Business owners in downtown Bethesda say they are losing revenue now that Marriott International has started the construction of its new headquarters and hotel, slated to open in 2022.
Underground utility and demolition work that has resulted in noise, dust and closed lanes; the loss of street parking; and clogged traffic conditions are the factors driving the loss of revenue, according to several businesses along Woodmont Avenue, where the construction is taking place.
Marriott’s new headquarters will encompass 785,000 square feet along Wisconsin, Woodmont and Norfolk avenues. The Bernstein Cos., which owns the property, is developing the project. Construction began in August.
“It’s been horrible,” Jeff Black, owner of Black’s Bar & Kitchen at 7750 Woodmont Ave., said. “They’ve been working right in front of my restaurant. My patio business is gone. It’s wiped out.”
Utility work that has involved digging up sections of Woodmont Avenue has gone on for weeks.
In recent weeks, crews have demolished the Bethesda Court Hotel that sat across from Black’s and are now taking down the Blackwell Building, which is adjacent to the Tastee Diner, at the corner of Norfolk and Wisconsin avenues.
On Wednesday, crews were working on a new trench that had been dug up on Woodmont on the other side of the diner, which fronts Norfolk. At times, construction occurs directly in front of and on both sides of the diner. The noise of jackhammers as well as dust from concrete and asphalt linger in the air.
Outside the Tastee Diner, a number of metered parking spaces have been taken out of circulation to allow construction crews and utility companies to work along Woodmont Avenue.
During the day, meters along Woodmont and Norfolk avenues are bagged with white covers, which indicates parking is not permitted at that spot.
Tastee Diner owner Gene Wilkes says his business is suffering from lack of parking spaces for customers and the disturbance from all the construction. The diner abuts the main part of the ongoing construction work on the east side of Woodmont.
Wilkes said the parking meters directly in front of his diner were often covered around the clock during August. Also, Pepco was issued permits to take eight parking spaces across from the diner, on the west side of Woodmont, out of commission while it completes work to install an electrical conduit, according to the county Department of Transportation. The project for those permits is unrelated to Marriott, a spokesperson for the developer says, but the county has not been able to confirm that.
As a result, all the metered parking immediately surrounding the Tastee Diner—which has been at its current location since 1958—has become unavailable for large blocks of time during the day.
A spokesperson for the Marriott headquarters development team said the closing of parking spaces is necessary “for safety and access reasons” while work occurs along Woodmont and Norfolk avenues.
“These closures will only take place during working hours during the work week. The developers pay the parking meter fee to Montgomery County during the closed hours. The County is responsible for installing and removing the closure bags after hours,” said Kris Warner, managing partner of Maier & Warner, a public relations and marketing firm.
According to county transportation department spokesperson Esther Bowring, parking meters should only be covered from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
“There is an on-going issue which is which is why we are going there pretty much every day,” Bowring said. “Some of the sub-contractors are not following the rules exactly.”
Bowring said the county has asked the contractors to report to transportation staff their time of arrival and departure every day.
“We’ve had mixed success,” Bowring said. “There’s no point in bagging the meters if no work is going on.”
Wilkes said he lodged a complaint with County Council member Roger Berliner, who represents Bethesda’s District 1, stating the meters in front of the diner were always covered, but a staff member told him the county’s parking lot division said it’s “not set up to remove bags” from meters. Berliner’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Beth Cox, the Tastee Diner’s general manager, said regular customers are frustrated by the lack of parking and the construction, and the decline in customers resulted in an estimated loss of revenue of as much as $1,500 per day in August.
“My waitresses are complaining that they’re making about half the tips they normally make for August,” Cox said last week. “Parking is not available in front of the diner, and the older customers are not willing to walk across the street from a nearby garage.”
An elderly customer who was eating at the diner last week and who needs assistance walking said she leaves if there isn’t a parking space available near the diner.
April Cohoon, who has been a waitress at the Tastee Diner for about 20 years, says her tip revenue decreased by $500 during August. Another waitress, Aster Yalew, who is a single mother and has worked at the diner for almost 24 years, said she doesn’t know how she will pay her monthly rent without her usual tip income.
“We’ve lost a lot of regular customers,” Yalew said.
The owner of a gift store situated between Black’s and the Tastee Diner on Woodmont said the store has lost business because of the construction work.
“It has definitely affected my business in a negative way,” said Connie Cissel, owner of The Blue House, a boutique gift shop.
“The jack-hammering sound levels are ridiculous,” Cissel said of the latest bout of construction work in front of the Woodmont Grill across the street. “Customers are walking in with their hands over their ears. It’s not good. If we have to go through this during Christmas, it will kill us.”
Cissel said in addition to the noise, one direction of Woodmont Avenue is regularly closed.
The owner of Reddz Trading, a consignment store located directly across the street from the Tastee Diner, said her daytime business has suffered as well.
“My mornings are a little bit slower than they used to be,” Wendy Ezrailson said. “I’ve been here eight years. . . . The traffic pattern has been bad. Local customers are complaining. A little compensation wouldn’t hurt.”
Still, Ezrailson said she’s optimistic about the project. “Marriott coming here is good,” she said. “We have to weather the construction.”
The retailers are also complaining about the lack of communication with the developer and the utility companies. Several business owners said they were given little to no notice when the Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission (WSSC) shut off their water service one August afternoon.
“It’s a constant threat,” Wilkes said. “You could be closed in 30 minutes. I’m open 24 hours a day. I need to have some advance notice so we can plan.” Wilkes said WSSC was able to hook up the diner to another pipe.
Black said developers constructing projects in the neighborhood in the past would always notify him of pending construction or jobs that might have interfered with his business. He said that’s not the case with Marriott.
“In the past, we were given a schedule,” Black said, recalling a high-rise project that was built in the neighborhood about 18 months ago. “Once, the [developer] made arrangements for our trash. It was hard, but we worked together. Now I have a nice neighbor.”
Black said he would appreciate better communication from the Marriott developers.
“Just because you’re a huge, multinational billion-dollar business doesn’t mean you can be a bully,” Black said. “Everyone is afraid of them, but I’m not going to let anyone hurt my business. I have to provide for my employees.”
Warner said the development team has been actively communicating with the community about the construction project, including reaching out to the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce and Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center.
“Since the groundbreaking, we have been responsive to questions and concerns from the community and have acted immediately to [achieve a] resolution,” she said.
Warner said the utility work related to the project along Woodmont Avenue is anticipated to continue for another few weeks. “It’s important to note that there is other utility work being done along Woodmont independent of the Marriott project,” she said.
