Duball, LLC has submitted a Site Plan amendment for its 196 & 198 E. Montgomery Avenue project in Rockville Town Center. The developer is requesting to add 178 additional housing units to the building, bringing the total number of units to 400. 150 of those will be age-restricted to senior citizens, in the new building on the remaining half of the parking lot in front of "Regal Row."
A 15% reduction in parking is also being sought. The Rockville Planning Commission previously rejected Duball's request for 400 units, and a 25% reduction in parking, in October 2014.
Duball will host a public meeting on the amendment on Tuesday, July 11, 2017, at Rockville City Hall at 6:30 PM.
Showing posts with label Duball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Duball. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Rockville construction update: 1900 Chapman Avenue (Photos)
There's some real progress to report on the 319-unit apartment building project at 1900 Chapman Avenue in Rockville. Excavation is complete, and the first elements of the building structure are beginning to rise up to street level. A second phase of 1900 Chapman will add 61 townhomes to the lot, formerly home to Syms.
Monday, November 7, 2016
Rockville construction update: 1900 Chapman Avenue (Photos)
The site of 1900 Chapman Avenue that was formerly home to Syms is now cleared and graded, after demolition of the store and parking areas. A mixed-use multi-family project will be constructed on the northern half of the lot, and a townhome project will occupy the southern half near Twinbrook Parkway.
Friday, February 26, 2016
Rockville town center merchants, landowners differ on parking issues
Most people can agree that Rockville's town center is probably not known in the region as the most pleasant, easiest and cheapest place to park. But how to solve that problem - or the perception of it - isn't as as easy to agree upon. A special Mayor and Council worksession last night brought stakeholders together for an open conversation on the topic.
"There is no such thing as free parking," a representative of Rockville Town Square owner Federal Realty said. Lighting, maintenance and ground lease payments are just a few of the expenses involved in providing parking, he explained. He described the current parking policy at RTS as a "very generous first two hour validation program," taken advantage of by 80% of garage patrons. That is "effectively, free parking," he added.
However, many competing lifestyle centers in the County are offering parking that is literally free parking, much to the chagrin of businesses in the town center. And, yes, there is validation, but you usually have to buy something in order to get it, which means it is not "free."
In contrast, Federal Realty's Pike & Rose development gives you the two hours free without needing a validation. Downtown Bethesda, as unpleasant as parking is there, provides free parking in Montgomery County garages on weekends. Rockville Town Square doesn't. And Rio/Washingtonian Center and Downtown Crown provide the best deal of all: free parking all day, every day.
But becoming more competitive is easy or challenging, depending upon who you ask.
Federal Realty pointed out that fees alone rarely cover the full cost of parking for a property owner. "What we don't collect," the representative said, "is essentially paid for by the leaseholders themselves." Changing parking policies requires a lot of research, and a long-term commitment to that new policy, he warned.
Mellow Mushroom's Danny Trahan offered a simpler solution. Trahan, who lives in Virginia, said the evolution of parking policies at Reston Town Center are very instructive for Rockville's parking dilemma. Reston originally had free parking, he said, until the policy was abused by Metro commuters. When Reston Town Center then instituted paid parking, business declined severely, he recalled.
Reston then changed to charging for parking only between 4:00-10:00 AM. The result? Business was "booming again," Trahan recounted. Taking into account the daytime demand for parking related to local government and the courthouse, Trahan suggested implementing a Reston-type policy, but charging until 4:00 PM on weekdays. After that, and all day on weekends, parking would be free.
"Heavily market that" on Facebook and in newspaper ads, Trahan advised. In response to Federal Realty's concern about the reality of parking costs, Trahan predicted that under his suggested policy, the firm would recoup "millions of dollars of revenue you guys are losing."
Trahan also proposed that Federal Realty allow merchants to advertise in the garages, to generate revenue to cover parking costs. He offered to buy a Mellow Mushroom sign and install it in the garage. Another novel idea Trahan threw out at the meeting was to relocate the library, and fill its space with more retail to activate the square at all hours.
"We're at a competitive disadvantage on Saturdays," a Regal Row merchant said. And a former draw at lunchtime on Wednesdays, the farmers market and live music, has been lost to Dawson's Market during the construction of the Duball project across the street. A representative of neighboring CremCafe said that the loss of the surface lot the Duball project was built on has made it harder to hire workers. They can't afford the price of parking, and "not everyone is using the Metro," he said. The owner of Ben & Jerry's said "customer counts plummeted" during the Duball construction, and today are "not nearly as much as they were prior to construction."
Scott Feldman of the legendary Giuseppe's Pizza on Regal Row told the Mayor and Council that some of his longtime customers "don't come in anymore" after finding a "$40 ticket on their windshield." Or, as one of his customers termed it, "that little surprise we had waiting when we got outside." Combine that with competition that can offer free parking, and Rockville town center businesses suffer as a result. "The problem is," Feldman said, local consumers "have too many other choices." Read the pizzeria's Yelp page, and you'll find that when customers aren't raving about the pizza, they're warning that "parking is a ***** during business hours."
Regal Cinemas has been hit as hard as anybody - and not for a lack of trying. The cineplex recently renovated its auditoriums, adding reclining seats. Ordinarily, a representative of the theater said, adding recliners would initially boost sales by 50-60%. In Rockville, the fancy chairs have only generated a 20% increase in business, he said, "something that is concerning." He also said that the theater had to end its free family matinee screenings, because "nobody wants to pay $12 to see a free movie."
But the perception of parking problems may be killing business as much as the practical experience of parking. "I hate to come into downtown Rockville. I can never find a place to park," Rockville Chamber of Commerce board member Brian Barkley said friends often tell him. Barkley said it's actually not that hard to find parking if, like him, you know where it is. He recommended better wayfinding to address that issue.
That still doesn't solve the cost issue, though. "You can't have everybody around you with free parking on the weekends, and you don't have it," Barkley said.
A town center merchant who lives in Potomac said "nobody in my neighborhood comes here," they go to downtown Bethesda instead. And a representative of VisArts said Rockville town center "has a reputation that it's not a friendly place to go. You have to pay for parking."
"If [merchants] want to have free parking, they can have free parking, It's just a matter of paying us," Duball, LLC president and principal Marc Dubick said of his garage in the Upton/Cambria Hotel and Suites building he developed. Echoing Federal Realty's accounting concerns, Dubick noted that "we have lenders, and we have to pay our obligations." He also noted that his garage is only 17% occupied on Friday nights currently.
That could change when World of Beer opens, though.
World of Beer to open in mid-April in Rockville
World of Beer, the new tavern coming to the Upton apartment building in Rockville town center, is targeting a mid-April opening, Marc Dubick, Principal and President of Duball, LLC, said last night. The business is promising the miracle of offering 500 beers, and operating 50 taps, under the arcane Montgomery County liquor monopoly rules. Can't wait to see them pull this off.
Another opening on the horizon is Panera Bread, which Dubick says could be ready to go in about 45 days. Like World of Beer, it is currently under construction on the Cambria Hotel & Suites side of the building.
Another opening on the horizon is Panera Bread, which Dubick says could be ready to go in about 45 days. Like World of Beer, it is currently under construction on the Cambria Hotel & Suites side of the building.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Cambria Suites celebrates Grand Opening in Rockville Town Center (Photos)
Cambria Hotel & Suites logo projected onto the hotel last night in Rockville |
Guests enjoyed several open bars, menu selections from the hotel's socialCircle bistro, and a variety of performance artists ranging from clowns to jugglers to an aerialist who soared above the crowd.
Michael Murphy, SVP of Upscale Brands at Choice Hotels, prepares to open the ceremonies, with Helen Heneghan Way stretching into the background toward Regal Cinemas |
Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton with City Councilmembers Tom Moore and Virginia Onley |
Mayor Newton addresses the crowd |
Heneghan's husband, Frank, was in the tent as Murphy and Newton spoke. "We are thrilled to be part of this legacy," Murphy said of Helen Heneghan's service to Rockville. The "Way" designation of the street "couldn't be more apt," Newton said, "because there actually is a Helen Heneghan way, which also the Rockville way." The mayor said the hotel and Upton apartments "continue the positive growth" in Rockville's revitalized town center.
"There's no better night than when we're opening a Cambria Suites," Murphy enthused, "except when we're opening a Cambria Suites in Rockville. This is the most amazing time in the last ten years of my career."
Steve Joyce, CEO of Choice Hotels International |
MD State Senator Cheryl Kagan presents a citation from the General Assembly |
"That was the best citation Steve Joyce has received in the state of Maryland," Murphy joked when he took the mic back. Murphy also congratulated Don Swedberg, General Manager of Crescent, on the Rockville Cambria Suites distinction in having the highest customer satisfaction score in the chain.
Other luminaries in the crowd included Ms. Maryland U.S. 2015 Amber Schroen, Miss Teen Maryland U.S. Ardelle Dickerson, Josefina Simpson and Ilaya Hopkins of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, and a host of officials from Choice and its partners. Also attending were lucky hotel guests, including business travelers from General Dynamics and Merck, Murphy said.
Marc Dubick, Principal and President of Duball, LLC, which developed the hotel |
But wait, there's more. A tour of the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, rather than a cookie-cutter hotel room, the suites actually continue the Gothamesque-Modern theme of the building's facade indoors. Your room actually looks more like a swanky, retro Manhattan apartment than the typical lodging quarters. And the latest technology combines with old-fashioned perks like microwaves and personal refrigerators, and Wolfgang Puck coffee.
Conference Room for business meetings |
Mirror in conference room |
Now up to an actual hotel suite |
Hidden fridge |
Below ground was another surprise. In addition to a sizable business meeting/conference center space, there is also a decently-sized room for events. "You could do a very nice wedding in this room," the hotel's Senior Sales Manager Renee Grant said. 75-80 people could fit in a table setting for a wedding reception, for example. Up to 125 might fit if you held a meeting or marriage ceremony using theater-style seating.
Back upstairs in the lobby-level bistro, guests watched Monday Night Football on a large widescreen, while enjoying adult beverages from the bar, and carnival-themed treats on an old-fashioned popcorn cart. The carnival performers wandered about the hotel, continuing to entertain. "Is that a clown car?" a clown asked, after a seemingly endless number of guests poured out of an elevator.
Monday Night Football in the lobby |
The bar in the lobby's bistro restaurant |
One of several Rockville-themed artworks I came across inside the hotel; does anyone know what this depicts from Rockville's past? |
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