Signage installed at Rockville Asian food hall The Spot (Photos)

The signs are up at The Spot, and the interior is rapidly coming together as well. You can see the seating, and individual stalls of the hall's tenants. Of three Asian food halls opening in the next 12 months in Rockville, The Spot looks the closest to completion. The Spot is located in the ground floor of The Metropolitan at Rockville Town Center apartments at 255 N. Washington Street.

Rockville construction update: The Metropolitan at Rockville Town Center (Photos)

Work is underway at the future site of The Metropolitan at Rockville Town Center, being constructed on the former site of the Suburban Trust Building at 255 N. Washington Street. The 6-story, mixed-use project will include 275 apartments and 6113 SF of retail and restaurant space.

Apartments will range from one-bedroom lofts to three-bedroom units. Amenities will include a fitness center and yoga studio, pet grooming station, a swimming pool, bike storage, two courtyards, outdoor grills, and a 2-story entertainment lounge and outdoor terrace.

The Metropolitan is being developed by Kettler and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, and is scheduled to deliver in 2017. For a preview of what the finished building will look like, check out these renderings.

TOWN CENTER PHASE II, BIKEWAY MASTER PLAN ON ROCKVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA FOR OCTOBER 22

A new 6-story, mixed-use apartment building with 6000 SF of ground floor retail is on the agenda for the Rockville Planning Commission next Wednesday, October 22. The 275-unit building replaces the historic Suburban Trust Building, tragically demolished earlier this year at 255 N. Washington Street. It is one of several Town Center Phase II projects underway, with others by JBG and Brightview also moving forward.

The meeting will also include a work session on the Rockville Bikeway Master Plan, the results of which will impact automobile travel and parking in the city as much as cyclists. Wednesday's meeting will be at 7:00 PM, in the Mayor and Council Chambers at City Hall, and also broadcast live on Channel 11.

WHAT'S LEFT OF THE HISTORIC PINK BANK IN ROCKVILLE (PHOTOS)

What's left? Not much. The demolition of the historic Suburban Trust Building at 255 N. Washington Street may well be the most shameful land-use decision by the city since its disastrous "urban renewal" of the 1960s. Virtually the entire historic downtown was demolished back then, in contrast to Maryland cities like Frederick and Hagerstown, who have maintained their original downtowns as desirable assets. This recent demolition was opposed by Rockville's Historic District Commission, as well as by historic preservationists in the city.

The demise of the "Pink Bank" not only cost Rockville a rare example of New Formalist architecture, and a historic building that represented the primacy of the suburban lifestyle that defines Rockville. It also eliminated the "sense of place" developers often cite facetiously. Whether you liked the Pink Bank, or not, you knew exactly where you were when you passed it. The same cannot be said of the cookie-cutter town centers around the DC area, with few exceptions. All the same restaurants, shops and indistinguishable architecture leave the visitor puzzled and unimpressed. Why go "there," when all the same stuff is "here?"

Remnants of the bank's
drive-thru

The bank's drive-thru gate
is still standing

Just a pile

Mixed-use development
will replace the Pink Bank

FIRST IMAGES OF BUILDING TO REPLACE PINK BANK AT 255 N. WASHINGTON ST. IN ROCKVILLE (PHOTOS)

The Kettler mixed-use project that will be constructed on the former site of the demolished Suburban Trust Building (a.k.a. the Pink Bank) will be about 7-stories tall, with ground floor retail and restaurants. These renderings show what it will look like from different vantage points around the property. The architecture appears to reference some design elements of the adjacent Rockville Town Square development, but is hardly as unique as the New Formalist building it replaces.

Images courtesy Kettler/City of Rockville
All rights reserved

ROCKVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSIONER CRITICIZES PINK BANK DECISION (PHOTO)

Jessica Reynolds, a member of the Rockville Historic District Commission, is speaking out on the recent 3-2 decision by the Mayor and Council to allow demolition of a historic bank building at 255 N. Washington Street.

In a letter published in this week's Gazette, Reynolds accused city leaders of preserving only those buildings with "architectural styles that meet their own tastes." The decision to not allow a historic designation process for the "Pink Bank" "has implications for how the public's voice will be heard in Rockville in the future," she wrote.

The building's distinctive design, Reynolds argued, not only serves as an important reminder of the city's blunder of demolishing its original, historic town center during the 60s, but also reinforces a sense of place in a time of what she has previously called "cookie cutter" buildings.

Reynolds predicted that the modern town center itself will be replaced again in only 30 years.

The HDC had recommended the city allow a historic designation process to begin for the structure. Supporters of demolition argued that historic designation had already been dismissed previously (however, according to preservationists, the building only recently has qualified by age for designation), and pointed to the developer's years of planning - and work with residents in the adjacent West End - as arguments for allowing the new development to proceed. Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio added that she strongly supported property rights by landowners in the city, and therefore was voting on principle to allow demolition.

ROCKVILLE MAYOR AND COUNCIL WON'T STAND IN WAY OF WRECKING BALL IN PINK BANK DEMOLITION (PHOTO)

The unique building at 255 N. Washington Street, known as "The Pink Bank," is now almost certain to be demolished.

A bid to forestall demolition, via a possible historic designation process, failed at last night's Rockville Mayor and Council meeting by a vote of 2-3.

Councilmembers Tom Moore and Mark Pierzchala voted to allow the study of historic designation. Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio concurred with Councilmember John Hall's assertion that such a process would waste people's time, because neither would support historic designation in the end anyway. Moore responded that both officials - and possibly himself - would be out of office by the time such a vote would be taken.

Councilmember Bridget Newton also voted against the motion.

Originally the Suburban Trust bank building, it was built in 1965 and designed by architect Arthur Anderson. Some interior office space was reconfigured by another prominent Rockville architect, John Sullivan. Its singular design is an example of New Formalism, and I'm not aware of another example of it in the city of Rockville.

I agree with the comments of Rockville Historic District Commissioner Jessica Reynolds, who contrasted the landmark Pink Bank with the majority of today's Montgomery County architecture, which "all looks the same: cookie cutter."

Reynolds made the motion to recommend starting the historic designation process, which passed unanimously at the HDC's September meeting.

Most of today's new buildings could be anywhere. This stands in stark opposition to developers' claims that dense urbanization of the suburbs will establish a "sense of place" they somehow believe is lacking in decades-old suburban neighborhoods.

As HDC Chair Craig Moloney said, we are too quick to "throw our buildings in the dumpster."