Demolition of Lakeforest Mall is well underway in Gaithersburg, but an official groundbreaking ceremony was held today at the property for what is to replace it. Developer WRS, Inc. was joined by Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, former Gaithersburg mayor and current County Council member Sid Katz, and current Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman to officially fire the starting gun on construction of what WRS describes as a "mini-city." The $1.2 billion project will deliver 1600 residential units by three homebuilders, an upgraded Lakeforest Transit Center, and over 470,000-square-feet of retail and restaurant space. Initial tenants will include Sprouts Farmers Market, Home Depot, and a Landmark Theatres cineplex.
It's shameful what Montgomery County officials and later owners of the property allowed to happen to Lakeforest Mall this century. It was an upscale mall when it opened, and - much like White Flint Mall - to see it being demolished even before the older and less-fancy malls in Bethesda and Wheaton is a sheer travesty. You have to be truly bad at governing to be this good at destroying communities and their crown jewels like this.
Pour out an Orange Julius for Lakeforest Mall. It was too good for us. We didn't deserve it, after repeatedly electing people who allowed the mall and surrounding area to become overridden by crime. And in terms of what mall owners could control, it was clear that the most recent set of landlords were determined to tear down the mall to reap maximum real estate transaction profit, the community be damned.
Today begins a new chapter for the property. The developer has many challenges ahead, including the aforementioned neighborhood crime, and to deliver a water feature that is as well-integrated and successful as the one at well-ensconced competitor Rio Lakefront. "This is more than just a construction project; it is the rebirth of a community anchor," WRS Inc. Principal Kevin Rogers said in a statement this afternoon. "We aren't just building buildings; we are creating a destination where people can live, work, and thrive without being dependent on their cars. We are proud to deliver a project that honors the legacy of Lakeforest while looking firmly toward the future of Gaithersburg."
Photo courtesy WRS Inc.
What a nice article, I agree with you on everything. I grew up going to Lakeforest mall starting in 1979 through the closure, it's sad in a way, but its time to hopefully get the area straightened out and the crime and dereliction in that area stopped. Thanks for such a nice and meaningful article.
ReplyDeleteTo the contrary (@8:47) another sad and pathetic diatribe from a failing, wannabe blogger and multi-loosing political candidate. This targeted attempt to blame a dying form of retail on a government body fails to note what the professionals on-site state, malls are dying nationwide, and are being replaced by vibrant, new communities. To borrow a much overused term, "moribund" applies here. But seems only to be used when this blog is in serious dier striaghts. Government can only set the guidelines and rules for development of private lands, the development is entirely up to the owners, unless your are an autocratic.
ReplyDelete10:38: Many malls are thriving nationwide. Who is in charge of law enforcement? The government, specifically Montgomery County in this case. Mall owners do not run the police department; political appointees of the County government do, and they follow the whims and directives of the County Executive and County Council, not the professional and experienced rank-and-file officers' suggestions or preferences.
DeleteIn the case of Lakeforest Mall, you had derelict owners this century who actually wanted the mall to decline so they could sell it to developers, and the pro-criminal anti-police policies of the County Council that have made the neighborhood around the mall site one of the highest-crime in the County. Heckuva job, Brownie!