I thought that this was an interesting, and encouraging, indication of the local economy here in Bethesda. The Bethesda Court Hotel is slated to become a high end Westin hotel under new plans that the county needs to sign off on. This is the money quote for me:

Stephanie Coppula, a spokeswoman for the Bethesda Urban Partnership, a nonprofit that handles landscaping, maintenance and marketing of downtown. “It seems to be exactly what’s needed,” Hartman said. “The fact that they have a signed hotel is such a good sign for the economy and such a good sign for Bethesda.” County planners are seeing more projects in Bethesda, Krasnow said. “We are definitely seeing a flurry of activity right now,” she said. “Developers see a lot of opportunity for hotel and apartments.”

The whole article is certainly worth a read!