Wheaton Redevelopment Gaining Attention Inside the Beltway
City Paper article speaks with businesses concerned about keeping Wheaton "weird."
Photos
Washington City Paper spent some time in Wheaton to look into the issues of small business retention in the upcoming B.F. Saul project. In "Can You Modernize a Suburb Without Making it Look Like Everything Else," Lydia DePillis writes:
Few people know that better than Robert Wulff, who's heading up the Wheaton redevelopment for B.F. Saul, and was an executive with Peterson when the firm worked on downtown Silver Spring. He contends there are now more small businesses than before, since those that could adapt thrived, and the office development provided a customer base for more to start up. The same will happen in Wheaton, he says, digging into a plate of chicken and rice at a Vietnamese place on Grandview Avenue. Even with top-notch bánh mì sandwiches at $2.50 a pop, the restaurant doesn't do much lunch traffic, which is typical of Wheaton eateries. Adding a few thousand office workers would change all that — for restaurants that can market themselves to a new clientele.
DePillis interviews several restaurants in the area that expressed concern that new clientele — lured by the addition of an office building — won't patronize their business. She also speaks with Manny Hidalgo, Chamber of Commerce President Kathleen Guinan, and Bert Walker of Ray's Picture Framing.
Check out the article, as well as ongoing coveraging in Wheaton Patch on the B.F. Saul project, the sector plan and general redevelopment projects.
- Business Owners in Triangle Lane Speak on Wheaton Redevelopment
- Redevelopment of Downtown in Beginning Stages
- Wheaton Redevelopment on the Minds of Business Leaders
- Chamber of Commerce Meets with Planning Director
- A Few Changes to Safeway's Plan
- Packed Crowd Shares Ideas for B.F. Saul Project
- B.F. Saul Meets Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee
Kathleen Michels
3:44 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Note Wheaton Redevelopment is at risk. Partial "good faith" funding for bethesda metro elevators (44 million) vs almost ALL the funding for Wheaton redevelopment in this CIP (41 million). A vibrant new urban core in Wheaton will benefit the whole county. Strong urban cores have circles of beneficial effects for residents and business and the county tax base that go beyond the mere physical location. It will help no-one if , as Nancy Floreen stated in a candidates forum, Wheaton is again treated as the county's stepchild
http://wheaton-md.patch.com/articles/wheaton-redevelopment-supporters-fear-funding-will-not-materialize
Sean
10:19 am on Monday, February 20, 2012
Kathleen is right. The CIP funding for Wheaton will allow for a critical piece of Wheaton's Redevelopment: office tenents. Right now the restaurants that are lucky to still exist in Wheaton are only open in the evening because they do not have lunchtime clientele. This is not sustainable because they still pay rent and utilities for the entire day. Wheaton needs this spending now... Bethesda needs the money later (i.e. good faith funding).