Clark Enterprises, a company that formerly owned the biggest road construction contractor in Montgomery County, is fighting against a new building planned atop the Bethesda Metro station.

The plaza above the Bethesda Metro station. The former food court is behind the fountain. Photo by the author.

Brookfield Properties owns a failed food court on a platform above the station’s bus waiting area, which it wants to replace with a high-rise containing homes or offices. Brookfield would also bring more light and air into the bus bays by cutting into an underused plaza that occupies the remainder of the platform.

This site, in the center of Bethesda directly above the Red Line entrance and bus terminal, is ideally situated for transit- and pedestrian-oriented development. No new parking will be built. The downtown master plan now under review by the Planning Board recognizes the value of this location by allowing building up to 290 feet high.

Clark has opposed building here before

In 2008, Clark helped defeat a plan to build on the Metro station platform, and it has been fighting Bookfield’s proposal since it emerged two years ago. A new structure would interfere with the view from the building where Clark’s executive offices are located. As one of the building’s tenants wrote, the new building would “obstruct views from our existing space.” A second tenant acknowledged the same objection.

The construction firm, a relentless promoter of highway widenings elsewhere, has renewed its efforts over the last month with two mailings each sent to thousands of Bethesda residents. They call on the public to “protect open space” and suggest that the plaza could be expanded by demolishing the food court and turned into an attractive park.

Clark’s first mailer.

The mailers’ attractive photographs of grassy parks surrounded by trees have little in common with any possible upgrade of the plaza — tree roots can’t grow on the platform — and even less with the dingy bus bays below. Indeed, Clark’s proposal could make the bus bays even worse than now.

In their second mailing, the builders argue that the plaza should be made “street facing.” What currently separates the plaza from the street is the one opening that penetrates the deck above the bus bays. Decking over that opening would further deprive transit riders of light and fresh air.

Top: The image from Clark’s mailing opposing the new building. Bottom: The Bethesda Metro entrance. Lower photo by the author.

It’s easy to laugh at a situation some have described as “builder turned NIMBY,” and one might think Clark has little chance of success. But plans to build on this ideally located site have already been derailed once. Montgomery County’s decision on the Bethesda Metro plaza will test its commitment to development near transit.

Correction: The initial version of this post referred to Clark Construction as the company opposing the building. Clark Enterprises, the parent company, sold Clark Construction to its executives in January 2016. However, as of this article’s initial publication, the Clark website still listed Clark Construction as a subsidiary (but it was subsequently updated after this article ran).