Bethesda

[tombarnes]

Sacks Neighborhood Possibly on the Block

The Sacks neighborhood, just west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of the Bethesda Metro station, is under fire from developers from Monument Realty who are itching to get their hands on the sixty or so houses in the well tended neighborhood. The area is in good shape, but its proximity to the Metro makes it a natural target for developers. Many who live in the neighborhood were tantalized by preliminary buyout ofers of over $3m. These have mostly been substantially reduced, but the idea is still sending a flutter through many a heart in the area. So far, the councli has left the area alone as a green space and buffer between downtown Bethesda and Friendship Heights, both of which have substantial high-rise developments. My vote is to keep it the way it is, but something tells me the bulldozers will be out before too long.

The Washington Post

[dgreco]

New Arena for Montgomery County

This is not in Bethesda, but in Montgomery county. Premier Basketball League Team Maryland Nighthawks will be building an arena that seats between 6,500 and 8,500 and expect tax revenues of over 2.5 million a year. The new arena will be the center of the PBL future. The President/CEO of the Maryland Nighthawks is also the Commissioner of the PBL. Hopefully this happens and will help bring other events like HS playoffs, All-America Games. and all that other stuff.

[dgreco]

Bethesda looking for development

They are looking to build new development in Lot 31 The only problem is they are taking away 250 parking spots to redevelop the land and add 800 spots. Seems like a bad use of money. Here are some of the questions that they posed:

*What are the public benefits to be derived, given the large public cost?

*Given its location within a block of a new Metro entrance and the Purple Line terminus, is more parking being provided than is necessary or desirable?

*Given that no added road capacity is being provided, how will the local streets operate with the traffic generated by the additional development?

[dgreco]

Goliath vs. Goliath tensions in Bethesda

High-Rising Tensions

Meridian Group is proposing to build a 200-foot-tall office building on top of the Bethesda Metro station. The proposal has faced opposition from large corporations that occupy the high-rises nearby.

Here is the picture from the washington post:

[tombarnes]

I really don't have a problem with the idea of another high-rise being built over the Bethesda Metro entrance. One more talll tower won't hurt downtown Bethesda. They may well have to adddress parking issues and so forth, but the idea of density there is a pretty good one.

[dgreco]

I really don't have a problem with the idea of another high-rise being built over the Bethesda Metro entrance. One more talll tower won't hurt downtown Bethesda. They may well have to adddress parking issues and so forth, but the idea of density there is a pretty good one.