Metro Pike Center to get facelift in Rockville

Saul Centers is preparing to give a facelift to the Metro Pike Center at 11520 Rockville Pike in White Flint. The shopping center will receive a facade update in the coming months. Let's hope it is more retro than the replacement signage that was installed at the front of the property in the late 2010s. Lost were the totally 80s "Metro Pike Center" logo and background grid (see photo below), replaced by the most abominably-generic font and signage Max Headroom or Buckaroo Banzai could imagine in their nightmares (see photo at top). According to LoopNet, Metro Pike Center was constructed in 1990. White Flint is synonymous with the 80s, and that character should be retained to maintain the "sense of place" that Montgomery County planners give so much lip service to.

Construction advancing on Rockville's tallest senior housing project (Photos)

Here's a look at the latest progress on The Pinnacle, a senior housing project that is located at 11565 Old Georgetown Road, about a block west from Rockville Pike and a future north entrance to the White Flint Metro station. It is across the street from Pike & Rose. The 17-story building will house 113 independent living apartments, 40 assisted-living units, and 48 units reserved for memory care and early-stage-dementia Bridge patients. It will have its own 15,000-square-feet of restaurant and retail space, and will appear outwardly as a luxury apartment building, rather than a retirement or nursing facility. Developer Silverstone Senior Living anticipates a Q2 2026 delivery for the project.

Rockville Pike McDonald's construction advancing (Photos)

Here's a look at the progress on the new McDonald's restaurant at 11710 Rockville Pike in White Flint. New and improved, as this one - unlike the McDonald's that just closed nearby - will have drive-thru service. You can see the two drive-thru windows on the south side of the building now. Fast food restaurant construction is often measured in days or weeks, rather than the months this one has been. Another unusual aspect of this? I've never seen Home Depot protective wrap on a project like this before.

Rockville construction update: The Pinnacle (Photos)

The Pinnacle, a senior living apartment complex, is now about four stories above street level in White Flint. Located at 11565 Old Georgetown Road, it will eventually rise to 17 stories. Inside will be 113 independent living apartments, 40 assisted-living units, and 48 units reserved for memory care and early-stage-dementia Bridge patients. Residents who are still independent will be right across the road from dining, shopping, and entertainment at Pike & Rose, and walking distance to the White Flint Metro station. The building itself will have its own 15,000-square-feet of restaurant and retail space, and will appear outwardly as a luxury apartment building, rather than a retirement or nursing facility. Developer Silverstone Senior Living anticipates a Q2 2026 delivery for the project.

White Flint McDonald's closes on Rockville Pike (Video + Photos)

McDonald's has closed at 11564 Rockville Pike in White Flint. The loss is not permanent, however. McDonald's is relocating into a new restaurant building on the former Arby's site just up the Pike at 11710 Rockvile Pike. I had expected they might make an overnight switchover, but it looks like the transition won't be as seamless as I thought. The new McDonald's will have something this one never did: a drive-thru.

Chili's demolished on Rockville Pike (Photos)

The Chili's restaurant at 11428 Rockville Pike has been demolished. Demolition of the adjacent Woodglen Park property is still underway. The site is being redeveloped with a mixed-use residential apartment building, branded for now as North Bethesda Market II. Montgomery County has already approved that project.