What’s up (or down) with Friendship Heights?

[Anonymous]

Relocating to the area and looking for insights into FH.
I remember when it was a fancy and vibrant shopping and entertainment area. Then, stores, movie theater etc closed.
At a very recent visit I couldn’t quite figure out where FH is headed.
Still a lot of empty store windows but also some restaurants with people sitting outside, construction of the Mazda Gallery almost done, talk of a Trader Joe’s by years end but then still the empty lots and old Lord and Taylor building.
I’m looking to move to an area where there’s some neighborhood feel but still walkable to restaurants, stores, movies.
Are the surrounding neighborhoods of FH IT?

[Anonymous]

We do walk into FH to go to Sushiko and Junction. But, time will tell if the new construction at Mazza brings more shopping that we would actually walk to. It is nice that a bunch of our doctors are in FH and the kids’ tutor is there so many things are close. We live in Somerset so people are seeing their neighbors at the pool or walking their dogs in the neighborhood, not hanging out in FH.

[Anonymous]

OP do a search on here, there is a long thread from this year about the decline of FH. Some useful insights there.

[Anonymous]

It will be getting better with the new apartments almost done. It’s a nice, safe area with good metro access.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It will be getting better with the new apartments almost done. It’s a nice, safe area with good metro access.

+1

The Residences at Mazza -- a new apartment complex -- is ready for move-in in the summer of 2025. So that's good.

https://wtop.com/business-finance/2025/03/mazza-residences-now-leasing-a-penthouse-is-8500-a-month/

I leave within a miles of FH. It still seems OK, but not as lively as pre-COVID. There are still lots of medical offices in FH. And I believe that there are new condos coming where the old Brooks Brothers used to be. (Brooks Brothers moved across the street, so it's still on Wisconsin Ave.) https://friendshipheights.com/view/5500-wisconsin-avenue

FH is in a very nice area. You could live within walking distance of downtown Bethesda, in 20815 or 20816, and get all of the amenities that you're seeking. Downtown Bethesda is quite close to FH, perhaps 1 mile up the road (Wisconsin Ave).

[Anonymous]

In general, retail that relies on foot traffic is struggling due to competition and excess build out of stores.

To me, FH was for rich people, kind of like White Flint, which also fell hard. I shopped the same stores in both neighborhoods (Lord & Taylor and the Williams Sonoma family stores). I still miss Lord & Taylor for buying dresses but in general the price categories of merchandise offered in both neighborhoods were expensive without being truly exclusive. Decline was probably hastened by Boomers exiting peak fashion (not clothing, fashion) consumption years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP do a search on here, there is a long thread from this year about the decline of FH. Some useful insights there.

No, that thread is full of people who didn't even know about the construction and new stores coming in. Lots of trolls.

[Anonymous]

The Mazza rebuild will have first-floor retail (TJ Maxx and allegedly a Total Wine will be two of the tenants). The area across Wisconsin also is going to be redeveloped into something similar (I did see the other day that the Marshalls has permanently closed, perhaps in anticipation of the redevelopment). Trader Joe's will be open soon in the old H&M space.

There is just so much money in that area that it was only a matter of time before that whole strip was reimagined. It's going to bustling very soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP do a search on here, there is a long thread from this year about the decline of FH. Some useful insights there.

No, that thread is full of people who didn't even know about the construction and new stores coming in. Lots of trolls.

Yeah, that thread was full of people who obviously lived in like Manassas who hadn't stepped foot in DC since Barry was mayor. Most had absolutely no idea what they were talking about and sounded like clowns.

[Anonymous]

What friendship heights needs badly is for the GEICO campus to get redeveloped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Mazza rebuild will have first-floor retail (TJ Maxx and allegedly a Total Wine will be two of the tenants). The area across Wisconsin also is going to be redeveloped into something similar (I did see the other day that the Marshalls has permanently closed, perhaps in anticipation of the redevelopment). Trader Joe's will be open soon in the old H&M space.

There is just so much money in that area that it was only a matter of time before that whole strip was reimagined. It's going to bustling very soon.

+1 look up. Tons of cranes. Walkable, good schools, metro. It's all good

[Anonymous]

TJ Maxx and Marshall's have the same parent company.

Parent company is betting on improved results in a revived location.

If there's only 1 of the 2, instead of both, that's not a big financial add to the community. Just stronger results for the parent corporation.

TJ Maxx has been doing pretty well with the kind of shopper who browses as a pastime and buys more than expected. I do shop at TJ Maxx myself. However, it's pretty downscale. I've never been to any of the rumored high-end TJ Maxxes that have real designer stuff. This isn't going to get FH to where it used to be.

[Anonymous]

How are the plans to move the bus depot to the L&T space and redevelop the current depot space right on Wisconsin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ Maxx and Marshall's have the same parent company.

Parent company is betting on improved results in a revived location.

If there's only 1 of the 2, instead of both, that's not a big financial add to the community. Just stronger results for the parent corporation.

TJ Maxx has been doing pretty well with the kind of shopper who browses as a pastime and buys more than expected. I do shop at TJ Maxx myself. However, it's pretty downscale. I've never been to any of the rumored high-end TJ Maxxes that have real designer stuff. This isn't going to get FH to where it used to be.

Point me to one person who said TJ Maxx alone will be the driving force behind FH's rebirth. It's just going to be one option. The old one was always packed, as was the Marshals.

People have this idealized notion of what FH used to be. Let's be honest: Mazza Gallerie was basically a movie theater and a basement McDonald's sandwiching stores no one shopped at (especially after the Williams Sonoma closed). The reimagined strip will add considerably more life to the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are the plans to move the bus depot to the L&T space and redevelop the current depot space right on Wisconsin?

It seems as if the last project update was more than two years ago. I have no idea where it stands.

I do know that a whole lot of alleged YIMBYs in the neighborhood have turned into NIMBYs over the plan.