Thursday, December 07, 2017

Proposed Bethesda residential tower could be tallest in town (Photos)

Developers unveiled plans for a new high-rise in downtown Bethesda, on the site of 7-Eleven and EagleBank, at the corner of Wisconsin and Fairmont Avenues at a public meeting last night. Bethmont, LLC, and Bethesda Land, LLC are partners on the mixed-use project; Design Collective is the architect, and VIKA will handle the engineering aspects.

Attorney Barbara Sears of Linowes & Blocher said the approval process for the 319-unit tower is expected to take twelve to eighteen months. Construction will take two years.

The building will feature 150 underground parking spaces, a lit top and sky lounge, and 8700 SF of retail space around the ground level. At least one resident at last night's meeting wanted 7-Eleven to return in that space, calling the popular convenience store "a valuable community amenity." Sears said a convenience store was not out of the question for the development.

Sears also said they were unable to coordinate a larger project with all of the landowners south of the site on that square block. She said the developers haven't yet determined whether the building will be marketed as rental apartments or condominiums. The tower could rival Carr Properties' 7272 Wisconsin project in height, with 30 stories or 290'.

The primary concern expressed by residents last night was the plan to place all vehicular access - resident garage and loading dock - on the Fairmont Avenue side of the building. Residents noted that most properties along Wisconsin and Woodmont Avenues have vehicular access from those routes, including the new Marriott headquarters and hotel, Flats at 8300 apartments and Fairmont Plaza directly across the street from this proposed project.








58 comments:

Anonymous said...

Big ride-sharing news this morning!

Anonymous said...

Only 150 parking spaces for 310 apartments?

Anonymous said...

Hi Robert you were there? I looked all over for you, I was hoping to meet you in person.

Anonymous said...

Further evidence that the diner will not survive. Every corner will be a tall building. The owner will make a fortune on the sale to be sure. But it won't be long.

Anonymous said...

11:27 AM The Tastee ship may have sailed. Can their property alone support a highrise like this?

Anonymous said...

The Tastee building is going to go for a fraction of the amount that was offered by Marriott.

Anonymous said...

11:42 AM What a shame. The retiring owner could have set up his family in a better position by selling to Marriott. Dyer's reporting was that Woodmont Grill wouldn't sell (confirmed by a Marriott spox), making Tastee less valuable alone.

Anonymous said...

My my my, all this development certainly does run counter to the author's "moribund economy" narrative...

Anonymous said...

"Dyer's reporting was that Woodmont Grill wouldn't sell (confirmed by a Marriott spox), making Tastee less valuable alone."

Nice try, but that wasn't what your signed self reported at all. You reported that the sale was a done deal, then desperately tried to backtrack when you were shown to be wrong.

Veritas vos verabit.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait till the dramatic views from the south side of this building, of the Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Washington skyline is blocked by an identical building just 20 feet away.

Anonymous said...

1:09 PM With coordination, a combined development for the entire block would have been more satisfying. Perhaps with more retail mixed in than this plan.

1:04 PM Dyer had reporting that the deal was contingent on Woodmont Grill selling as well.

Anonymous said...

#UnsignedDyer @ 1:20 PM:

Nice try, but that wasn't what your signed self reported at all. You reported that the sale was a done deal, then desperately tried to backtrack when you were shown to be wrong.

Anonymous said...

1:40 PM Dyer had extensive reporting on this. He reported the sale was contingent on the Woodmont Grill being sold. His reporting was confirmed at a public meeting.

Anonymous said...

Keep on lying about what you actually wrote, #UnsignedDyer.

Anonymous said...

Too bad you could not stack the images in the order that they were presented...

I did not see a ground level plan to understand the lobby and retail layout.

Looks like lots of solid walls facing south as the project abuts the south property line. I sure hope that something could be built on the south side to block these solid walls. Of course this will create a 29 story light well for the interior units. How pleasant!

Of course I think that there is some discussion to expand Veterans Park onto this parcel. Was that discussed at the meeting? If it becomes a park, we get to see those solid walls forever, especially during events at the future expanded Veterans Park with music amphitheater as proposed in the recent design guidelines, Option C I believe.

Anonymous said...

I believe his original report said it was a done deal. Later he said of course it was contingent on Woodmont Grill.

Anonymous said...

Narcissistic rage. Robert’s unable to just simply admit he made a mistake.

Robert Dyer said...

6:11: I didn't make a mistake. My report was confirmed 100% by Marriott at the public meeting, before a crowded room of witnesses. Hopefully you're not the moron who's been talking to himself all afternoon in the above comments.

Anonymous said...

The only words said at that meeting in relation to the claim that Tastee was being sold, were "that ship has already sailed".

Prior to that you had reported that it was a done deal, without any qualifications.

Anonymous said...

They are going to have at risk windows on the south side.

Anonymous said...

Robert, if have analytics and you know your readership numbers, they will also tell you these are individual commenters. Or you’re just flat out lying about one or the other.

Anonymous said...

"My report was confirmed 100% by Marriott at the public meeting, before a crowded room of witnesses."

So why don't you ask one of those dozens of witnesses to comment here, to confirm your claim?

Boyce Bowles said...

Lets be clear: Dyer's reporting was 100% confirmed at a public meeting earlier this year.

Robert Dyer said...

7:05: It was a done deal. But only an idiot would not understand that the Tastee site was contingent on the property in=between it and Marriott. Don't blame your lack of knowledge of real estate on me. Marriott confirmed my scoop at the meeting. I understand competing outlets were frustrated they didn't have the sources inside the Marriott negotiations that I did.

Anonymous said...

Dyer, for the umpteenth time, your articles (February 23, repeated April 24) about your "rumor" that Tastee had agreed to sell, said nothing about any contingency relating to Woodmont Grill.

And the Marriott representatives at the meeting on August 10 said nothing to confirm your "rumor".

Anonymous said...

Tastee's owner literally - and unequivocally - pointed to your reporting as false. He plainly said to multiple outlets that Marriott and he hadn't reached an agreement and that he was never offered $7M by Marriott. How many times do we have to have this inane conversation in these comments? What's next, we're going to rehash your false story about Kaldi's?

Anonymous said...

9:30 PM Reporting from sources is not a "rumor".

9:38 PM The deal was contingent on Woodmont Grill selling. I feel bad for the Tastee owner- missed out big time. Dyer's reporting was confirmed at a public meeting as has been mentioned.

Anonymous said...

Tastee and Woodmont Grill owners are such assholes for not selling. Now we're all stuck with overhead power lines and an unusably small sidewalk. Not to mention Tastee's atrocious dump of a building.

Anonymous said...

"Dyer's reporting was confirmed at a public meeting as has been mentioned."

No it wasn't and stop pretending you're not Dyer.

Robert Dyer said...

9:38: You're a complete moron if you believed what he said publicly. No party was allowed to discuss the terms of the agreement before the ultimate execution of it, which was deep=sixed by Woodmont Grill. Your complete lack of knowledge of real estate transactions is painfully clear.

To top it off, those "multiple outlets" each plagiarized parts of my Tastee scoops, including Bethesda Magazine, and the esteemed Washington Post, without correctly citing my enterprising reporting as the source.

I love the Kaldi's story - they posted in an ad online that they were closing their doors, and liquidating everything. If you think I can be blamed for that, you're even more of an idiot than we all realized. You're headed back to prison, and it sounds like you may end up sharing a cell with your boss Hans, hobo.

Robert Dyer said...

11:04: I don't even have a clue what you're talking about at this point, dumpster diver. My Tastee Diner scoops were so "made up" that they were plagiarized by Bethesda Magazine and the Washington Post without proper citation crediting me. It was relevant to mention Hans because both of you are jailbirds who may wind up together in the clink after a perp walk outside 100 Maryland Avenue. Baba Booey to y'all.

Anonymous said...

Are you going to address this comment?

“Robert, if have analytics and you know your readership numbers, they will also tell you these are individual commenters. Or you’re just flat out lying about one or the other.”

Which is it?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous9:38 PM
Tastee's owner literally - and unequivocally - pointed to your reporting as false. He plainly said to multiple outlets that Marriott and he hadn't reached an agreement and that he was never offered $7M by Marriott.


So is Dyer just plain calling the Tastee owner a liar then?

Anna said...

Thankfully, we have the integrity and credibility of Boyce Bowles to confirm Dyer's claim. "Let's be clear."

Robert Dyer said...

4:16: Did you even read my response at 10:07? If you had, you would know that the owner of Tastee - and Marriott themselves - were forbidden to disclose terms of the agreement they had reached in advance of the rest of the land acquisitions and approvals going through. What about this standard confidentiality in any major real estate deal do you not understand?

The only way to know any terms of the agreement was to have inside sources to leak the information, as I had.

I realize you're frustrated. I realize my competitors were frustrated, and then had to plagiarize. But just think, your boss Hans now has a criminal record to add to his non-existent legislative record on the Council. No wonder you're losing it and spending hours trolling Bethesda's leading source for news.

4:15: In fact, analytics show a huge chunk of my traffic coming from Montgomery County government servers. My blog is obviously a must-read and must-troll for the MoCo political cartel.

Anonymous said...

4:16 AM Tastee's owner is a business man, trying to a close a deal. He wasn't able to.
Dyer had reporting saying it was contingent on the Woodmont Grill also selling. This was confirmed in a public meeting, not a rumor! Calling this a "rumor" was fake news from another writer.

Anonymous said...

Hey Dyer, next time wait more than just one minute before giving yourself an "anonymous" Attaboy.

Anonymous said...

Back on topic, does anyone know the status of a Verterans Park expansion south of this project, and how it might impact this design? I have been to Union Hardware, and it seems to be a very nice place. I believe that they own the building and are not just a tenant. How this southern site works how will really impact the entrance to the Woodmont Triangle District from Wisconsin. At this point, that portal would be framed by a 22 story office building on the south and this 30 story residential tower on the north, both about 290’ tall, plus mechcanical penthouses.

Tastee and the Woodmont Grill would be one story uses on the south side of this gateway, unless these sites are redeveloped. I would assume they would need to be combined to create a reasonable site are to be redevelped.

Anonymous said...

"In fact, analytics show a huge chunk of my traffic coming from Montgomery County government servers"

No it doesn't. Not true. No way you could proof that. More of your lies.

Robert Dyer said...

6:39: Union Hardware and that side of the square block are not part of this project, so that park idea is still on hold for now.

7:03: Again, you speak of things you know nothing about. Google Analytics shows a significant chunk of daily traffic coming from Montgomery County government servers. Period. It says it right in the results.

Anonymous said...

You can say anything. Doesn't make it true. More lies. Show us the results.

Anonymous said...

Can we get Hans Riemer back on a trampoline, so he can finish himself off.. Maybe he could collide with Berliner head to head and we get a twofer..

Anonymous said...

So Robert are you saying you think all that traffic from Montgomery County government servers is one “moron that’s been talking to himself all afternoon”?

Anonymous said...

6:39 AM The union hardware guy is kind of nut, right? He built a toilet car (he even took a former blogger for a joy ride on it) and his major redevelopment plan was to put a black box theater on the site. Even though no one in the community wants a black box theater on that site.

I'm not surprised he fumbled any plan to assemble properties at this site.

Anonymous said...

The Union Hardware may be eccentric but he's no nut. Smart as a fox? Yes. He owns two buildings on the block his store is on. He'll wait until the best offer comes through and then it's off to Bermuda. He'll make millions.

Anna said...

12:24PM, it sounds like he's saying most of his traffic comes from one guy using county servers? So most of his traffic is one guy?

Robert Dyer said...

6:20: No, it's just a sizable chunk of traffic each day comes from multiple people using the County's web servers. It's a must-read site. Councilmembers Berliner. Leventhal and Floreen have told me they read it, and we know many of the others do but just don't want to talk about it. Elrich's chief of staff commented before. And we see the anonymous lackey for Hans on here daily.

Anna said...

How can you tell it's multiple people? Google Analytics can't tell you that. How can you tell who the people are? You can't.
What you can see it how many times county servers have contacted your server for information.

Robert Dyer said...

6:54: I already told you 5 people who are known to read it from the County. Who cares? It's only a fraction of my traffic, but a must-read for County officials.

Anna said...

No, you said a "sizable chunk" right up there @6:39AM.
Now, @7:28AM it's only a "fraction of my traffic."

You know what comes next...the b word. BACKPEDALING

So...you say Who Cares? that you can't tell if it's 1 person or multiple people or
who they are. Well, you must because you keep inferring you do.

Anonymous said...

The man who posts as "Anna" is telling Robert about his own first party analytics now. Please stay in your lane.

"HypeStat" (whatever that is) doesn't have Robert's first party data. Stop posting phony numbers from phony sources.

Unless Dyer is working with another vendor, only his Google Analytics data is accurate.

Anonymous said...

9:46 and do you have access? Sit down please as well.

Anna said...

9:46AM - Is this how you marginalize women who speak up? Interesting. Using false accusations and veiled threats? I feel sorry for you.

I'd have to respect your opinion to be offended by it.


Anna said...

Funny how I makes a valid provable comment and suddenly "anonymous" is there questioning my existence all over again.

Anyone with a general idea of how Google Analytics works or someone who uses it themselves would know what data you can and can't get.

Anonymous said...

"Stay in your lane"

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2017/11/loft-living-closes-in-bethesda-will.html

"Andy Van Slyke" said... (November 1)

"10:20 AM Stay in your lane and leave site analytics to Dyer. You don't have his data. Full stop."

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2017/11/loft-living-closes-in-bethesda-will.html


"Boyce Bowles" said... (September 18)

"Unless Dyer is making a play for doctor's waiting rooms, then no other publisher 'owns' him.

"Dyer has his own unique audience: influential, affluent, younger compared to a print Magazine.

"I think he can cede the waiting room crowd to others. Stay in your lane."

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2017/09/fox-5-to-move-station-headquarters-to.html


Anonymous said... (June 5)

"7:25 AM: Please stay in your lane!

"Why aren't you criticizing the anonymous negative former blogger troll that is obsessed with personal details about Robert Dyer?"

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2017/06/moco-regency-centers-file-motions-to.html

Anonymous said...

“Google Analytics shows a significant chunk of daily traffic coming from Montgomery County government servers”

Google Analytics does not make this kind of information available. Doing so would be an egregious breach of user privacy.

#DyerTheLiar

Anonymous said...

Robert Dyer: "You can't comment on [Bethesda Beat] without signing in and giving up your IP address."

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-barbershop-grand-opening-in-pike.html

Robert Dyer said...

9:44: Sorry, punk, that information is indeed in Google Analytics.

12:58: You obviously don't know what an IP address is. They do get it, and that's how they (through their comment hosting provider) can ban an idiot like you from their site. Please take a Computer 101 course as soon as possible, hobo.