A property with one of the most-desirable and high-traffic locations in Rockville Town Center will be auctioned off in 28 days. 255 Rockville Pike is currently improved with a three-story office building and heavily-used parking garage. While that would provide a steady income for the winning bidder, the site is also directly across from - and connected to via skybridge - the Rockville Metro station. That means the property is also eligible for a transit-oriented redevelopment at much greater height and density than the current structure.
255 Rockville Pike was once part of the now-demolished Rockville Mall. In recent decades, it was home to Montgomery County government offices. Now that those have been moved to the County's new government building in Wheaton, the vacant building is being put on the auction block. This puts a transit-oriented site on the heavily-traveled MD 355 highway corridor into play on the City of Rockville's economic growth chessboard. The Metro station across the street is not only served by WMATA's Red Line subway trains, but also Maryland's MARC commuter rail, and Amtrak's Washington D.C. to Chicago route trains.
Transwestern, which is marketing the Ten-X Commercial auction, notes that the current building's 12-foot ceilings would also make it a prime candidate for conversion to a biotech facility. It could also be redeveloped as a high-visibility corporate headquarters. Of course, as Montgomery County hasn't attracted a major corporate headquarters in a quarter century, there is also the very real probability of the site being redeveloped as a mixed-use residential tower. Some have long touted the need for more residents in the Town Center, to support the businesses in that struggling area, which the latter use would provide, although others have pointed to parking issues as the primary culprit for the area's empty storefronts.
The City of Rockville's 2040 Comprehensive master plan anticipates that 255 Rockville Pike will indeed be demolished and redeveloped. "It is recommended that the City take an active role in the
redevelopment of this area as a prominent site in Rockville’s downtown," the plan states regarding 255 Rockville Pike. "Redevelopment of this property should contribute to the realization of the Town Center downtown L-shaped ‘spine,’ and incorporate an expanded pedestrian promenade over MD-355 to the Rockville Transit Station."
Such recommendations suggest that the City, which is about to elect a new mayor and City Council, will be heavily engaged in any redevelopment of this property. While this could add to the complexity of building something new here, it's also likely that the new property owner could wrangle some benefits or concessions from the City if it presents a project with the amenities and potential to improve the Town Center/Metro station area's environment, business climate, and pedestrian safety. With such a rare opportunity for new construction at the Rockville Metro station, there should be no shortage of bidders. As the auction listing notes, the site's PD-RCI zoning allows for high-rise construction, but also the most Metro-accessible location for a biotech facility in the I-270 life sciences corridor.
Photos courtesy Transwestern
Considering the macro office environment (and the immediate vacancy that the Choice Hotels HQ move is about to leave next door) and the new Cambria hotel a block away, I think realistically there will only be demand for residential.
ReplyDeleteThat said, there's still an opportunity for the site to have a signature gateway building. Maybe a pair of towers like you see at The Elm in Bethesda. The city should allow whatever heights and variances are needed to attract the highest quality build possible. A ground floor tenant that can pull a lot of those 355 cars into town center would be great too, e.g. an urban format Target or even a higher profile restaurant along the lines of Founding Farmers or Stanford Grill relocating into the space.
The demographics of Rockville have bonded all previous, and perhaps future, tenants of town center properties to Class B occupants. As you stated about the Choice Hotels HQ's move, which was for a more upscale location, including the residential component nearby. This site is also constrained by height limits adopted post One Metro Square development on the adjacent site. Nothing in future development will exceed the height of the old Redbrick Courthouse, regardless of amenities or features.
Delete...huh?
DeleteThat building is such an eyesore. I remember working out there in the late 1980s at Metro Fitness. Would be nice to see an infusion of a high flying business to augment the spiraling Town Center. I fear the previous poster is correct; the demographics of Rockville will never allow it to become an upscale locale akin to Reston Town Center. We missed an opportunity to get rid of the wretched Elrich with David Blair. That election cemented the County’s long down spiral (2006 to present) , so expertly documented in Jacob Sesker’s report summarizing the time frame.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you agree with my perspective, however, your mention of Elrich and Blair have no impact on this development. Everything within the city limits of Rockville, including the Town Center area, is governed and zoned by the City of Rockville government, not Montgomery County.
DeleteThis complex hasn't been successful since the day it was built. The neighborhood just doesn't support it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first opinion. There is no place for "older" people to have a nice, "QUIET" place for a meal. Not everyone wants tacos and unbearingly loud music. There is also a crime element starting there. What a shame that Rockville has allowed itself to go downhill.
ReplyDeleteShow me an urban area that is immune to crime and you can label it a walled city. They don't exist in today's society. If you are looking for a "QUIET" place for a meal, I suggest cooking or home delivery.
DeleteCompletely untrue. There are several nice restaurants in that vicinity where you can conduct a conversation. You must have a specific cuisine in mind when you claim that there aren't.
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