Rockville HDC approval sought for demolition of Beall Avenue home

515 Beall Avenue

The owner of a ranch home at 515 Beall Avenue in West End Park is seeking to tear the house down, and has applied for a ruling of historic significance from the Rockville Historic District Commission. While the West End Park subdivision first saw Victorian homes constructed in the 1890s, according to the HDC staff report, this ranch home was built in 1952 as part of the post-war wave of suburban growth in Rockville.

Preservation planner Sheila Bashiri has recommended against historic designation of the home, and that it meets none of the criteria for historic preservation. The HDC will review the application and report at their meeting tonight, April 18, 2019 at 7:30 PM. This demolition request will very likely be approved, as two very large new-construction homes have already been built adjacent to 515 Beall.

New home proposed for
21 Martins Lane

The HDC will also provide a courtesy review of a new home proposed for 21 Martins Lane. This two-story home would be on a lot behind the historic Hebron House at 17 Martins Lane, in the Haiti/Martins Lane community. Staff is suggesting the HDC encourage the homebuilder to add more windows to what will otherwise be large, blank exterior walls.

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Demolition begins for Aldi in Rockville (Photos)

If you thought Aldi was just going to convert the old Circuit City/hh gregg building on Rockville Pike into their new Rockville grocery store, think again. Instead, major demolition is underway at the site. I'm starting to question if they will meet the projected 2018 store opening as promised at this point. The store site is located in the Congressional North shopping center.

Demolition permit issued for Mr. Banh Mi space in Rockville

The Ritchie Center has requested and received an interior demolition permit for the space vacated by Mr. Banh Mi at the shopping center on Rockville Pike. This suggests they may be making it more appealing for a prospective retail, rather than restaurant, tenant. Mr. Banh Mi closed at the end of 2017.

Historic home on Frederick Ave. likely to be demolished

The owner of a two-story Colonial Revival home at 214 Frederick Avenue is seeking to demolish the structure. It is located in England's Addition to Lincoln Park. City staff finds that the home does indeed meet the criteria for historic designation, but "has lost the physical characteristics that are required for the building to have integrity." They are therefore recommending against historic designation for the home.

Rockville's Historic District Commission will review the matter at its next meeting, on Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 7:30 PM at City Hall.

Timpano demolished at Montrose Crossing (Photos)

Timpano Italian Chophouse has been utterly obliterated at the Montrose Crossing shopping center in south Rockville. All that remains of the restaurant is a pile of rubble, and a graded dirt area. Property owner Federal Realty plans to build a new retail structure in its place, which will hold multiple retail and restaurant tenants. That structure will likely serve the same purpose at the front of the property as the holdover, low-rise retail did at Federal Realty's neighboring Pike & Rose, when Montrose Crossing is redeveloped in the future.

Timpano demolition imminent in Rockville (Photos)

Say your last goodbyes to the empty Timpano Italian Chophouse at 12021 Rockville Pike, in the Montrose Crossing shopping center. The building has been fenced off for demolition, and demolition permits are displayed at the site. Property owner Federal Realty is replacing the restaurant with a new 18000 SF, multi-tenant retail structure.

Rendering of the future
retail building on display
at Montrose Crossing

One last look pre-fence

Rockville Syms demolished, developer swaps town center for townhomes (Photos)

The former Syms store off of Rockville Pike is no more. Syms filed for bankruptcy in November 2011, and all of its stores closed shortly thereafter. Longtime residents and television viewers may feel at least a hint of nostalgia at finding the remaining sign and legendary motto still standing on the property.

Just as the clothing discount retailer famously declared "an educated consumer is our best customer," the new landowner developing the site apparently found educated luxury apartment hunters weren't plentiful enough in Rockville. The 1900 Chapman Avenue site is now planned to be developed as 70 townhomes, instead of the 339 apartments previously approved by the City of Rockville.

Former Ted's 355 Diner demolished in Rockville (Photos)

The fate of the diner at Wintergreen Plaza on Rockville Pike is now clear. Formerly Ted's 355 Diner, the structure is now being demolished. Conflicting signs of what was pending - construction fencing and dumpster, but also a sign offering the building for lease - had many wondering what exactly the shopping center's plans were for the diner.

About the only thing left from the diner is some silver trim along the front of the gutted building.

5 CHOKE CHERRY ROAD UPDATE EXPECTED AT HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MEETING

The Rockville Historic District Commission is scheduled to receive an update on the potentially-historic 5 Choke Cherry Road office building next week, which faces demolition in the JBG Companies' current plan for its Upper Rock property along Shady Grove Road. Last month, the commission voted to postpone its decision until it could receive more information about the historic value of the structure, the number and state of existing properties in Rockville by its architect, John "Jack" Sullivan," and the potential reuses for the building with input from JBG.

Also facing demolition, and requiring an approval to do so from the commission at the same January 15th meeting, is a single-family home at 540 Brent Road, in the Roxboro subdivision.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM in the Mayor and Council Chambers at City Hall, and be televised on Channel 11.

HOME, OFFICE BUILDING DEMOLITIONS ON HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION AGENDA

The Rockville Historic District Commission will examine requests for demolitions of two homes and one office building at its next meeting, Thursday, December 18, at 7:30 PM, in the Mayor and Council Chambers at City Hall.

Property owners of homes at 417 Park Road and 515 Crabb Avenue are asking for a determination of historic significance, as they seek to demolish the structures. The JBG Companies seeks the same ruling for an office building it wants to demolish at 5 Choke Cherry Road.

PINK BANK DEMOLITION BEGINS IN ROCKVILLE TOWN CENTER (PHOTOS)

Demolition of the historic Rockville building known as "The Pink Bank" has begun. The building was cleared for condemnation by the previous Mayor and Council on October 14. In its place will be a mixed-use development by Kettler. Most historic preservationists are dismayed by the demolition, and a sitting member of the city's Historic District Commission, Jessica Reynolds, took city leaders to task in a recent letter.

The New Formalist structure was built at 255 North Washington Street in 1965, when it was known as the Suburban Trust Building. This demolition is an unflattering reflection of our disposable society, and echoes the mass demolition of the city's original, historic town center decades ago.

ROCKVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSIONER CRITICIZES PINK BANK DECISION (PHOTO)

Jessica Reynolds, a member of the Rockville Historic District Commission, is speaking out on the recent 3-2 decision by the Mayor and Council to allow demolition of a historic bank building at 255 N. Washington Street.

In a letter published in this week's Gazette, Reynolds accused city leaders of preserving only those buildings with "architectural styles that meet their own tastes." The decision to not allow a historic designation process for the "Pink Bank" "has implications for how the public's voice will be heard in Rockville in the future," she wrote.

The building's distinctive design, Reynolds argued, not only serves as an important reminder of the city's blunder of demolishing its original, historic town center during the 60s, but also reinforces a sense of place in a time of what she has previously called "cookie cutter" buildings.

Reynolds predicted that the modern town center itself will be replaced again in only 30 years.

The HDC had recommended the city allow a historic designation process to begin for the structure. Supporters of demolition argued that historic designation had already been dismissed previously (however, according to preservationists, the building only recently has qualified by age for designation), and pointed to the developer's years of planning - and work with residents in the adjacent West End - as arguments for allowing the new development to proceed. Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio added that she strongly supported property rights by landowners in the city, and therefore was voting on principle to allow demolition.

ROCKVILLE GIANT DEMOLISHED! (PHOTOS)

The classic architecture of Rockville's venerable town center Giant grocery store is gone forever.

A store design familiar to longtime area residents, one could find contemporaries at one time in DC and in Bethesda. The latter was located where Upstairs at Bethesda Row stands today.

It's sad to see it go. Many of the classic postwar Safeway stores are now gone as well. I managed to get the Damascus Safeway on tape for posterity, just before the wrecking ball arrived.

No such luck with this Giant, but here is the aftermath.

The Giant will be replaced by a low-rise retail development, to be delivered by developer JBG early next year.