Anonymous wrote:There was an article in Bethesda magazine a while back about the Bethesda luxury condo market was flopping. Basically, the Potomac and Bethesda retiree's like the idea of downsizing to a condo but there are other factors that are keeping them from buying these that the developers completely overlooked.

There is too much inventory with retiree's selling, decline of MCPS, and high end job loss to VA that is depressing prices in Potomac and Bethesda. Sellers who were considering a high end condo are finding that their own houses are selling for much less than they thought they would or should. This is making them to reconsider sinking more money into Montgomery County. No one wants to lose money twice. More are going into DC where they think they'll have better appreciation in the future. Others are staying put or moving out of state.

I think that developers have also overshot some of the areas further out. There are a bunch of new developments for houses over 1M+ out in Darnestown, Gaithersburg and North Potomac that will definitely bomb.

This doesn't surprise me. And anytime people bring up at that Montgomery County losing businesses is pulling the entire area into a downward spiral...protests that people are being foolish.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/812798.page

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/827756.page

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not "Ralph" Lauren. They have no association with it. It's "The Lauren".

The location is good, but they were really pushing it with prices up to $10mln.

Funny story: so in MoCo you have to build affordable housing units also, with a building of that size. They built them, on the ground floor, but they have their own separate entrance and no access to building amenities like the wine tasting room. If you drive past the building on the Woodmont Ave side, you can see the separate entrance by the sidewalk.

Wow. Not only do they not share the amenities but a SEPARATE ENTRANCE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING!?! That's pretty disgusting. Wow.

The 1% Liberals are pretty disgusting and hypocritical, aren't they?

Liberal here. We don't do separate entrances in D.C.

Isn't Bethesda also the place where the condos were SUED because they put the trash receptacles outside for the AHU tenants but the regular owners had in-unit ones?

It was a mess.

There was an article in Bethesda magazine a while back about the Bethesda luxury condo market was flopping. Basically, the Potomac and Bethesda retiree's like the idea of downsizing to a condo but there are other factors that are keeping them from buying these that the developers completely overlooked.

There is too much inventory with retiree's selling, decline of MCPS, and high end job loss to VA that is depressing prices in Potomac and Bethesda. Sellers who were considering a high end condo are finding that their own houses are selling for much less than they thought they would or should. This is making them to reconsider sinking more money into Montgomery County. No one wants to lose money twice. More are going into DC where they think they'll have better appreciation in the future. Others are staying put or moving out of state.

I think that developers have also overshot some of the areas further out. There are a bunch of new developments for houses over 1M+ out in Darnestown, Gaithersburg and North Potomac that will definitely bomb.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not "Ralph" Lauren. They have no association with it. It's "The Lauren".

The location is good, but they were really pushing it with prices up to $10mln.

Funny story: so in MoCo you have to build affordable housing units also, with a building of that size. They built them, on the ground floor, but they have their own separate entrance and no access to building amenities like the wine tasting room. If you drive past the building on the Woodmont Ave side, you can see the separate entrance by the sidewalk.

Wow. Not only do they not share the amenities but a SEPARATE ENTRANCE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING!?! That's pretty disgusting. Wow.

The 1% Liberals are pretty disgusting and hypocritical, aren't they?

Anonymous wrote:It's not "Ralph" Lauren. They have no association with it. It's "The Lauren".

The location is good, but they were really pushing it with prices up to $10mln.

Funny story: so in MoCo you have to build affordable housing units also, with a building of that size. They built them, on the ground floor, but they have their own separate entrance and no access to building amenities like the wine tasting room. If you drive past the building on the Woodmont Ave side, you can see the separate entrance by the sidewalk.

Seems right to me to do that as I'm sure the low income units are not paying the standard maintenance fee (HOA assessment) that contributes to the amenities.

It's like buying the nose-bleed seats at a Nats game and not having access to the fancy stuff in the club section.

Nothing wrong here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not "Ralph" Lauren. They have no association with it. It's "The Lauren".

The location is good, but they were really pushing it with prices up to $10mln.

Funny story: so in MoCo you have to build affordable housing units also, with a building of that size. They built them, on the ground floor, but they have their own separate entrance and no access to building amenities like the wine tasting room. If you drive past the building on the Woodmont Ave side, you can see the separate entrance by the sidewalk.

Wow. Not only do they not share the amenities but a SEPARATE ENTRANCE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING!?! That's pretty disgusting. Wow.

Fully legal. By having a separate entrance, they dont' get the concierge services which would raise teh condo fees on the affordable units to the point they are unaffordable.

It's probably an F-U to the county for their policy that the affordable units must be in the same building/development. If you want to see an example, check out Avenel in Potomac. You'll see a bunch of basic homes off Oaklyn. The developers offered to build more homes closer in to Behtesda, near public transporation. The county said no, so that's the result. Kind of nice quiet little neighborhood though. Just not near anything.

Anonymous wrote:It's not "Ralph" Lauren. They have no association with it. It's "The Lauren".

The location is good, but they were really pushing it with prices up to $10mln.

Funny story: so in MoCo you have to build affordable housing units also, with a building of that size. They built them, on the ground floor, but they have their own separate entrance and no access to building amenities like the wine tasting room. If you drive past the building on the Woodmont Ave side, you can see the separate entrance by the sidewalk.

Wow. Not only do they not share the amenities but a SEPARATE ENTRANCE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING!?! That's pretty disgusting. Wow.

Anonymous wrote:
They're starting a new phase of development there. I think it's townhomes this time -- I saw the sign when I drove by. Are they just digging themselves a deeper hole?

I think they're following the upscale townhome playbook for the Quarry Springs townhomes, so I don't see why they wouldn't succeed. It's a good location near the beltway. Also, while the development is on the westbound side of River Road, they have relatively easy access to the eastbound side, thanks to a merge lane onto that side. To go eastbound from the development, you cross the westbound lanes when you can, and enter the center merge lane from which you merge into eastbound traffic. Seems like the next best thing to a traffic light, which of course is very hard to get.

In 2020 new assessed values come out in Bethesda. Quarry Springs and Lauren can’t wait to look up new values.

Single family homes walkable in Bethesda shot up last three years they may get tax hike. But the condo prices has flopped

Another new condo in Bethesda by Harris Teater the windows keep falling out and big lawsuits.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, now I know who to avoid - Bethesda-based 1788 Holdings and Washington D.C.-based Persimmon Capital Partners were developers for the project.

Very easy to just change the company name to a new LLC.

1788 also does Quarry Springs. They aren't fly-by-night at least: http://www.1788holdings.com/residential

But they’ve been trying to unload those for years...

They're starting a new phase of development there. I think it's townhomes this time -- I saw the sign when I drove by. Are they just digging themselves a deeper hole?

Wow. Unbelievable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, now I know who to avoid - Bethesda-based 1788 Holdings and Washington D.C.-based Persimmon Capital Partners were developers for the project.

Very easy to just change the company name to a new LLC.

1788 also does Quarry Springs. They aren't fly-by-night at least: http://www.1788holdings.com/residential

But they’ve been trying to unload those for years...

They're starting a new phase of development there. I think it's townhomes this time -- I saw the sign when I drove by. Are they just digging themselves a deeper hole?