Retail, Restaurant Vacancies Popping Up in Downtown Bethesda

Nearly a dozen former stores and restaurants remain vacant in downtown  Bethesda in the midst of an ongoing retail shakeout.

Two food spots are now empty on Elm Street near Arlington Road, following the move by to shut its Mexican grill a couple of weeks before the expiration of its lease on Jan. 31. “Baja Fresh has closed due to lease expiry,” reads a sign on the door at 4930 Elm St.

The restaurant cited high rents on Bethesda Row in a December Table Talk report.

, the French chocolate and pastry shop just around the corner from Baja Fresh, , and the Bethesda Lane shop remains empty.

But, it’s really the area in and near the Woodmont Triangle where vacancies are most prevalent—and where a couple of new vacancies are expected within the next month or so.

A quick survey turned up several vacant spaces that could be ripe for new restaurants --including the at 4866 Cordell Avenue.

The convenience store on Norfolk Avenue, next door to Starbucks, also remains shuttered after closing down last summer.

The former at 4871 Cordell Ave. remains vacant, but not for long -- California Tortilla has announced they will No word on what will become of the current California Tortilla location, also on Cordell.

Cesco Trattoria closed on Cordell and reopened as in the former McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant on Woodmont Avenue, .

Meanwhile, over on Wisconsin Avenue, at least four separate store fronts are now vacant in the blocks below Woodmont Avenue.

These available retail spaces include the former , which is moving to a new location farther north on Wisconsin Avenue, , and a relatively small storefront next door to .

What kinds of businesses would you like to see moving into Bethesda's vacant storefronts? Tell us in the comments.