LEAHY PLUMBING & HEATING LEAVING BETHESDA, CITES DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC/PARKING AS REASONS

Leahy Plumbing & Heating, whose Cordell Avenue headquarters went on the market for lease days ago, has found a new home in White Flint. In a message posted out front yesterday, owner John Leahy explains that, after more than 50 years on Cordell Avenue, the company has found downtown Bethesda traffic and parking difficult for its fleet of vehicles to navigate. "It's been fun to watch Bethesda change over my lifetime and it's hard to say goodbye to the neighborhood I've grown up in," Leahy wrote. The specific street address of the new building was not given, but since employees are dispatched when you call the company's number, that should not make a big difference for customers.

IPO FILING REVEALS WHITE FLINT MALL DAVE AND BUSTER'S STILL PROFITABLE WHEN PLUG WAS PULLED

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 31

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

Dave and Buster's, up until recently a major draw for millennials in White Flint Mall, is going public. An $100 IPO filing by the restaurant/arcade chain gives some insights into the finances of its former White Flint location, before it was forced out by the closing mall's owners last month.

Not surprisingly, profits did decline in 2014, after many restaurant draws and the mall's movie theater were shuttered. Twenty-six week August 2014 revenues for the White Flint location were $5,231,000. In that same period in 2013, D&B grossed $6,384,000.

Even this year, revenue far exceeded depreciation and rent costs ($646,000) for the White Flint D&B outpost. Along with The Cheesecake Factory and the theater, there is no indication that the mall's success would not have continued well into the future, had owners not decided to pull the plug. Not a dying mall until the demolition plan was announced, the retail center was fully-leased less than three years ago, and it was hard to find a parking space near the popular anchor tenants.

Will millennials hit the highways to go to D&B at Arundel Mills Mall? Dave and Buster's corporate office says so in its filing. "With past store closures, we have experienced customer migration to
other stores within the same market," the filing notes.

Explore The Dark Side of White Flint further:

Relive the final hours of Dave and Buster's at White Flint Mall.

Examine the unique architecture and memorabilia of a doomed White Flint auto dealership.

Make a final visit to the legendary Toys R Us.

Go back to the original post that started it all!

CITY PERCH RESTAURANT TO OPEN AT PIKE & ROSE OVER iPic THEATERS

Big restaurant news from Federal Realty's Pike & Rose development - City Perch will be a new restaurant opening there in November, above the iPic Theaters cineplex. The restaurant will feature an outdoor Infinity Terrace, which overlooks a public square below.

Locally-sourced ingredients, and a combination of traditional entrees and small plates will bring Chef Matt Baker's New American cuisine expertise to pre- and post-theater diners. Fresh seafood will also be highlighted on the menu. Baker is currently chef de cuisine at Occidental Grill in the District, but will be heading north to helm City Perch after his last day on Tuesday.

iPic Theaters' mixologist and sommelier, Adam Seger, is whipping up a cocktail list for City Perch, and promises bottled cocktails (including a refreshing Bethesda Punch with Rare Tea Cellar Magnolia Oolong) for moviegoers to enjoy in their theater seat. Already potentially on the list are Seger's El Corazon (tequila + passionfruit, pomegranate and blood orange juices), Brandy Alexander (with local cream and housemade Creme de Cacao), and a Grasshopper (local cream, Creme de Cacao and Creme de Menthe).

 The iPic Theaters itself is shooting for a November opening, as well.

City Perch

11830 Grand Park Avenue

HELEN'S/THE BAR FILES RENOVATION PLANS, MAY HAVE SETTLED WHITE FLINT NAME DEBATE

Helen's/The Bar, a new restaurant opening in the former Addie's building at 11120 Rockville Pike, has filed renovation plans with Montgomery County's Department of Permitting Services. According to the permit filing, the work will include both interior renovations, and outdoor work on the steps and ramp. The restaurant's opening has been delayed past Tom Sietsema's optimistic article's previous announcement of an April debut.

On the Helen's Facebook page, a Friday post said the restaurant likely won't be ready for a holiday opening in December. However, it said they may consider hosting a pre-opening holiday party for eager fans of Helen Wasserman's former DC catering business. Stay tuned.

The permitting process may have resolved the question of what to call the White Flint area, however. Some consider the area Rockville, and others call it North Bethesda. Competing developers are hopeful for a resolution to the battle, or a third name altogether. But Montgomery County's permitting department says 11120 is a Rockville, MD address. Given that Addie's was south of the area now being redeveloped, by that definition, all of White Flint along Rockville Pike would also be Rockville as well.

That debate won't be solved here, but the "White Flint is really Rockville" faction can certainly use such official documents to support their case.

Photo courtesy of Helen's/The Bar Facebook page

WALKING THE STREETS OF PIKE & ROSE, PART III (PHOTOS)

Let's take another stroll around Federal Realty's Pike & Rose development, currently under construction at the intersection of Rockville Pike and the Montrose Parkway (hence the name), and see what new details and easter eggs we can find.

This column molding features
a stylized rose (bottom) and
a vertical "Old George," a
reference to property boundary
Old Georgetown Road

Future tenants are now
getting some publicity
with Pike & Rose-logo
banners on their future
storefronts

Another tenant that will
have stores at this development,
and Federal Realty sister property,
Bethesda Row

Seasons Olive Oil &
Vinegar Taproom has
its own logo sign

Gap, on the other hand,
is just slumming it
when it comes to signs

The future iPic Theaters, one
of the development's activity hubs

Sculpture and signage at
the PerSei apartments

TEXAS HAS JOBS, GROWTH, AND...DAVE AND BUSTER'S!

With the demolition-bound White Flint Mall having given Dave and Buster's the boot from Montgomery County 2 weeks ago, I couldn't help but notice this article on the contrasting situation in Texas. Unlike Montgomery County, the Lone Star State is booming with tech and industrial jobs, and is a major destination for millennials seeking employment.

Where we now have no Dave and Buster's, Houston is about to welcome its third D&B in 2015. As suburban areas are again outpacing urban ones in growth nationwide, Houston's newest D&B will be in an indoor mall (that is rapidly-expanding its square footage by 50%), not an urban "town center."

DAVE AND BUSTER'S CLOSES AT WHITE FLINT MALL (PHOTOS)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 30

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

Welcome to 

The Dark Side of White Flint: 

Millenial Edition.

"Hot, young millennials" are ostensibly the target audience for the new, urbanized "more muscular" White Flint. Last night, the only business currently drawing millennials to White Flint was packing up and moving out of town. Ordered out first by the owners of White Flint Mall, and then by a court ruling, Dave and Buster's has complied, closing its doors for good after 18 years.

The rotating D&B sign was stilled, then removed. Arcade machines like Gone Fishing, and Whac-a-Mole were being boxed up for shipping. Teddy bears lay on a brick wall inside the restaurant. In the corridors last night, the only sound was the hum of the escalator leading up to Dave and Buster's. A security guard informed a young, millennial couple approaching the arcade-restaurant that the business had closed. With a dramatic flourish, he flipped a switch, and the escalator stopped moving. Silence. Dave and Buster's was no more.

For those with scorecards in hand, here's the latest update on the urbanization of suburban White Flint: Zero chef-driven restaurants coming on board. Zero Fortune 500 corporate headquarters signed on. And zero 30-story, Class A office towers with Intelsat or the CEB headquarters, as Fairfax and Arlington counties recently celebrated.

The only thing remotely like Dave and Buster's on the boards right now for White Flint is Pinstripes, a bowling alley, bocce court and bistro all-in-one. A sign posted at the shuttered Dave and Buster's just about says it all. "Want to have fun, kids? Hit the interstate for Arundel Mills Mall!" A highly-successful indoor mall, to boot! Drive, drive, drive!

Gone fishing, indeed.

No more fun and games!

Click to enlarge to spot
the teddy bears on the wall

A final look inside
Dave and Buster's

Hasta la vista, millenials!

The sign no longer turns,
the escalator no longer hums

Close-up of the dismantled,
formerly-rotating sign at
Dave and Buster's

Don't worry, there'll be plenty
of barista and jeans-folding
jobs available for millenials
in the new White Flint!

Time to cut bait

The moles won! Whac-A-Mole
is shipping out in search of
hipper vibes

Game over

Turbo Theater now just a
walk-in closet

Hey, millenials, we don't have Dave
and Buster's anymore, but we do
have a repainted Metrobus.
We call it, "Rapid Transit." How
'bout it, kids? Hello? Hello?!
They hung up on us!

And then there were two

Go back to where it all started! The first episode of The Dark Side of White Flint.

WALKING THE STREETS OF PIKE & ROSE, PART II (PHOTOS)

Let's take another walk around the new streets of Pike & Rose to see what new details have been added to the development:

These doors...speak French

There's dancing going on
behind this door, I'm sure

Sport & Health, the upscale
gym where early PerSei
residents were getting
vouchers

What's the name of the pizza
place opening here again?

Something that will be
disappearing in the coming
years in White Flint:
surface parking

This is another cool Easter Egg to
find - a bookshelf with titles such
as "The Pike," "The White Flint,"
"Pike & Rose," and "Montgomery"

Something like this would be
another great idea for any
new development in the
Westbard area, where there
are many historic names
that could be referenced

Del Frisco's Grille

Del Frisco's will be at
the corner of Old Georgetown
and Grand Park Avenue

Streetlamps along Old Georgetown

Another Easter Egg:
A throwback
water fountain
for thirsty visitors

Can you find the Easter Egg here?

That's right - this plaque with
the quote, "Music in the soul
can be heard by the
universe"

The future Gap store (L) and
iPic Theaters cineplex (R)

I'm temporarily calling this,
"The Boardwalk"

Not that far from The Forum,
for you Roman history buffs

PerSei apartments

PerSei, reflected

Cool truck

Flag poles

The new Pike & Rose mural