Steamers to be demolished
The process to demolish the Auburn Avenue building that formerly housed Steamers Seafood House is beginning. Developer Novo Properties requested a demolition permit July 20 from the county to raze the ramshackle structure that faces Norfolk Avenue. The building’s roof collapsed after significant snowfall in January and the building was later condemned by Montgomery County. Local blogger Robert Dyer first reported news of the demolition permit.
Novo bought the property for $4.65 million earlier this year and is planning to build a 110-foot tall, 58-unit apartment building on the site. Steamers’ owners closed the restaurant in August after it had operated for more than 10 years at the location.
Gaithersburg biotech firm that focuses on curing rare disease receives $17 million in funding
Vtesse Inc. announced Monday it received $17 million in additional funding from investors to support its research and clinical trials into a treatment for the rare Niemann-Pick Type C disease. The disease affects an estimated one in 150,000 people and causes neurological decline in patients that can result in dementia or premature death. There is no known cure, but the Gaithersburg company is working with the National Institutes of Health to test its therapy, which it says reduced the disease’s progression by 60 percent in an initial trial with 14 patients. Since January 2015, Vtesse has raised a total of $42 million in funding to develop the treatment method for the rare disease.
Morgan Stanley moving out of the Apex Building
The Morgan Stanley Wealth Management office at Bethesda’s soon-to-be-redeveloped Apex Building on Wisconsin Avenue is moving employees to its Park Potomac location and to space in the Clark Building at 7500 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. The company is one of several businesses moving out of the Apex Building after it was purchased by Carr Properties, which plans to demolish the structure and build a 935,000-square-foot office, housing and hotel project at the site.
