Wisconsin Ave Development Project

[Anonymous]

I have young adult children, and they are definitely not seeking 700 square foot 1 1/2 bedroom condos. They want three bedroom townhouses under 2000 square feet for under a million. Do such homes exist? All the new townhouses I see are $2 million and 3000 square feet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, Trader Joe's is coming to Chevy Chase Pavillion.

FH could be incredible if it was connected on the MD side. You could create another Reston Town Center or whatever they call the area in Rockville/North Bethesda with the REI and LL Bean.

You have a wasted surface lot behind the new Mazza replacement, wasted surface lot at the Saks in CC MD. You have the Lord & Taylor site...it seems crazy to turn that into the new bus depot...although I guess that opens up development of the current bus depot.

It needs to be far more mixed-use...apartments, retail, entertainment (Dave & Busters, Pinstripes type places), etc.

Turning Friendship Heights and AU Park into some high rise city with Dave & Busters? No thanks.

That would be awesome. Right now it is basically nothing and wont be converted into a SFH or open space area…so what would you suggest?

BTW…I don’t care nor even understand what Smart growth is. I want a fun, dynamic destination with lots for everyone to do.

Building lots of townhouses makes more sense than apartments and condos. Increasing density without drastically altering the area.

the region invested billions into the metro station. you don't build low density townhouses on top of such a regional investment.

I get it, you live in a single family home not far from Friendship Heights. You chose to purchase there based on proximity to metro and other amenities. Guess what, other people want to enjoy the same benefits. You can enjoy what you have and let new people also enjoy it as well.

[Anonymous]

But do working class families want to live in condos or will they move to the suburbs where townhouses are available. I still say what we really need in this city are modest townhouses under a million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have young adult children, and they are definitely not seeking 700 square foot 1 1/2 bedroom condos. They want three bedroom townhouses under 2000 square feet for under a million. Do such homes exist? All the new townhouses I see are $2 million and 3000 square feet.

There is nothing west of the Park or close in Chevy Chase/Bethesda for under a million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But do working class families want to live in condos or will they move to the suburbs where townhouses are available. I still say what we really need in this city are modest townhouses under a million.

For now, they are in parts of the city east and south of the Mall. In another 5 years, they won't be under a million either.

[Anonymous]

There's just not sufficient demand for all these tiny condos. City Ridge is not rented and their opening another building next door. That plus the wardman, chevy chase, and friendship heights? Who is going to live in all these condos? Vacancy rates are high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, Trader Joe's is coming to Chevy Chase Pavillion.

FH could be incredible if it was connected on the MD side. You could create another Reston Town Center or whatever they call the area in Rockville/North Bethesda with the REI and LL Bean.

You have a wasted surface lot behind the new Mazza replacement, wasted surface lot at the Saks in CC MD. You have the Lord & Taylor site...it seems crazy to turn that into the new bus depot...although I guess that opens up development of the current bus depot.

It needs to be far more mixed-use...apartments, retail, entertainment (Dave & Busters, Pinstripes type places), etc.

Turning Friendship Heights and AU Park into some high rise city with Dave & Busters? No thanks.

That would be awesome. Right now it is basically nothing and wont be converted into a SFH or open space area…so what would you suggest?

BTW…I don’t care nor even understand what Smart growth is. I want a fun, dynamic destination with lots for everyone to do.

Building lots of townhouses makes more sense than apartments and condos. Increasing density without drastically altering the area.

the region invested billions into the metro station. you don't build low density townhouses on top of such a regional investment.

I get it, you live in a single family home not far from Friendship Heights. You chose to purchase there based on proximity to metro and other amenities. Guess what, other people want to enjoy the same benefits. You can enjoy what you have and let new people also enjoy it as well.

Townhouses represent a good balance between increasing density without drastically altering the surrounding neighborhoods, and without overly overloading the local infrastructure and schools. It also represents reality. I suspect there is not real demand for lots of condos and apartments in FH, unless everybody plans to move from other parts of DC. Now, of course, you must be a short-term real estate developer who tries to squeeze as many people into a building as possible, to maximize short term profits. FH already has plenty of useless condos on the market. Either too small for anyone but a single 25-year old college graduate or too expensive (due to useless features).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's just not sufficient demand for all these tiny condos. City Ridge is not rented and their opening another building next door. That plus the wardman, chevy chase, and friendship heights? Who is going to live in all these condos? Vacancy rates are high.

And more condos are still being built in Bethesda. Issue is that these condos do not work for middle class families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm unconvinced that the demand for housing units for that area is actually there. Even City Ridge is not fully rented and it's closer in. And now IB is trying to sublet the HUGE office space so the eateries are struggling with low foot traffic.

Having more development is welcome. Heard there is another Trader Joes planned for that stretch?

I seriously question the demand as well. Not sure DC will continue to grow in population.

DC's population rose nearly imperceptably in the latest Census estimate, but it was entirely due to new births and international migration. Domestic migration was a net negative, which is an extremely worrying sign.

As is this. If you click on the article it says that AU and Chevy Chase DC have few lowered prices but rest of city is concerning.

Right now rates are holding people, and some have hope for the recalls but it could really snowball. Guess we will see when the spring market picks up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But do working class families want to live in condos or will they move to the suburbs where townhouses are available. I still say what we really need in this city are modest townhouses under a million.

Agree 100%. And they can be built throughout DC. Many cities are based on townhouse communities. Even large parts of Baltimore City are.

[Anonymous]

I honestly can't imagine who is going to live in all these houses. The young people I know, who would love to stay in the city, will move out if they can't find a reasonable, and modest-sized, single family home. Not enough people want to raise families in condos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's just not sufficient demand for all these tiny condos. City Ridge is not rented and their opening another building next door. That plus the wardman, chevy chase, and friendship heights? Who is going to live in all these condos? Vacancy rates are high.

Vagrants from across the country, until the funding runs out?

Large number of units coming online in NoMA and Navy Yard too. Many that were to be condos are now becoming rentals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But do working class families want to live in condos or will they move to the suburbs where townhouses are available. I still say what we really need in this city are modest townhouses under a million.

Agree 100%. And they can be built throughout DC. Many cities are based on townhouse communities. Even large parts of Baltimore City are.

You either have to subsidize the homeowner or the developer for this to happen. I mean nobody is just going to build brand new townhomes in CC and sell them for $1MM.

One of the 1990s townhomes in the development behind the CC Pavilion just sold for $1.6MM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly can't imagine who is going to live in all these houses. The young people I know, who would love to stay in the city, will move out if they can't find a reasonable, and modest-sized, single family home. Not enough people want to raise families in condos.

What "young families" do you refer? A 30ish couple just bought a house down the street for $1.3MM...dual-income lawyers. There are lots of couples like that.

[Anonymous]

There would be a lot of vacancies in existing apartment buildings on Connecticut and Wisconsin and elsewhere but for the voucher program.

Otherwise, rents would have dropped.

Not sure there is demand for rentals or tiny condos. I have been in DC a long time and I remember the city emptying out. That was before so much remote work and before several feds and corps had moved out.