South Block Rockville construction update (Photos)

The first Maryland location of South Block is under construction at 11803 Grand Park Avenue at Pike & Rose. An acai bowl and smoothie fast casual restaurant, South Block also sells fresh pressed juices and avocado or banana toast. Here is a look at the progress on the interior fit-out of the business:

Hello Betty restaurant sets opening date in Rockville

Hello Betty, a new restaurant and bar inside the Canopy by Hilton hotel at Pike & Rose, has set a grand opening date. The "surf and skate-inspired" restaurant on the second level of the hotel will open April 8, 2022, the company announced this morning. Menu items will include sustainably sourced peel-and-eat shrimp, fire-roasted crabs prepared in an open flame oven, fish and chips, and a classic crab boil.

A centerpiece for Hello Betty will be the patio boat bar, which is made out of an authentic, retired 40' Delta Deadrise boat that was hauled in - and up - to the deck. It will debut this summer. Drinks will include Hello Betty's signature Orange Crush. Although the company behind the restaurant is based in Denver, blue crabs and orange crushes are very much local favorites for those who vacation in Ocean City.

“We couldn’t be more excited to open Hello Betty in Pike & Rose, sharing a taste of board culture with the neighborhood," Hello Betty Bethesda General Manager Ryan Zemel said in a statement. “Hello Betty is casual, laid back and full of fun, promising exceptional service and fantastic food.” The indoor dining room will seat 138, and the patio can seat 167, including 23 at the boat bar.

Top photo courtesy Hello Betty; bottom photo: Robert Dyer

Tend to open Rockville dental office

Tend is opening an office at 11580 Old Georgetown Road at Pike & Rose. The 2876 square foot office will offer a full range of dental services, including exams, fillings, crowns, root canals, whitening and cosmetic redesign, and preventative care such as oral cancer screenings. In other words, a one-stop shop that includes options some traditional dental offices don't offer under one roof. 

Property owner Federal Realty announced the lease Friday, touting Tend as the first dentist's office "people actually look forward to." Inside Tend's calm and inviting office, patient happiness is the stated goal. "Coming soon" signage was already up at the future location on Thursday. Tend is expected to open at Pike & Rose in the 2nd quarter of 2022.

LensCrafters "coming soon" at Pike & Rose

LensCrafters has posted "coming soon" signage for its future Pike & Rose location at 901 Rose Avenue in Rockville. There is a QR code for job openings at the location, which I'm told will be opening on April 4, 2022. LensCrafters will face immediate competition from Warby Parker, which is also coming to Pike & Rose this year. 

South Block coming soon to Rockville

South Block has posted coming soon signage at its future location at 11803 Grand Park Avenue at Pike & Rose in Rockville. The local chain specializes in smoothies, acai bowls, fresh-pressed juices, and avocado or banana toast. Take a closer look at these photos to find out how you can get a free acai bowl. You're welcome!

Warby Parker opening Rockville location

Warby Parker, the eyeglass retailer known for online sales but growing larger on the bricks-and-mortar front, will open a new store at Pike & Rose this year. It will be located at 11811 Grand Park Avenue. The company says the store will open this summer. Warby Parker already has locations north and south of Rockville, at Bethesda Row and Downtown Crown. 

Roaming Rooster aiming for spring 2022 opening in Rockville (Photos)

The signage is up at Roaming Rooster at Pike & Rose. This local chicken sandwich chain is booming, and opened its latest area location in Tysons a couple of months back. Roaming Rooster says it currently expects this restaurant at 11586 Old Georgetown Road to open this spring. The closure of Taylor Gourmet at Pike & Rose will be a boon for Roaming Rooster in the lunchtime sandwich search at the property, with many offices being added to the site in the next two years.

Taylor Gourmet closes Rockville location

It seemed like only yesterday that Taylor Gourmet reopened its Rockville store at Pike & Rose. But it has now closed permanently. The timing is sad, because the store would likely have seen an increase in lunch sales from all of the new office workers relocating to Pike & Rose for Choice Hotels (which will have its own new office building), and for new 909 Rose office tenants Carl M. Freeman Companies, Prudential Financial, and ACA Group.

PetWellClinic opening in Rockville

When your dog goes to Pike & Rose next year, it may not just be for fun and treats at Bark Social. That's because PetWellClinic is opening a location on the Rockville Pike/Old Georgetown Road corner of the Federal Realty property. The preventative-care veterinary clinic will be between Visionworks and Chipotle.

Franchisees Dave Ballow and Liz Overmann plan to open this and 24 other locations in our region. The Knoxville-based clinic chain was founded in 2009 by Dr. Sam Meisler, who sought to catch pet illnesses early through preventative care, while lowering vet bills for pet owners by stopping disease before it requires more expensive treatment.

Melina sets opening date, menu in Rockville (Photos)

Just one day after I gave you an exclusive first look at the stunning interior of Melina at 905 Rose Avenue at Pike & Rose, the owners announced the official opening date of the modern-casual Greek restaurant. Melina will open this coming Monday, November 22, 2021. Menus have now also been posted on the website; here are three sample dishes:

Beef Tartare

Roasted Heirloom Carrots

Slow-roasted Lamb Neck Kleftiko

Top photo: Robert Dyer; menu photos courtesy Melina

First look: Melina Greek restaurant at Pike & Rose (Photos)

Wow. The window coverings have been removed at Melina, the new modern Greek restaurant from the founders of CAVA at 905 Rose Avenue at Pike & Rose, and it's one of the more impressive dining rooms seen in recent years. A plant-forward menu is reflected in abundant greenery throughout the space, and classical statues recall the staggering cultural legacy of ancient Greece. Light sconces share space with a more recent cultural icon on the walls, a Zorba the Greek poster - not from the movie, but of the 1946 book cover.

Melina will certainly be a fine lunch or dinner spot to impress clients if you are working in the offices upstairs at 909 Rose Avenue, as well as for date nights. Stay tuned for an opening date, which is going to be soon, judging from the ready-to-go appearance of the dining room and bar.

Supply chain issues affect BIBIBOP in Rockville

More signs of America's supply chain woes are visible every week in Montgomery County, from paper goods to gasoline to local restaurant menus. BIBIBOP Asian Grill at 835 Ellsworth Drive at Downtown Silver Spring isn't immune, and neither are the Bethesda Row location at 4820 Bethesda Avenue, nor the Pike & Rose outpost at 11584 Old Georgetown Road in Rockville. The restaurants have posted notices to customers - and on their online ordering pages - that "due to a disruption in our supply chain, this location is using a substitute for our normal bowl." 

Choice Hotels to move headquarters out of City of Rockville to Pike & Rose

Less than a decade after moving its corporate headquarters from Silver Spring to Rockville Town Center, Choice Hotels International is leaving the city. The hospitality firm, which has been located in Montgomery County since 1968, will move outside the city limits to unincorporated Rockville at the Pike & Rose development. 

Choice will move its operations into a new, 16-story office tower at 915 Meeting Street at the Federal Realty-owned development. It will take the place of an existing surface parking lot. The firm will occupy more than 105,000 square feet in the building, a downsizing of 25,000 SF from its current Rockville headquarters. 

The move is shocking, as there was no public indication that Choice was seeking to relocate so soon after building out a state-of-the-art headquarters at 1 Choice Hotels Circle in 2013. Less than ten years ago, the City of Rockville, Montgomery County and Maryland awarded the company $4.3 million in loans and grants, among other concessions, to keep Choice from joining the many companies that have fled the county and state over the last two decades.

Fortunately, the County has at least managed to retain the firm again. Unlike other corporate leaders who have passed on Montgomery County, Choice chair Stewart Bainum is politically-aligned with local and state Democratic leaders to the extent that he is willing to forgo tax savings to stay in the county. Bainum has recently sought to invest his own money to rescue the Baltimore Sun, a favorite newspaper of Democratic politicians statewide that is in danger of falling prey to a private investment firm. He himself has served in the Maryland General Assembly, and is very active in the community.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R)

"It is tremendous news that Choice Hotels is opening a new headquarters in North Bethesda, reaffirming its commitment to our state and retaining hundreds of jobs here for years to come," Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) said in a statement Monday. "The company has been an outstanding corporate citizen in the community, and we look forward to their continued success here in Maryland and around the world."

Maryland Commerce Secretary Kelly M. Schulz

"Choice Hotels has been an important member of Maryland's tourism industry for more than 50 years and we were very pleased to work with them on the decision for a new headquarters," Maryland Commerce Secretary and Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly M. Schulz added. "This new location will give a world-class company like Choice Hotels a number of attractive advantages that are so critical to companies today, including proximity to public transportation and a variety of retail, dining and wellness options."

The move further underlines that moribund Montgomery County's economic development victories have been few and  hollow over the last quarter century. No major corporation has relocated its headquarters to Montgomery County in over 25 years. Many of the few that were here have left. County politicians have been reduced to celebrating the relocation of HQs that are already here, such as Marriott moving from North Bethesda to downtown Bethesda, and now Choice from Rockville to "Rockville," a.k.a. North Bethesda. Rather than advancing the ball, this is largely a case of rearranging the furniture on the deck of the Titanic.

Nevertheless, this is a huge win for Federal Realty. Not only does Pike & Rose now gain the cachet of a major corporate headquarters at the expense of rival Foulger Pratt, but all those incoming employees represent new lunch and happy hour customers for the many restaurants at the development. "We are thrilled to welcome Choice Hotels to the growing list of world-class organizations that call Pike & Rose home," Federal Realty CEO Donald Wood said yesterday. "Choice's focus on employee well-being make 915 Meeting Street and the Pike & Rose neighborhood the perfect fit. Its associates will have unparalleled access to state-of-the-art architecture that incorporates the latest wellness features and a thoughtfully curated merchandising mix all within an authentic, vibrant neighborhood with excellent regional access."

Photo courtesy Choice Hotels International

Call Your Mother opens in Rockville

Call Your Mother, which calls itself "a 'Jew-ish' Deli," opened today at 11807 Grand Park Avenue at Pike & Rose. The store will be open from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM seven days a week. Call Your Mother earned national attention when President Joe Biden's motorcade made its first restaurant stop since he took office at the Georgetown location.

LensCrafters coming to Pike & Rose

LensCrafters is coming to Pike & Rose. The eyewear retailer will be located at 901 Rose Avenue. LensCrafters is also a tenant at Federal Realty's Bethesda Row. It currently has locations at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, and at Edmonston Crossing in Rockville.

Sneak peek: Sports & Social in Rockville (Photos)

Here's a look at the latest additions to the interior of the future Sports & Social at Pike & Rose, opening September 9, 2021. Yesterday, sports-themed artwork was installed on the walls. You can also see the bar area and gaming tables.