What will you find upstairs at 5471 Wisconsin Avenue this month? Two restaurants closed there within a week of each other in late summer. The company replacing both is opening its first restaurants in Maryland, and its announced timeline says only "fourth quarter."
The rest of the strip looks much the same. Several names are signed and coming, a few have opened, and some well-known spaces are empty. Until the new tenants open, the Friendship Heights Alliance is the main reason people are out on Wisconsin Avenue, with a Saturday market, a Sunday market and an artist's studio in a storefront that would otherwise be empty.
One building, one new operator
Junction Bistro, Bar & Bakery served its last meal at 5471 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 206B, on Friday, August 28, MoCo Show reported. On Thursday, September 3, The Hunter's Hound in the same building closed for good.
Within days, both spaces had a new tenant. Bethesda Magazine reported that Metropolitan Hospitality Group, known as MHG, will take the former Junction and Hunter's Hound spaces. MHG plans two concepts there. One is a new location of Open Road, its American restaurant. The other is Cove, a new all-day café and wine bar. In its own announcement, MHG calls the pair its "Maryland debut."
| Then, at 5471 Wisconsin | Next, at 5471 Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| Junction Bistro, Bar & Bakery, closed August 28 | Open Road, an American restaurant |
| The Hunter's Hound, closed September 3 | Cove, an all-day café and wine bar |
The reports don't say which concept goes into which former suite. MHG gave a fourth-quarter 2026 target and no specific opening day.
MHG opened its first restaurant, CIRCA at Dupont, in 2007. Its group now includes CIRCA, Open Road, Él Bebe, TRIO Grill, SALT, Heirloom and Open Road Distilling Co. Matthew Carlin, MHG's president, explained the choice of location in the announcement: "It is an established community with a strong sense of place, excellent connectivity and residents who value quality dining and genuine hospitality." The landlord is CCLC, formerly The Chevy Chase Land Company. Its president and CEO, John Ziegenhein, said the two concepts would bring "more reasons for people to spend time at The Collection."
The landlord quote sums up the strip this fall. New tenants are being chosen partly to give people a reason to come to the street.
Open now, and one bakery still on the way
Some of the new tenants have already opened. Le Creuset opened Friday, August 28, at 5481 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite B, next door to the restaurant building, with a grand-opening celebration September 10 through 13. In a September 18 release, the Friendship Heights Alliance said Le Creuset was open and that Just Salad had opened at the Residences at Mazza.
Kneads Bakeshop & Cafe hasn't opened yet. Its locations page lists Chevy Chase as "Coming Soon" at 5330G Western Avenue. Bethesda Magazine identifies that as the former Peet's Coffee space. In September, PoPville posted a photo of "coming soon" signage outside the Friendship Heights Metro. The bakery's original target was the second quarter of 2026, so it's running late, and no new date has been posted.
Spaces still waiting
The largest vacancy has been empty the longest. Amazon Fresh at 5463 Wisconsin Avenue closed in early February as part of a countywide shutdown. That shutdown also closed the Amazon Fresh at 8525 Chevy Chase Lake Terrace. As of mid-February, MoCo Show reported that no future plan had been announced for the Friendship Heights space. No replacement tenant had been made public by late October.
Another new arrival doesn't have a storefront yet. In October, Timber Pizza Co. signed an agreement for two Montgomery County restaurants, one in Chevy Chase and one in Bethesda. The company was still searching for sites and hadn't announced any addresses.
What the Alliance puts in the gaps
While leases are signed and spaces are built out, the Alliance has been using the street itself. The Wash, a student news outlet that covers DC neighborhoods, wrote in October that empty storefronts line both sides of Friendship Heights' stretch of Wisconsin Avenue NW. It also reported on the Alliance's work to bring people back.
Milk Tree is one example. The Alliance helped Robin Bell, a DC-based artist, find a vacant storefront for his studio, which is named for a milk tree plant at its center. The studio opened in 2024 for a planned six months and was extended because the public and local organizations liked it. The front window is filled with small milk trees in hanging disco-ball planters. "The landlord and the Friendship Heights Alliance liked Milk Tree, and thought it looked better than an empty storefront," Bell told The Wash. Rachel L Davis, the Alliance's marketing and communication director, told the outlet that "Milk Tree is exactly the creative use we need for Friendship Heights."
Sunday Commons is another. The Alliance runs this weekly market with TrishtanFoods, a local event organizer. One regular vendor is Crains Dégun, which sells French soaps and toiletries. Estelle Roche, the owners' daughter, told The Wash that the markets help bring foot traffic to Wisconsin Avenue and support local businesses. She also said that "having a few more booths would be great."
The theater plan shows how fragile these temporary uses can be. Bob Bartlett, a Helen Hayes Award-winning playwright, was set to stage The Living Dead as immersive theater on the Metro level of Chevy Chase Pavilion, 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW. The Alliance's event page now says the production "will be rescheduled," has crossed out the original October and November dates, and asks readers to check back.
The calendar from here
These are the dates on the Alliance's schedule for the rest of the year:
- Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Holiday Makers Market & Street Festival. It runs along the west side of Wisconsin Avenue between Jenifer and Garrison Streets, roughly from Booeymonger's to Rodman's. The Alliance lists local makers and vendors, prepared food, giveaways, crafts and live music. According to The Wash, more than 40 makers and vendors will take part.
- Sunday, November 22, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: the last Sunday Commons of 2026, at the Pepco Harrison Substation.
- December 11 through 13: Milk Tree Scavenger Hunt, run around the neighborhood by the Alliance and Bell.
Davis told The Wash the nonprofit is already planning new events for 2027.
Across Western Avenue, the GEICO site
The biggest change in Friendship Heights is a few blocks off Wisconsin Avenue, at the former GEICO headquarters at 5260 Western Avenue. Bethesda-based developer EYA calls the project Friendship Commons. It covers 26.5 acres and would replace the mid-century office building and its two surface parking lots. Bethesda Magazine reports that demolition began this summer and site work is underway.
The approved plans include 356 apartments in three buildings, 180 townhouses, several pocket parks, and walking connections to Brookdale Park and the Friendship Heights area. A pedestrian trail would run along the property's border with Brookdale. The plan removes 34 of the site's 203 large specimen trees. To make up for the lost trees, the developers will plant 2 acres of urban forest on the property. The same article notes that Friendship Heights hasn't seen new housing development since 2009.
The project is still being challenged. Residents voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit they had filed in May. In mid-October, The Village of Friendship Heights, the Brookdale Citizens Association and two area residents filed a petition for judicial review of the Planning Board's July 30 approval. Residents have described the campus as a place where neighbors walked dogs, played and learned to ride bikes for decades. Supporters point to the new housing the project would bring. The case is pending, and the Planning Board declined to comment while it is in litigation.
If the plans hold, the GEICO site will add new neighbors within walking distance of the same blocks where MHG, Kneads and the Alliance's markets are working to bring people back to Wisconsin Avenue.
If you're wondering how the changes at The Collection and the GEICO site might affect your own plans in Chevy Chase, whether you're staying put, adding on, or thinking about a move next year, we're glad to talk it through over coffee, once there's a new place on Wisconsin Avenue to get one. Katie Bocock and our team are here when you're ready. Contact Us.
