Darband Restaurant nears opening in Rockville

Darband Restaurant looks pretty close to opening at 765-H Rockville Pike, at the Ritchie Center in Rockville. The window coverings have been removed. A Pepsi cooler and some shelving have been moved into the dining space. Artwork has been hung on the right wall, and new "Open," "Darband Kabob" and "Persian Restaurant" lighted signs have been installed in the front window. The flatscreens and "100% Fresh Ingredients" and "Halal" signs are holdovers from previous tenant Taste of Kabab. That restaurant's sign is also strangely still up over the storefront.

Ba Le sandwich shop nears opening in Rockville (Photos)

The interior fit-out of Ba Le, a bánh mì sandwich shop opening in Rockville, appears nearly complete. Kitchen and counter equipment, as well as refrigerated cases for beverages and neon window signs, are in place. It is located at 765-FG Rockville Pike, at the Ritchie Center. You can see the Eiffel Tower in the restaurant's logo, which emphasizes that the world-famous Vietnamese sandwiches start with a French baguette sliced lengthwise, before they are filled with the ingredients of your choice. Ba Le replaces another Vietnamese restaurant, Ốc & Crab Seafood Restaurant, in this spot at Ritchie Center.

Foot Locker construction begins at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

The interior fit-out of Foot Locker's new space is underway at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Now the location of the new space is clear, as "coming soon" signage has been placed across the future storefront. The new store will open this fall, just in time for the big holiday shopping season, and will include a Kids Foot Locker. Foot Locker can currently be found two doors to the left, in its temporary location between AT&T and Macy's Home.

Ace Hardware "coming soon" to Rockville

Ace Hardware has posted "coming soon" signage at its future Rockville location at 835 Rockville Pike, at Wintergreen Plaza. Construction is well underway inside the space, which was formerly occupied by Gold's Gym. The store will only use the first floor level of the old gym, though. When it opens, this will be the first Ace Hardware store in Rockville. An excellent addition to Wintergreen Plaza that should boost traffic to the other businesses there, and a much-needed amenity for the City of Rockville.

Buffalo Wild Wings GO signage installed in Rockville

Permanent signage has been installed above the future storefront of Buffalo Wild Wings GO at 16256 Frederick Road at the Rock Grove shopping center, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. The logo for the express version of Buffalo Wild Wings has been added to the roster on the shopping center's monument signage, as well. Things aren't quite as far along inside, however, as you can see in the photos below. Rockville and Gaithersburg each already have full-scale Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants, which are more like sports bars, competing with sit-down competitors like Hooters.

Ace Hardware store construction begins in Rockville

Construction is underway on the future Ace Hardware store at 835 Rockville Pike at Wintergreen Plaza. First they are demolishing the interior of the former Gold's Gym. According to plans filed with the City of Rockville, Ace Hardware is demolishing the staircase leading to the second floor of the former gym, and sealing the stair opening off in the ceiling. Bathrooms will be updated for current accessibility standards. When it opens, this will be the only Ace Hardware store in Rockville. Windows are currently papered over, but take a sneak peek below:

Signage installed at Wild Bean Coffee in Rockville (Photos)

Permanent signage has been installed above the future storefront of Wild Bean Coffee at 1532 Rockville Pike. The coffee shop does not appear to be part of a chain, and has no website or social media presence that I can find so far. Even the precise name is unclear. The "coming soon" signage in the windows has it as "Wild Coffee Bean," and the new sign above reads, "Wild Bean Coffee."

Rockville quarry under new ownership as of today

The Travilah Quarry at 13900 Piney Meetinghouse Road in Rockville is under new ownership as of this morning. Previously owned by Swiss building materials firm Holcim, the quarry is now owned by Amrize. The new U.S. firm was spun off as a separate company comprised of Holcim's North American portfolio. Holcim shareholders approved the spinoff at the firm's 2025 Annual General Meeting last month, and the reorganization officially takes effect today.

Amrize now represents the largest cement business operating within the natural boundaries of North America, and the second-largest supplier of commercial roofing materials, according to Semafor. The company has operations in 43 U.S. states, and employs 7000 people. Its new headquarters is in Chicago.

Blasting, crushing, and screening are among the operations that take place at the Rockville site. Beyond the mining and processing of stone, there are concrete and asphalt plants on-site. 

The company utilizes several methods to reduce the impact of the quarry on neighbors, such as locating the primary rock crusher over 20 stories underground, and employing a wet supression system to reduce particulate release at key transfer points in the process. A sitewide pneumatic dust collection system will be fully installed by the end of this year. Two sweepers clean Piney Meetinghouse Road and Shady Grove Road near the facility on a daily basis.

Travilah Quarry is anticipated to continue operations through the 2060s. However, the site is also being studied for repurposing as a water reservoir. Results of a study commissioned by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac Basin released this month indicated the quarry is "suitable for the purposes of raw water storage." Under the concept plan, 17.4 billion gallons of water would be pumped into the quarry from the Potomac River, and then connected to the Washington Aqueduct as a backup supply during algae blooms and other events that impact the supply of clean water.

Images courtesy Amrize

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.

Trader Joe's filling shelves ahead of Rockville opening (Photos)

Merchandise is hitting the shelves and display cases inside the future Trader Joe's grocery store at 255 N. Washington Street at Rockville Town Square. Bags of chips, jars of salsa, and neatly-stacked boxes of Joe's Os cereal are among the items visible through the store windows. Also visible is a series of Rockville-themed art high on the walls. Some are obvious, like a Trader Joe's rebranding of the Regal Rockville cineplex, while we could guess that the vintage cars are a riff on The Great Gatsby, whose author is buried in Rockville. Which reminds one of the historic moment when the idea of naming one of the parking decks at the Square "The F. Scott Fitzgerald Garage" after the greatest American novelist was very briefly under consideration by City of Rockville officials. Wasn't Gatsby's car yellow, though?