ThayerAvenue.com

When you pay that much for City Shitty Place. Sure, it sounds like a lot, but I think it’s a sweet deal. The posted press release is dated August 11, 2010, but it’s just now making the rounds:

Hutensky Capital Partners acquires City Place Mall

Hartford, Conn. ( August 11, 2010 ) – Hutensky Capital Partners said it has acquired City Place Mall, a 350,000-sq.-ft. shopping center in Silver Spring, Md., from an affiliate of Petrie Ross Ventures for $22.8 million in a three-party deal that included a discounted payoff of 100% of the property’s outstanding debt.

An affiliate of the seller will manage and lease the property and lead the redevelopment process.

“We were attracted by the property’s location in the central business district of Silver Spring, a vibrant urban area with proven retail performance,” said Brad Hutensky, HCP’s general partner. “However, like many properties today, the asset was overleveraged. By providing a big chunk of fresh capital, we were able to find a middle ground for settlement that the lender and borrower could agree to. The result is that we now own a debt-free property that can be redeveloped to meet its full potential.”

Now the $22.8 million question is: What the hell will they do with it? Among the (potentially contentious) recommendations/additions:

• Raze it
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• H&M
• Dave & Buster’s
• Men’s clothing (beyond the 14-18 year-old set)
• Keep the Marshall’s
• Any non-truant-related retail

Feel free to add yours. Maybe we can get a community letter off to the Hutensky boys and have them come speak at an ECCSA meeting. Or not. God forbid anyone be put through that.

Photo by Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post

Or as some will call it, Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza.

While the name rivals the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in absurdity (and length), the building is looking mighty impressive. Before we go any further, I, for one, will *not* be using this name, except in this post and occasionally in mockery for one reason or another. I will now (affectionately) refer to it as “The Box” with the area in front of it being “The Plaza” (or “The Area Formerly Known as The Turf”). I feel this is only a natural progression from The Promenade to the west. I recommend you adopt this vernacular as well. Unless you’re one of the “historical” people, in which case “The Box Formerly Known as The Armory” is also acceptable.

Don’t get me wrong: I really like the building. And today, you can get inside and see it for yourself. It’ll be an afternoon of music, dance, and other entertainment, followed by an official opening ceremony. Schedule is thus:

• 2:00 to 2:30: GapBuster’s NAACP-SO Gold Medal Winners: Singer Melissa Blue (Blake High School) and Guitarist Delano Broad Water (Bethesda Chevy Chase High School
• 2:30 to 3:00: Truth
• 3:00 to 3:30: Truu Soul
• 3:30 to 4:00: Jonny Grave
• 4:00 to 4:30: Hey Day Players & Mighty Shock
• 4:30 to 5:00: Los Charlys Nativos
• 5:00 to 5:30: Contradiction Dance
• 5:30 to 6:00: The Memphis Gold Band featuring Charlie Sayles
• 6:00 to 6:30: Washington Revels

At 6:30 pm, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett will preside over a inaugural ceremony ribbon cutting, after which the public will be invited to enter The Box and see the new space. The Downtown Silver Spring site has even posted a handy virtual walkthrough, complete with goofy stand-in people.

I’m surprised some boneheaded group hasn’t lobbied for a pedestrian bridge from the parking garage at Fenton and Ellsworth.

Hope to see you there!

A little jaunt through downtown yesterday netted some interesting finds…

It’s Done Blowed Up

Torn down, actually. Two auto repair shops, a hair salon, and the venerable Moose Lodge. All taken out within the span of a day to make way for the new library. I do feel a bit of nostalgia, but mostly I’m excited for a new library. Without the footbridge.

The Brits Call it a Cashpoint

I actually call this one a gateway to hell. That seems to be what it looks like. But if any of you have seen or stood in the line for the Bank of America ATM at Georgia and Wayne, you’ll recognize the need for this. It just went in below the stairs in The Promenade, just outside of Eggspectation.

I have a secret ATM that I go to where there is NEVER a line. And I’m not gonna tell where it is. The fee is lower than any other around – which actually doesn’t matter, since my bank reimburses me for any ATM fees. Oh – and they also let me take photos of my checks with my iPhone to deposit them. I haven’t set foot in a bank in years. Bank of America can suck it.

Chicken and Chicken
I still feel shocked by the sheer number of chicken places going up everywhere. Case in point: there are now two going up within 2 blocks of each other. We all knew about the imminent arrival of Nando’s Peri-Peri. The construction signs and barriers finally went up between Ann Taylor Loft and Maryland Youth Ballet. There’s a joke in there somewhere, but I’d rather not reach.

Now someone actually got the space between Piratz Tavern (Rubin & Rubin Lawyers, specifically, but grog is much more important than those jokers) and our favorite caramel shop, Velatis.

I can’t find any reliable online references to a Mr. Chicken franchise, but I am disappointed that our Mr. Chicken won’t have the fabulous signs that some others do. Better yet, Lost’s sad demise on Sunday makes me yearn for a Mr. Cluck’s Chicken in the neighborhood. Alas, it’s only fiction.

Fenton Street Market and the Future of Silver Spring
Imagine it and they can build it. Or at least sketch it. Here’s the announcement:

The public is invited to a free, fun brainstorming session with local architects on the future of downtown Silver Spring on Saturday, May 22. Stop by this informal workshop anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to share your vision of what Silver Spring should look like in 5, 10, and 20 years.

This is just asking for a library bridge with moving sidewalks or something. The Silver Spring Historical Society, along with many others, will be there. I plan on causing havoc. Mainly with the historical society.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

As another example of how these people don’t really represent the people they attempt to serve, last night my beloved East Silver Spring Civic Association voted to support the pedestrian bridge for the library (after the Citizens’ Advisory Board and the County Council both voted against it). ESSCA has done a lot of stupid shit over the years, and while this is far from the worst of that, it’s the most annoying right now. I had to walk out right after the vote to attend to some personal matters (and because people wouldn’t shut up and take the damn vote), but I’d put it at about a 2-1 margin. Ben Kenobi said it best: “The Force can have a strong influence on the weak minded.”

For the uninitiated: This is an $800,000 bridge that would serve a small percentage of the library-going population from the Wayne Avenue garage, over Wayne Avenue, to the 3rd floor of the library building itself. The second floor of the library is supposed to have a disability resource center, which I suppose some think would be hypocritical without the bridge. Then there’s the Purple Line, which would come through the south side of the library on the first floor. All these variables do NOT necessitate a walkway that costs over three quarters of a million dollars.

Before you call me anti-people-with-disabilities, hear me out. I am a web designer and developer, and I spend a lot of time making sure my sites – many of which are for the federal government – are accessible by people with disabilities. The crux of that task is this: Any content that is available to the general public should be available to persons with disabilities. If that means the content is accessible through a screen reader, fine. If there needs to be a text equivalent of the content on another page, great. I can do that.

Here’s the catch: The library would be available to ALL – even in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act – without the pedestrian bridge. People would just have to cross Wayne avenue and take an elevator. Oh, and that’s assuming they could even find a parking space in the Wayne Avenue garage once the library is open. I dare you to defend that one when levels 5 and 6 have the only few available places on the weekends as it is now. People going to other places in the downtown area will fill that up fast enough.

I say (as many others do) take the money and put it into improvements into the intersection of Fenton and Wayne. And you can hear the people start to whine: (1) “It’s not safe to take kids across that intersection! It’s already too dangerous!” (2) “You have to take an elevator down and then go across and then go back up for the library!” (3) “Some of our patrons really need this access!” (4) “Parking in the neighborhood will get so bad!”

My answer? STFU.

(1) I take my 3-year-old daughter across that intersection all the time. Just don’t be an idiot about crossing the street. Use the money to make improvements to the intersection and we’ll be fine; (2) Elevators are made for disabled access; (3) Is there content (books) that isn’t available to persons with disabilities by other means? (see #2) Umm, no.; (4) I live three blocks away from the new library site. Bring it on.

Photo courtesy of Lukmire and Associates

Thanks to the Montgomery Planning Department for a great kickoff to the ReThink Montgomery Speaker Series. Last night’s “Knowledge” session had five local bloggers: David Alpert (Greater Greater Washington), Cindy Cotte Griffiths (Rockville Central), Dan Reed (Just Up the Pike), Barnaby Zall (Friends of White Flint), and yours truly. Add in about 30-40 Montgomery County residents, and it ended up being a great discussion about area blogs, development, and how the planning department can stay more involved in the community. Great to chat with other bloggers who are far more talented and dedicated and less snarky than myself.

Jackie’s Sidebar

After last night’s discussion, I dropped by Jackie’s new Sidebar last night and came away most impressed. DCist has a great writeup. Sure, it’s a great space, good atmosphere, kickin’ tunes and all, but do not forget: It’s all about the cocktail.

Gordon Banks is coming up with some incredible drinks and really keeping the trade of craft bartending alive in Silver Spring. The kind of creativity you usually see from Todd Thrasher at Restaurant Eve or Adam Bernbach at Bar Pilar. This article from the Weekly Standard, published last year, should be required reading for everyone from cocktail snobs to college students looking for 2-for-1 specials. And I think it speaks to the philosophy Gordon is instilling in everyone pouring drinks behind the bar.

Anyhow, drop by for some tasty beverages. And have a great weekend, all.

Photo courtesy of DCist.

The people who have been sending out the letters about the “big box” stores might have been unmasked. Well, at least another outlet for their useless, no-credit campaign has.

Back on December 7, 2009 (a day that will live in infamy?), the first blog post was posted at this “MoCo Smart Growth” blog. Since then, there have been seven posts, all railing against the same Germantown zoning issue. I believe these are the culprits. Now, the next question: Who are these people?

A new theory has come to the forefront: Anti-development activists are teaming up with labor unions (or leading them) in Germantown and other places to keep the non-union grocery store out. Potentially, the UFCW. This is a huge organization with, presumably, lots of proper political power behind it. Could an organization like this really drive such an awful campaign that’s started to get some real flak from others in the community? Even progressive, pro-union people? It appears so. Or at least some rural Maryland faction of it could. I consider myself progressive and pro-union, but this is just plain stupid if they’re involved.

I’d like to know if anything of substance actually happened at the March 16th hearing. From what I understand, the efforts were too little too late. I’ll be trying to confirm who’s behind all this and send updates as I have them. If anyone out there knows anything, please drop me a line or comment here. It appears the people behind this are too scared to actually show themselves.

UPDATE: I found their Twitter account. Wow. These guys are socially savvy with no common sense. And their tweets indicate a halfhearted attempt at whatever they’re trying to achieve – kinda like the rest of their efforts.

You may recall back in the spring of 2008, we had a guest post from our resident Census Geek about demographics on Thayer Avenue and the surrounding area. Very interesting information, and considering all the changes that have taken place in the ‘hood since the last head count, I’m already looking forward to the information garnered from 2010.

Here’s the thing: You have to fill out the form and send it in. I know it takes a few minutes. I know you’re busy. Consider this a public service announcement. Filling out the form and sending it in has a direct impact on your local, state, and national representation, money allocated to your area, and services provided. There is NO downside. You will not get slapped by the IRS. You will not get deported. You will not have the U.S. Marshalls show up at your door (unless you’ve done something else to deserve any of that).

Also, there will be people from the Census Bureau canvassing the neighborhood over the next few months. Please treat them with respect. We’re lucky that the census comes at a time when people need jobs, and this is putting a small dent in a big crash, putting food on lots of tables for people who would experience otherwise. If a census taker tries to test you, I recommend you *not* cut out his or her liver and eat it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. It would be bad form. And it’s been done before.

About that Letter…
A lot of other people have gotten that anti-big-box-store-Germantown-Citizens-for-Smart-Growth letter I highlighted this past weekend. It even reared its ugly head at this week’s ESSCA meeting. The origin is still a mystery, but I heard an interesting theory. Just imagine that one of the most revered grocery stores in the Northeastern United States (and in Northern Virginia and NOT Montgomery County) was to get all the necessary approvals to break ground on a flagship grocery store. And let’s just say the grocery store happened to be, oh, I don’t know Wegmans.

Now… say you’re a big grocery store chain like Giant or Safeway who is about to get trounced by the great and powerful Wegmans in your market. What do you do? I think maybe you send out letters addressed to “[Insert Name] or Current Resident” – just like you do with the grocery store flyers. Make sense? Giant or Safeway? Want to come forward and claim responsibility for a bogus, failed campaign against Wegmans? It was already too late for that anyway, which makes me wonder if that theory is true. The store will be built, from what I understand, regardless. We’ll see what comes of it.

About the ESSCA Meeting
Better than anticipated. Though when Bob Colvin started talking about gangs in the area, he reminded me of former Senator Ted Sevens (R-AK) talking about the internet. Lots of talk about the Days Inn and Travelodge on Georgia Avenue and the attempt to subdue crime there, but it was rudely interrupted by some bonehead talking about sentencing disparities (valid) and pharmaceutical commercials (not valid and unrelated) and the Juarez Drug Cartel (idiotic and unrelated) and drug commercial disclaimers (a waste of *everyone’s* time and unrelated). I’m reminded of last month’s meeting where someone said, “Hearing you speak for the sake of talking is wasting my time.” Amen. Just a couple of meetings left until elections…

D’OH! A deer!
Beautiful day at Sligo Creek Golf Course yesterday. A big family of deer was foraging on the left side of #9. Your Silver Spring Photo of the Day:

In yesterday’s mail, I received a letter addressed to me (or “Current Resident”) with no return address and a red rubber stamp imprint that said “Important Tax Information Enclosed” where the return address should have been.  Of course I opened it. This is what I found:

The basic gist is asking people to support the addition of “a size restriction to the TMX zoned properties.” For all intents and purposes, it’s an anti-Wal-Mart bill solicitation. Take what you will from the photo, because I won’t repeat the text here. They don’t deserve it.

My beef is this: I have no idea who sent this. Did anyone else get this? I want to know who these people are and how I got on this list. If they identified themselves and their agenda, I might be more than happy to get behind their cause. The fact that they didn’t fess up makes me think I might have to fight them.

Step forward and claim responsibility or I will be forced to use this bully pulpit to destroy you. That is all.

Ed. note: Those are clumps of cars at the top of the letter, but now that I look at the image in the actual post, it looks more like women with rollers in their hair.

UPDATE: I got a postcard in the mail today with the same messaging. The return address simply says “Germantown Residents for Smart Growth.” Sorry, but don’t these big box stores belong in farther out suburbs? Places like, well, I dunno, GERMANTOWN? Discuss.

Getting to Know your Civic Building and Veterans Plaza

The Silver Spring Regional Center is hosting a “must-attend” event to learn everything you may or may not have wanted to know about the big, arching construction that so rudely displaced our beloved turf. It’s looking kinda cool, actually. Meeting goes down March 23 from 7:00-9:00PM at Discovery Communications (enter from the Wayne/Georgia intersection).

The event is billed as a way to “find out what’s going to happen in the building and on the plaza; discover how you, businesses, and organizations can use the facility; and get information on how to rent, schedule, and access the space.”

Your Silver Spring Photo of the Day

Okay – so it’s not in Silver Spring, but I thought it was worth mentioning. As a Crimson Tide fan, it was hard to beat having front row seats (from which I took this photo) to the East Room ceremony at the White House with President Obama, Nick Saban, and the entire Alabama football team to honor their National Championship. Roll effing Tide, folks! And special thanks to MR for the access.

On a sad note…
A beloved Silver Spring resident and activist, Harry Sanders, passed away today. Harry focused a lot of energy promoting transit solutions for this region, and while he was a big Purple Line advocate, he was active in a vast array of community issues. He will certainly be missed.

I think the headline in today’s Gazette “Residents embrace new hotel project in Silver Spring” might be a bit of a generalization, but I think it’s a job well done. Dr. Glee and his peeps were at the ESSCA meeting on Monday (review live tweets from the meeting here), and it’s a sound project with lots of community input. And by input, I mean people from the community working with the developer, owner, and architect to come up with a good, solid plan. This could be a good model going forward for future development.

Formerly the Moda Vista, the project, now dubbed Silver Spring Park and set at the southeast corner of Fenton and Silver Spring, will include 58 residential units in a 45′ structure, office space, ground floor retail, and a hotel (Fairfield Inn by Marriott) that maxes out the 60′ height set by the zoning amendments adopted in 2008 by the Montgomery County Council.

Of course, we’ll lose a couple of older homes on the block, and people are decrying both that and the general change in the neighborhood (echoed by one ESSCA non-member: “Inch by inch, house by house, these people are eroding, taking away our neighborhood.” Whatever.), but it looks like the plan will go forward and break ground in spring 2011.

Capital City Cheesecake coming to Takoma Park
I saw one of these Capital City Cheesecake vans driving down Georgia the other day and immediately got hungry. The next day, I got this press release:

Currently operating out of Colonel Brook’s Tavern and online, Capital City Cheesecake is moving into the old Savory space on Carroll Avenue. Anticipated opening date is on or around end of Spring/early Summer. Open kitchen, classes, children’s parties, weekend brunch, vegan and gluten-free options, Capital City Cheesecake has a bit of deliciousness for everyone!

Of *course* they would have vegan and gluten-free options. It’s Takoma Park. I hope they do better than Savory did. I never went there, mainly because I can’t pass up a trip to Mark’s Kitchen whenever I go to Takoma Park.

Your Silver Spring Photo of the Day

I can’t wait for Hook & Ladder to open.

On a different note: Did anyone go to the Fillmore meeting last night? Reports? I was unable to attend.