Bethesda construction update: 7340 Wisconsin Avenue (Photos)

Yesterday, I reported that the tower crane assembly for the 7340 Wisconsin Avenue development is now scheduled for April 13, 2024. Today, we are taking a look at the excavation work and other preparations that have been made at the former gas station property so far. As you can see, that work has advanced very quickly. 

Surprisingly, the former Pines of Rome and Tommy Joe's properties are no longer part of this project, as they had originally been assembled with the Exxon station for a bigger lot by former landowner Douglas Development. The gas station property sat vacant for many years, but current developer Greystar has moved swiftly once approvals and environmental remediation were out of the way.

Work begins on construction of The Claiborne in Bethesda

After years of expectation, work has now officially begun on The Claiborne, a boutique luxury condo building that will rise at 4820 Auburn Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Excavation began Tuesday at the site. There are still some vacant buildings left to be demolished.

Excavation for self-storage building begins at edge of Moses African Cemetery site in Bethesda

A day after Bethesda residents marched in a Black Lives Matter parade, heavy equipment was moved onto the site of a former auto repair facility behind the Bethesda McDonald's on River Road. And Thursday, those machines were digging up the property, which became embroiled in the controversial case of the Moses African Cemetery in recent years. The parcel being dug up is directly adjacent to the cemetery, which was already desecrated by a construction crew building the Westwood Tower apartments in the late 1960s.

Leaders of the nearby Macedonia Baptist Church on River Road and cemetery advocates had fought the proposed self-storage project's approval. Outlet Road, on the McDonald's side of the property, was once the route of funeral processions from the church to the cemetery.

Part of the property that literally was part of the burial site was hastily transferred from the property owner to Montgomery County at the behest of the Mongomery County Planning Board, which has blocked every effort to identify gravesites across the entire cemetery, which lies beneath asphalt and fill dirt. Board Chair Casey Anderson infamously called police on African-American church leaders and protesters at several board meetings, including the one where he and the board unanimously approved the self-storage project.

In a County that pledged "Black Lives Matter" verbally this week, the white Anderson faced no blowback from his Democratic colleagues in political office nor the press, despite national campaigns exhorting whites to "stop calling the police" as a convenient way to remove an inconvenient situation involving African-Americans such as this. When my camera came out to capture the scene, reporters for the Washington Post and other local media outlets conspicuously put theirs away. Anderson was unanimously reappointed chair of the board by the all-Democrat Montgomery County Council last year, despite his actions, and over the objections of the black community and progressive activists. In fact, Anderson continues to be rewarded for his loyal work on behalf of the Montgomery County political cartel, including being named "Montgomery County's Most Influential Person" by The Seventh State's Adam Pagnucco this year. Anderson is "one of the greatest planning board chairs ever," Pagnucco gushed, predicting the County will bear Anderson's stamp "for the next 50 years."

Protests against the self-storage project centered around two concerns. First, the County consistently blocked efforts to identify specific gravesites, and the piece the landowner transferred to the County meant that once again cemetery advocates would be blocked from any archaeological investigation on that plot.

The second concern relates to a common phenomenon in historic African-American cemeteries, many of which - like this one - have been neglected, or built over by developers: cemetery boundaries were often unclear. Sometimes casket would be mistakenly buried over the official boundary of the graveyard. So while the portion of the property being redeveloped for the self-storage building was not part of the cemetery according to land records, there is a legitimate fear that remains buried over the property line by mistake could be disturbed by the excavation and construction. Or, given the construction method planned for the building, any such graves might simply end up under a self-storage facility.

Calls for an archaeological study to ensure this did not happen were rebuffed by County officials, just as they were in the larger case of the cemetery portion that belonged to Equity One and - later - the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission. As of now, construction on the River Road site is full-speed-ahead.

Bethesda construction update: Edgemont II (Photos)

Excavation is now underway at the site of the future Edgemont II high-rise, at the corner of Woodmont Avenue and Edgemoor Lane. You wouldn't even know how far they've progressed if you didn't look from the Edgemoor side of the property, as you can see in the bottom photos here.

A junior-senior duo of excavators were hard at work at the property. Big excavator and small excavator were each doing their part to prepare a new section of underground garage, which will be accessed from the existing garage under The Edgemont next door.

Tastee Diner assembles team to protect their property interests during Marriott HQ construction

Downtown Bethesda landmark Tastee Diner will have a front row seat for the imminent excavation and construction of the new Marriott headquarters and hotel at 7750 Wisconsin Avenue. Deep excavations that go right up to the property line can sometimes be too close for comfort, and tower crane overswing agreements have to be worked out with adjoining property owners. To that end, the ownership of the diner is retaining a team of professionals, to watch out for the best interests of the property during the construction.

The diner will be represented by the law firm of Silver, McGowan & Silver, P.C. Local architect Steven J. Karr, AIA, is being retained as the owner's representative, agent and project gatekeeper. Rogan Stearns, P.E. of Stearns Engineering will be the consulting structural engineer, and the geotechnical engineer for Tastee will be Gerry Davit, P.E. of Professional Consulting Corporation.

Karr will play a key role in assisting Tastee's legal representation in negotiating a Support Structure and Crane Overswing Agreement with The Bernstein Companies and Boston Properties, who own the Marriott site. He will also review project plans, and coordinate with both Tastee's attorney and the Marriott project team throughout the excavation and construction. Karr will also monitor any physical impacts of the Marriott work on the Tastee building and property.

Tastee Diner is located at 7731 Woodmont Avenue, at the rear western corner of the Marriott site. Marriott actively sought to assemble the diner and Woodmont Grill properties into its headquarters site, but the plan was scuttled after the latter declined to sell.

BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: THE LAUREN ULTRA-LUXURY CONDOS (PHOTOS)

Construction is still in the early stages at the Hampden Lane site of the future ultra-luxury condos called The Lauren. Schnabel (whose logo you will see on a piledriver in these photos) is a foundation and earth retention firm, and that's where this project is at for the moment. 

You can see that piles have been driven into the earth around the edges of the lot. Unlike some stick-built projects (such as the old Arlington Road post office site), The Lauren will have a 2-level underground parking garage, requiring significant excavation, if not to the extreme of the Lot 31 site a 2 blocks south on Woodmont Avenue.

EXCAVATION BEGINS AT THE LAUREN SITE, SIDEWALK REOPENS (PHOTOS)

Give the developers and construction contractors of The Lauren ultra-luxury condos credit - they have reopened the sidewalk along the Woodmont Avenue side of the property. That's notable in a time when pedestrians are having a hard time navigating many streets in downtown Bethesda due to construction.

The debris of The Hampden apartments has been cleared, and the site graded. Now they are digging, and progress appeared to be made even further on that Sunday.

An open sidewalk - imagine that!

Condo owners will have
a service station-garage-style
auto lift option for their
parking space in
The Lauren's garage

7700 NORFOLK LUXURY APARTMENTS BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE (PHOTOS)

Here are photos of the latest excavation and progress at the construction site of JBG's 7700 Norfolk luxury apartment tower (click photos to enlarge for detail):

THE LAUREN ULTRA-LUXURY CONDOS - BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

We've been hearing mostly about the marketing campaign for The Lauren, a boutique, ultra-luxury condo building to be constructed on the site of one of the few remaining affordable apartment buildings at 4901 Hampden Lane. Now Montgomery County has issued the builder a sheeting and shoring permit. Sheeting and shoring refer to the temporary bracing utilized to protect both project construction workers, and nearby structures, during excavation and foundation work.

MOCO INSPECTOR GENERAL CLEARS COUNTY PERMITTING DEPARTMENT IN BAINBRIDGE-FRESH GRILL BUILDING DAMAGE COMPLAINT

I've promised to keep you updated on the soap opera involving the condemnation of the building housing Fresh Grill on Fairmont Avenue, and I just uncovered some more information.

The most intriguing twist? An engineering firm currently retained by Montgomery County to inspect and solve the Silver Spring Transit Center fiasco, claimed the Fresh Grill building was not in danger of collapse from the Bainbridge excavation next door.

This directly contradicts the findings of another firm retained by White Flint Express Realty Group LLP (owner of the damaged buildings at 4909 and 4905 Fairmont Avenue), which I reported on last September.

Despite the acknowledgment of cracks in the Fresh Grill structure by both the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services (DPS), and White Flint's consultant, a third firm - KCE Structural Engineers - (retained by Bainbridge) asserted that the "buildings are not in imminent danger of collapse, nor must the tenants or their visitors be removed due to safety concerns caused by the [Bainbridge] construction."

The Bainbridge is a 17-story, luxury residential building under construction at 4918 St. Elmo Avenue, in downtown Bethesda.

According to a Montgomery County Inspector General's Office (OIG) report, KCE asserted a second time that the Fairmont Avenue buildings were in no danger of collapse.

But weeks later, on May 9, 2012, KCE advised its client, Bainbridge, to cease construction near the damaged buildings, and proposed a remediation plan for the Fairmont Avenue properties. DPS found the plan satisfactory, and allowed the Bainbridge project to resume eventually.

The Bainbridge construction was going full steam again by late 2012.

But White Flint continued to argue their buildings on Fairmont were in danger of collapse.

On November 13, 2012, White Flint brought photos of cracks and other damage to the Inspector General's office.

OIG met with DPS officials 3 days later, and the latter again confirmed that work should continue on the Bainbridge, and that KCE's remediation plan was satisfactory.

White Flint pressed forward on several specific complaints against DPS:

Allegation 1: DPS improperly permitted the continuation of work on the project.

OIG concluded this accusation was unfounded, that DPS had performed at least 100 on-site inspections, and had adhered to county code in every respect.

Allegation 2: DPS unlawfully delegated review and approval authority of the plan and its implementation to the owner of the Bainbridge.

OIG concluded KCE was a fully-credentialed firm, and that DPS was correct in accepting their technical expertise in allowing construction to resume.

Allegation 3: DPS made an incomplete investigation, because the Bainbridge's consultants falsely advised DPS that they were denied access to White Flint property.

OIG reported that White Flint demanded Bainbridge sign a document that could have had legal implications in the dispute. Therefore, Bainbridge was unable to inspect the site, even though Bainbridge and DPS wanted to carry out such an inspection.

Allegation 4: No valid Traffic Control Plan exists and DPS has been allowing Bainbridge to violate the law regarding construction work in the right-of-way.

OIG said the Traffic Control permits issued to Bainbridge remain in effect through completion of the project, despite the delay caused by the excavation controversy.

Furthermore, OIG says DPS has, in fact, issued citations to Bainbridge on several occasions for "illegal activity in the right-of-way."

Summarizing the findings, OIG concluded:

"We found no evidence that would substantiate the allegations made in this complaint against DPS. We draw no conclusions about whether or to what extent the [Bainbridge] construction has damaged White Flint property. Accordingly, no further investigation by the OIG and no recommendation or follow-up action is required."

So, as of this point, it appears White Flint will have to pursue its complaints in the court system.

As such, don't expect any of the parties to speak about the matter publicly.

Fresh Grill remains caught in the middle of this mess. If one believes the KCE report, technically, Fresh Grill could have reopened by now. But because their building's owner maintains the structure is unsafe, the restaurant remains in limbo at the moment.

EXCAVATION BEGINS AT FORMER ARLINGTON ROAD POST OFFICE SITE IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

The developer of a mixed-use project on the former site of the Arlington Road post office in Bethesda is wasting no time.

After demolishing the post office building, crews are now beginning the excavation process.

Oops. They've also ripped the Adopt-a-Road sign out of the ground and thrown it aside. Arlington Road's foster parents are not getting their money's worth.