DEMOLITION REQUEST ON HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION AGENDA FOR JUNE 19

A demolition request will be among many items on the agenda of the Rockville Historic District Commission on Thursday, June 19. Applicant Ni Linmei is asking for permission to demolish a structure at 215 North Van Buren Street. That appears to be a single-family home between Beale and Dawson Avenues, in Rockville's West End.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM in the Mayor and Council Chambers at City Hall.

RESIDENTS/BUSINESSPEOPLE WANTED FOR ROCKVILLE BRT ADVISORY PANELS

Montgomery County will form 2 Rockville Bus Rapid Transit advisory panels later this summer, and if you are a resident or businessperson concerned about the impact of BRT in Rockville, you should get ready to apply. Now.

Currently, there is no funding for construction of the controversial BRT system. But the preliminary Master Plan was rammed through last year by the County Council, and these advisory panels are one of the requirements set forth by that plan.

The potential BRT system would greatly impact traffic in Rockville, as well as the implementation of any Rockville Pike plans passed by the Mayor and Council.

If you have an interest in shaping BRT in Rockville should it go forward, contact Tom Pogue of the county Department of Transportation at 240-777-7170 or tom.pogue@montgomerycountymd.gov.

PUBLIC HEARING JUNE 23 ON INCREASING ROCKVILLE MAYOR/COUNCIL TERMS TO 4 YEARS

You've had a chance to be heard once at the polls; now you'll have a second chance to speak to the question of whether or not Rockville's mayor and council should serve 2 or 4 year terms. The current 2-year term has provided voters with greater power to hold elected officials accountable swiftly for their actions. Many have suggested that 2-year terms are too short to maintain momentum, and follow through on big initiatives.

53.5% of Rockville voters expressed a preference to adopt 4-year terms during last November's city elections.

Residents can speak at a public hearing during the Monday, June 23 Mayor and Council Meeting, at 7:00 PM, in the Mayor and Council chambers at Rockville City Hall.

NIGHTSWATCH: ROCKVILLE CRIME UPDATE

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Rockville between June 3 and June 4, according to crime data:

June 3

Theft from vehicle. 400 block Elmcroft Boulevard (King Farm).

Theft. 1 block Maryland Avenue.

Assault. 400 block N. Stonestreet Avenue.

Burglary. 100 block Monroe Street.

Theft from vehicle. Park Avenue at Fleet Street.

Theft. 12800 block Atlantic Avenue.

Sexual assault. 100 block Congressional Lane, 7:44 PM.

June 4

Theft. 200 block Currier Drive.

Theft. 500 block Hungerford Drive.

Theft from vehicle. 200 block Derwood Circle.

Assault. 200 block N. Stonestreet Avenue.

Theft from vehicle. 100 block Maryland Avenue.

Theft from vehicle. 1000 block Grandin Avenue.

Theft. 800 block Rockville Pike.

NEW YORK MART POSTS ANOTHER COMING SOON SIGN IN ROCKVILLE (PHOTOS)

The future New York Mart grocery store in College Plaza on MD 355 has posted another "Coming Soon" sign. But nothing has changed inside the former Magruder's grocery store yet, in terms of renovations or upgrades for the new store. Stay tuned!

ZHANG ASIAN CUISINE INSTALLS SIGNAGE IN ROCKVILLE (PHOTOS)

Zhang Asian Cuisine, a new restaurant replacing the old Chicken Out at 1560 Rockville Pike, has installed its permanent signage. Meanwhile, work continues on the interior of the restaurant, which is a good-size space. Zhang will offer Chinese and Thai cuisine, as well as sushi.

ORO POMODORO ORDERED OUT OF ROCKVILLE TOWN SQUARE BY SHERIFF (PHOTOS)

Italian restaurant Oro Pomodoro, one of the original tenants of Rockville Town Square, recently closed. In the window, you can see a message from the Montgomery County Sheriff's office ordering the business to vacate. Another sign said the restaurant would reopen June 1. However, that was yesterday, and the restaurant remained closed.

NIGHTSWATCH: ROCKVILLE CRIME UPDATE

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Rockville on May 23-25, according to crime data:

May 23

Assault. 400 block Elmcroft Boulevard.

Theft. 1 block Gude Drive.

Assault. 500 block Pinewood Road.

Assault. 1 block Maryland Avenue.

Stolen car. 1000 block Copperstone Court.

Theft. 5700 block Crawford Drive.

May 24

Stolen car. 100 block Moore Drive.

Assault. 100 block Gibbs Street.

May 25

Assault. 1400 block Rockville Pike.

FREE WINGS FOR MILITARY AND SPOUSES TODAY AT HOOTERS OF ROCKVILLE (PHOTO)

Active duty members/veterans of the U.S. military - and their spouses - can get 10 of Hooters' famous wings FREE today, with any drink purchase. The offer is good only for dine-in customers, and you may have to show your military I.D. for this Memorial Day special.

Hooters of Rockville

1584 Rockville Pike

NIGHTSWATCH: ROCKVILLE CRIME UPDATE

Here's a roundup of crimes reported between May 20-21 across Rockville, according to crime data:

May 20

Assault. 800 block Hungerford Drive.

Theft. 500 block King Farm Boulevard.

Vehicle theft. 2000 block Gaither Road.

Vehicle theft. 200 block Poplar Spring Road (King Farm area).

Sexual assault. 7300 block Calhoun Place.

Vehicle theft. 300 block Frederick Avenue.

Vehicle theft. 400 block Hungerford Drive.

Theft. 200 block N. Stonestreet Avenue.

Theft. 1500 block Rockville Pike.

May 21

Assault. 1 block Maryland Avenue.

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

CATHERINE'S PLUS SIZES TO CLOSE ON ROCKVILLE PIKE

A major tenant in Pike Center on Rockville Pike in south Rockville, Catherine's Plus Sizes, is going to close. A closing sale is underway at the store. Another storefront is currently vacant. Pike Center had been sought as a location by Walmart, but the big box chain was rebuffed by the Montgomery County Council, and the developer withdrew the proposed plan. Savings are posted as being up to 40% off during the closing sale.

WEAK OFFICE MARKET LEADS JBG TO ASK FOR UPPER ROCK PLAN CHANGES

More evidence of Montgomery County's abysmal office market was on display at this week's Rockville Planning Commission meeting. Developer JBG is requesting an amendment to its Pre-Development Plan for 5 Choke Cherry Road, in the Upper Rock District off Shady Grove Road.

When the plan was approved on May 23, 2005, it included 293 residential units, retail and restaurant space, a community park, and 73,700 square feet of office space, with a surface parking lot.

Devon Lauer, Senior Development Analyst for JBG, said the company wants to replace the 73,700 SF office space component with 35,000 SF of retail and restaurant space. This would be arranged in four, single-story structures, with surface parking serving all four. Potential tenants under discussion include CVS and MOM's Organic Market.

The applicant's attorney, Bob Harris of Lerch, Early & Brewer, said the change is needed due to the poor office market. Residential would not work either, Harris said, due to “the evolution of the residential marketplace in this area,”  noting that such units would have to compete with Crown Farm, the Reed Brothers project, and others on the east side of MD 355, around the Shady Grove Metro. That "softness in the office market” is being felt by existing office building owners near the Upper Rock District. JBG believes that adding retail and restaurant amenities will help it attract new tenants to its existing office space in Upper Rock, as well as to nearby office buildings. Harris recalled another office owner saying he’s struggling to keep his tenants, and could use the retail nearby to help retain them.

JBG will return at future sessions with more detailed information for the commissioners regarding the request. Once again, the weak office market is casting doubt on whether smart growth can be applied in Montgomery County, if there are not adequate, high-wage jobs nearby these new developments.

EVEN HOTEL ROCKVILLE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE, ROOM PREVIEW (PHOTOS)

The transformation of the former Legacy Hotel into an EVEN Hotel continues on Rockville Pike. EVEN Hotels is a wellness-themed brand within the IHG hospitality group, which also includes Holiday Inn. The hotel is designed to not only make healthy travel accommodations available, but also accessible and easy to take advantage of.

In the hotel room renderings by IHG below, you can see that exercise equipment is not just in the expected fitness center of the hotel, but also right in the room. I've seen this trend myself in some Hilton hotels, for example, where there was a treadmill right in the room. On-site food and beverages will also fit the wellness theme, quite a change from the decadent carrot cake I had in the old Phillips Restaurant in the Legacy Hotel.

You may notice some of the Legacy Hotel's windows are being bricked up; as you can see in the IHG rendering below, that brown rectangle is where those windows are being eliminated as part of the redesign.

EVEN Hotel as seen from
Rockville Pike

Note the exercise ball by the window

Spa-type shower

In-room exercise gear

That exercise ball just won't stop
giving you the guilt trip, will it?

Front windows being bricked up (L)

What you'll do at EVEN Hotels

Keep your wellness routine
on the road

Side view

Hotel shuttle, or just
a mobile ad?

Right this way...

Photos by Rockville Nights
Renderings by IHG, All rights reserved

DOUGH ROLLER OPENING IN ROCKVILLE!

Exclusive!

Legendary Ocean City, Maryland pizza and pancake restaurant Dough Roller is expanding to Rockville. Dough Roller's first location outside of OC will be in the King Farm Village Shopping Center, at 403 Redland Boulevard. The restaurant will be near Safeway, and next to Kick's Karate.

Voted "OC's Best Pizza" for the last 13 years, Dough Roller is also one of the resort town's top breakfast spots. The menu at the Rockville Dough Roller is expected to be more like their 3rd, 41st, and 70th Street locations than the S. Division Street outlet (meaning, no Dayton's Fried Chicken). There will be their classic pizza and pancakes, omelets, sandwiches and subs.

Stay tuned for an opening date. Depending on your level of obsession with Ocean City, this could well be the biggest DC-area restaurant story of 2014. Is Thrasher's next?

Logo courtesy of Dough Roller
All rights reserved

NEW YORK MART TO TAKE OVER COLLEGE PLAZA MAGRUDER'S SPACE IN ROCKVILLE (PHOTOS)

The vacant former Magruder's store in College Plaza on MD 355 finally has a tenant. New York Mart has leased the space, and will be the latest competitor in the international groceries category now flourishing in Rockville. New York Mart will literally be just up the road from Kam Sam Supermarket, Great Wall Supermarket and Maxim Gourmet Oriental Market along the Rockville Pike corridor. The burgeoning Asian population in Rockville has made it one of the prime spots for Asian food markets, and restaurants, in the DC area.

ROCKVILLE MAYOR AND COUNCIL STRESS SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION FUNDING TO MOCO COUNCIL PRESIDENT CRAIG RICE

School construction was the major focus for Rockville's mayor and council, during a presentation by Montgomery County Council President Craig Rice Monday evening. While Rice said the council made an effort to obtain additional funds from the state, "the end result wasn't what we wanted." The plan was rebuffed by politicians in the Maryland General Assembly during the 2014 session.

"We are ready, willing and able to join with you...to get to Annapolis" to testify for additional funds, Mayor Bridget Newton said.

Councilmember Tom Moore asked Rice for "every consideration" for construction of Richard Montgomery Elementary School No. 5. The cluster's elementary schools are "greatly overcrowded," Moore noted, and the new school is desperately needed.

Rice said, based on his review of Rockville's priorities, that the county council is "trying to adhere to many of the same policy goals," as the city. He also stressed the importance of assisting workforce development for those with special needs, and organizations such as Jubilee and ARC.

Ultimately, the holdup of construction funds for Rockville schools "is a joint problem," Rice said, that can only be resolved by working together with the city and the state.

NIGHTSWATCH: ROCKVILLE CRIME UPDATE

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Rockville on May 5-6, according to crime data:

MAY 5

Assault. 12900 block Twinbrook Parkway.

Theft from vehicle. 1500 block Rockville Pike.

Theft. 1500 block Rockville Pike.

Theft from vehicle. 1600 block Rockville Pike.

Theft. 1800 block Rockville Pike.

Assault. 1200 block 1st Street.

Theft. 1 block W. Montgomery Avenue.

Assault. 7700 block Eagles Head Court.

MAY 6

Assault with deadly weapon. 14500 block Avery Road.

Sexual assault. 8100 block Needwood Road.

ZHANG APPLIES FOR LIQUOR LICENSE IN ROCKVILLE

The future Zhang Restaurant and Bar at 1560 Rockville Pike has applied for a Montgomery County liquor license. Zhang will serve Chinese and Thai cuisine, and offer sushi as well. The location used to house a Chicken Out, which moved up the Pike to College Plaza.

TUTTI FRUITTI TO OPEN AT PIKE AND ROSE IN ROCKVILLE

Exclusive!

Frozen yogurt chain Tutti Fruitti is the latest tenant to sign on at the under-construction Pike & Rose development, in the White Flint area of south Rockville. But the shop won't be in the newer Federal Realty buildings going up right now. Tutti Fruitti will be located in an existing retail building at the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike.

That structure will be getting a makeover to better fit with the newer development on the site. Tutti Fruitti will move into the space next to Bank of America and Chipotle. Montgomery County has 3 Tutti Fruittis already, located in Wheaton, Germantown and Damascus.