Rockville Amazon Fresh update (Photos)

The cart return, and signs for curbside pick-up customers, are now out in the parking lot in front of the future Amazon Fresh grocery store in the 270 Center on Shady Grove Road, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. A sign inside the store now reads "Gaithersburg," so that's where Amazon comes down on the subject (and leaves the door open for a more centrally-located Rockville store in the future). More has been added to the interior, but there still isn't anything on the many shelves yet. so opening day is still a ways off.

New Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins with drive-thru nearing completion in Rockville (Photos)

Signs and banners are up at the new Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins with drive-thru at 16268 Frederick Road in Rockville. However, as I predicted, the store is oriented toward Shady Grove Road more than MD 355. The existing Dunkin' Donuts at 16220 Frederick Road will move into this one. Parking spaces are painted, and the ordering canopy is in place, but they still have to install the drive-thru menu board and speaker.

Rockville bank-to-Dunkin' Donuts conversion advancing (Photos)

A vacant drive-thru bank branch at 16268 Frederick Road in Rockville is rapidly becoming a new Dunkin' Donuts store. As you can see in these photos, the drive-thru's canopy and parts of the bank building itself are now sporting Dunkin' colors. The current Dunkin' Donuts shop at 16220 Frederick will relocate into this building when the conversion is complete. Almost "time to make the donuts" at this new store, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg.

Trammell Crow to develop The Labs at Belward life sciences center in Rockville

Developer Trammell Crow announced it plans to build a 757,000 square foot life sciences center on the former Belward Farm property in Rockville. The Labs at Belward will be on the Belward Campus of Johns Hopkins University, and initially include three buildings of trophy laboratory and research space. Future additions will expand that to 1.6 million square feet across seven buildings.

Trammell Crow said it expects to break ground on the project in June of 2023. An early 2025 delivery is anticipated. 

On the professional scientific side, the project facilities will support BSL Category-2 laboratory functions, and have 18-foot deck-to-deck ceiling heights on both the basement and ground floors, with 16-foot heights on all other floors. There will be outdoor terraces and balconies on each building, and a variety of amenities and "supporting retail" for tenants, Trammell Crow said in a press release.

For the public at large, there will be a six-acre public park with an amphitheater, recreational fields, two retail pavilions totaling approximately 6,000 square feet, large wooded buffer areas, several miles of bike and walking trails, and an effort to preserve the site’s natural elements. Preservation of as much of the farmland as possible was the stated goal of the family who sold it to JHU, a decision that led to much controversy in the years after the sale over whether Elizabeth Beall Banks' wishes were being honored by the university.

“We eagerly await the realization of The Labs at Belward as an integral component of the overall vision for the Belward Camus of The Johns Hopkins University,” Mitch Bonanno, Chief Real Estate Officer for The Johns Hopkins University and Medicine Mitch Bonnano said in a statement. 

Trammell Crow officials are optimistic they can finally deliver a major piece of what had long been expected to be the core of the 2010 Great Seneca Science Corridor master plan. “The Labs at Belward is a first-of-its-kind innovation ecosystem within a campus environment akin to a collegiate setting,” Eric Fischer, Managing Director TCC’s MidAtlantic offices said in a statement. "Most importantly, we appreciate the opportunity to work in close alignment with both The Johns Hopkins University and with Montgomery County to activate this critically important site in a manner that advances the University’s and the County’s shared life sciences vision.”

Clark Construction will be the construction contractor for the project. Gensler is the architectural firm, and OJB will design the landscape architecture.

Rendering courtesy Gensler

Rockville Amazon Fresh construction update (Photos)

The Amazon Fresh grocery store continues to move closer to opening at the 270 Center on Shady Grove Road, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. Shelving, refrigerator cases and displays are being put into place inside. Out in the parking lot, you can see a cart return structure has been erected. Ever-secretive Amazon still hasn't publicly acknowledged this store exists; it was 19 months ago that I broke the news of the tech giant's plans to convert this office supply store into an Amazon Fresh.

Shady Grove Burger King reopens in Rockville (Photos)

When is the Burger King on Shady Grove Road reopening? That oft-asked question finally has an answer, as the fully-remodeled restaurant reopened today. It is offering the new food court experience the ownership sought to add to increase revenue, with Ripieno's Italian Bistro and JoJo's Express counters also inside the dining room. Burger King still has the biggest counter space. I love the menu board for Ripieno's that says, "Ripieno's of Ocean City," a nod to the bistro and pizzeria's first location inside the venerable Burger King in Ocean City, Maryland.

There's plenty of indoor seating, and you can mix and match menu items from all three restaurants. JoJo's is promoting its salads as the main draw. Ripieno's has pizzas by the pie or slice, subs, calzones, club sandwiches and cheesesteaks that are "near 1 feet long," the menu board boasts. If they could add pizzas to the drive-thru or a curbside pickup, that would be a huge revenue opportunity, I think. But for the moment, they have the benefit of a huge parking lot, with plenty of spaces to accomodate customers for all three restaurants. Stop by soon for a flame-broiled Whopper, and a taste of Ocean City!

Burger King Shady Grove Road menu board activated as Whopper fans await reopening

Don't go to bed before the King, or you might miss out on the latest in the slow drip of developments in the case of the truly-epic remodeling of the Burger King at 16004 Shady Grove Road at the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. After another few months of little visible activity, we have a new sign of progress. The new drive-thru menu board has been activated. Like the new ones at McDonald's, this has video screens.

Alas, the restaurant has not reopened yet. But it looks like we're getting close to an opening date. The other new "sign" at the site is one seeking job applicants for the pizza restaurant that will be located inside the building. This was the best Burger King in Montgomery County when it closed for renovations a couple of years ago(!!), and Whopper fans are extremely impatient for its return.

Galito's Flame-Grilled Chicken opens in Rockville (Photos)

Galito's Flame-Grilled Chicken has opened at 15918 Shady Grove Road, in the Shady Grove Center on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. An employee at the restaurant said they opened for the first time on Monday. This is the first American location for the South Africa-based spicy chicken chain. Operating hours are 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

Amazon Fresh Rockville construction update (Photos)

We're getting our first look inside the future Amazon Fresh grocery store at 15790 Shady Grove Road in the 270 Center, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. Some of the window coverings and barricades have been removed, allowing a closer view. This will be the second Amazon Fresh store to open in Montgomery County; the first is in Friendship Heights.