last time that the rooftop machinery on the existing Edgemont building was generating excessive noise. He said they have done some maintenance on the equipment with those complaints in mind. Stoll added that they are also considering adding a screen to reduce the noise level as heard inside The Christopher.

Stoll said Equity's project, and the nearby ZOM project, will improve the pedestrian atmosphere. There still is no street-level retail to activate the area, which is quite dead after business hours, and fenced in by many walls - and buildings that present themselves onto Woodmont as walls. The design does have a graceful curve that mirrors the bend of Woodmont in front of the property.

Shadow study representing
9:30 AM on September 21

Equity expects a 2nd Quarter 2019 groundbreaking, followed by two years of construction.

September 21 shadow study
from a different angle

Shadows at noon on
March 21

Sample views of the Edgemont II
as seen from The Christopher

Woodmont Grill parking lot cut in half (Photos)

The customer parking for Woodmont Grill at 7715 Woodmont Avenue was cut in half yesterday. Half was fenced off, and the Wisconsin Avenue entrance to the lot was sealed. Woodmont Grill does not own or control their parking lot, so this was likely a closure related to the impending construction of the Marriott headquarters and hotel. The adjacent Bethesda Court Hotel was closed last week for the same reason.

Woodmont Grill's lot recently made news in another Marriott-related kerfuffle, as patrons found themselves suddenly being charged a parking fee. The parent company of Woodmont Grill did not have any say in that decision, either. Losing 50% of their parking is likely to have an impact on the restaurant, which is reputed to have the highest volume in sales of any dining establishment downtown.

Apex Building obliterated in Bethesda (Photos)

The Apex Building at 7272 Wisconsin Avenue is pretty much gone, its demolition restoring temporarily the view from the Wisconsin Avenue bridge over the former CSX railroad tracks (now the Capital Crescent Trail) as it was before the late 1980s. Carr Properties is building a mixed-use tower on the site, which has already signed Fox 5 as a tenant. A Purple Line station will also be built underneath the new development. The Apex Building was best known over the years for former tenants United Artists Bethesda 10, a.k.a. "UA"/Regal Cinemas Bethesda 10 and UNO Pizzeria & Grill.

My Eye Dr. installs sign at new Bethesda location (Photos)

The permanent sign has been installed and lit at the new My Eye Dr. location, opening soon at 4917 Elm Street. They will relocate there from around the corner at Bethesda Row, where their original address is 7254 Woodmont Avenue.

Teavana closes, Specs reopens, Patrizia Luca moves at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda (Photos)

Teavana, as expected, has closed and cleared out of its space at Westfield Montgomery Mall. This is the second time Teavana has opened and closed at the mall. In a similarly-indecisive move, Specs New York has reopened in its same spot, after closing and emptying out its store a month ago. Perhaps it was simply the Mandela effect? One retailer not in its same spot is Patrizia Luca, which abruptly moved from a prime spot by the Apple Store to a new one over near Nordstrom. Rounding out news from the mall, is some Coming Soon signage for lingerie retailer Intimissimi.

An empty Teavana

Changed their mind and
reopened at Specs New York

Patrizia Luca closed here...

...and moved over here

Intimissimi coming soon

Tesla Supercharger stations to be constructed at Westfield Montgomery Mall (Photos)

Tesla has big plans to construct Supercharger stations at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The company already has what it calls a Destination charging station in the Nordstrom garage. Now the electric car brand plans to install Supercharger stations in that garage, and in the second garage by ArcLight Cinemas.

Tesla Supercharger station at
RIO/Washingtonian Center in
Gaithersburg

Each Supercharger station will have 12 charging spaces for Tesla owners, and the required cabinets and transformers. The mall previously had a small Supercharger station, but it was removed in June 2016. Supercharger stations require as short as a 20 minute stop to reach a 50% charge, while Destination charging stations are for drivers who plan to spend a few hours charging.

Like Westfield Montgomery Mall,
RIO is right at an off-ramp from I-270

The Supercharger equipment is larger, and looks like what you see in these photos from the RIO/Washingtonian Center garage in Gaithersburg, which currently has a Supercharger station. Superchargers are designed for interstate highway-proximate locations such as malls, grocery stores, and urban centers where Tesla drivers can shop, dine or take advantage of entertainment options while charging. The Owner App alerts the driver when the car is charged.

Supercharger parking sign
at RIO

Tesla says it expects the Montgomery Mall Supercharger stations to open by the end of this year. In Maryland, the company says, the current cost of Supercharging is $0.16 per kWh. Model S and X owners receive 400 kWh per year for free.

Tesla Destination charging station
in use now at Westfield Montgomery Mall

A Model X charging at
Montgomery Mall

Destination charger at
Montgomery Mall

The equipment may be different,
but still, Tesla Parking Only!

Save Westbard to file injunction against new Regency Centers plan

Save Westbard, the citizen organization that has led the legal fight against the Westbard sector plan, will file an injunction in court this week against developer Regency Centers' revised development plan. The injunction will ask the court to bar Regency from filing its new plan with Montgomery County until a ruling has been handed down in the original sector plan lawsuit.

The original lawsuit cited three grounds on which the May 2016 passage of the Westbard sector plan can be deemed illegal. It requested the plan be returned to the Planning Board and County Council to fulfill legal requirements that were not observed by either body. The lawsuit was filed by several community residents against Montgomery County, and the County Housing Opportunities Commission.

Documentary on 9/11 first responders coping with PTSD to screen in Bethesda Feb. 15

A new documentary focusing on the struggles first responders to the 9/11 terror attacks have with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will screen on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 7:00 PM, at the Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema. Corridor Four follows the challenges Isaac Ho’opi’i confronts follwing that tragic event, and his attempts to overcome them with the support of his family, and his love of Hawaiian music. A Q&A with the filmmakers will follow the screening.

Tickets are available online. The 81-minute film is not rated, but some material may be inappropriate for children under the age of 13.