Home Demolitions In Bethesda Approaching Pre-Recession Levels

The number of home tear down projects in Bethesda is nearing pre-recession levels, with at least another 100 home demolitions looking likely for 2014.

According to Montgomery County permitting records, 60 single family dwelling units have been demolished this year in Bethesda and another 12 have been torn down in Chevy Chase.

The demolitions are to make way for new, usually bigger homes, the process referred to by many as mansionization.

While some neighborhoods may seem to have a construction project on every block, this year’s numbers likely won’t come near the amount of tear down home construction from 2005-2008. There were 157 home demolitions in 2005 in Bethesda and Chevy Chase, 172 in 2006, 157 in 2007 and 144 in 2008.

Home construction fell off in the next few years, before beginning a rebound that saw 122 homes demolished in 2012 in Bethesda and Chevy Chase and 145 in 2013.

Tear down home rebuild project near Old Georgetown RoadAt this time last year, 68 homes had been demolished in Bethesda, eight more than the 60 that have been demolished this year.

Mansionization is a national trend for older, close-in suburban neighborhoods. In Arlington County, a historic preservation group says 115 out of 122 demolition permit applications this year are for tear-down home projects. That would put the jurisdiction on pace for another record-setting year.

Since January 2001, a total of 1,354 single family dwellings in Bethesda have been demolished. That’s close to 8 percent of the single family housing stock in Census-designated Bethesda, at least according to 2010 Census numbers.

Last year, the Montgomery County Council approved a law aimed at preserving and replacing trees on lots used for mansionization projects.

The initiative came from the county’s Department of Environmental Protection, which presented overhead satellite images of Bethesda neighborhoods as evidence of the amount of tree canopy loss brought on by the increase in tear down projects.

In June, a group of homeowners off Bradley Boulevard posted homemade signs in protest of one homebuilder’s tear down project that meant the removal of some trees. The homebuilder countered that the trees were unhealthy and posed a safety risk.

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