There's a new development in the redevelopment of the Lakeforest Mall site in Gaithersburg. A ceremony was held yesterday to kick off the first phase of a newly-announced partnership to relocate and redevelop the Lakeforest Transit Center. Transit is key to transforming the former community hub into a vibrant, mixed-use development, especially with no new highways or rail service planned for the massive housing and commercial growth that will occur.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, Maryland State Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr, and County Councilmembers, including Marilyn Balcombe, Sidney Katz, Dawn Luedtke, and Laurie-Anne Sayles, joined Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) Director Chris Conklin, WRS Inc. Real Estate Investments Principal Kevin Rogers, and other community leaders to celebrate the milestone.
The redevelopment is a joint effort between Montgomery County and WRS Inc. Real Estate Investments. WRS is set to redevelop the nearly 100-acre site into a dynamic mixed-use community featuring residential housing, entertainment, shopping, and public gathering spaces.
“Lakeforest Mall was a place where people came together for decades, and this redevelopment gives us a chance to reimagine this site,” Elrich said Monday. “Transportation, housing, and economic development are connected, and this project reflects that.”
The now-closed Lakeforest Mall holds a special place in the community, having served as the County's largest mall for a time and a well-known gathering spot for 45 years since its opening in 1978. Greed on the part of the mall's final owner, and chronic failure by County leaders to address violent crime and gang activity at the mall resulted in the disgraceful demolition of the once-luxurious shopping mecca now underway at the site.
The first phase of the agreement focuses on site preparation for the new transit center. WRS will prepare nearly two acres of land, which includes filling in a drainage pond and grading the site to make it build-ready. This initial phase is expected to take about one year.
Following the completion of site preparation, MCDOT will purchase the land from WRS and commence construction on the new transit center itself.
The new transit center will continue to serve the eight existing Ride On bus routes currently using the Lakeforest Transit Center. Crucially, it is also being designed with scalability to accommodate the future MD 355 Flash Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor. "The new transit center will support the nearly 2,000 riders per day who rely on the current Lakeforest Transit Center, as well as create capacity to accommodate the planned Flash Bus Rapid Transit corridor along MD 355 and any future developments," Conklin said.
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