Wawa Gaithersburg signage, gas pumps installed ahead of December opening (Photos)

There are real "signs" of progress at the construction site of Montgomery County's first Wawa at 405 S. Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg. The most visible to drivers passing on MD 355 is the roadside sign with the Wawa logo, and digital displays for gas prices. But the main logo sign is also now on the storefront of the convenience store, as well. Wawa-branded gas pumps have been installed, and safety bollards in line with the pumps. Above them is the Wawa logo signage for the gas station canopy. 

When will the Gaithersburg Wawa open? The chain's current target opening date is December 2023. There's still a not-insigniicant amount of paving and landscaping work to be done on the site. Let's see if they can get it done before the ball drops on New Year's Eve.

Choice Hotels logo signage installed at future headquarters in Rockville

The glowing logo of hospitality giant Choice Hotels is now shining from atop the new office tower nearing completion at Pike & Rose, at 915 Meeting Street along Rockville Pike. Choice will be relocating its corporate headquarters down the Pike from its current location by the Rockville Metro station. 

915 Meeting Street is on-schedule for a Q4 2023 delivery at the Federal Realty development. Another Montgomery County corporate headquarters in Gaithersburg, Sodexho, has also been lured to the new 266,000-square-foot trophy office tower. Choice represents many brands familiar to travelers, from Quality Inn and Radisson to Cambria Suites and EconoLodge.

Ice rink construction begins at Rockville Town Square (Photos)

One of the annual harbingers of the holiday season is the commencement of construction on the seasonal ice rink at Rockville Town Square. That work is now underway in the town square. To give you an idea of when opening day might be for skating this year, last year the rink opened on November 4. Lessons are offered, and reservations will be available.

Moby Dick signage installed on Rockville Pike (Photos)

The sign is up at Moby Dick House of Kabob at 11431-A Rockville Pike in White Flint. Interior fit-out of the restaurant continues inside the former Verizon store space, as you can see by the work trucks and vans parked out front. The sign looks pretty sharp, especially if it will light up at night. Serving authentic Persian cuisine, the popular local chain that started in Bethesda in 1989 has 26 locations across the Washington, D.C. area, including an existing Rockville location in the Fallsgrove Village Center.

Former chef at D.C.'s Obelisk opening La Speranza in Rockville

The sign is up at La Speranza at 806 Baltimore Road in the Burgundy Park Shopping Center in Rockville. Neptali Mendoza will be the executive chef of the Italian/Tex-Mex restaurant, his first venture after a long career in Washington, D.C.-area restaurants. He started cooking professionally under the chef Peter Pastan at the Michelin Guide-listed Italian restaurant Obelisk at 2029 P Street, N.W. in 2006. Mendoza then moved onto RedRocks Pizzeria in Alexandria, and Baronessa Italian Restaurant here in Rockville, which closed last year. He is a graduate of the culinary arts program at the Carlos Rosario International School.

La Speranza will serve Neapolitan-style pizzas cooked in a wood-fired brick oven, classic Italian entrees and pasta dishes. A smaller set of Tex-Mex and Latin American favorites on the menu will include fajitas, carne asada, BBQ pork ribs, ceviche mixto, nachos, and gambos al aljillo. Steaks and seafood will round out a menu that should appeal to a wide audience in a convenient neighborhood location. Mendoza hopes to open La Speranza before the end of the month; stay tuned for an opening date.

Rockville Wegmans construction update (Photos)

Work continues to advance at the construction site of the future Rockville Wegmans grocery store at the Twinbrook Quarter development at the corner of Halpine Road and Rockville Pike. While the exterior continues to look closer to the finish line, nothing has been constructed on the grocery store's interior yet. Developer B.F. Saul says it will turn the shell of the grocery store space over to Wegmans' interior fit-out contractor in the early spring of 2024. As I reported previously, the supermarket will open in 2025.

Regrading of the road surface of Halpine at Chapman Avenue is now underway, and is expected to continue for a few weeks. Stacks of Belden pre-blended bricks can be seen at the site. The brick facade of the building is now about 85% complete, according to B. F. Saul. Storefront spaces should be enclosed by the end of 2022. Contractors have begun tarring the roof.

While no work has been done on the Wegmans interior, the same cannot be said for the apartment building interior. Drywall is now being installed in the residential units on the second floor. Installers will progress upward to higher floors as the fall season goes on.

Signage installed at Flagship Express car wash in Rockville

Signage has been installed at the future Flagship Express car wash at 785 Hungerford Drive in Rockville. The existing car wash there has been closed while Flagship Carwash constructs its new business concept. Their new Express locations offer exterior automatic washes on flat-belt conveyors, 3 unlimited levels of membership packages, and free vacuums, towels and compressed air. The old self-service bays at this Rockville location have been demolished to make way for the Express facilities.

Signage installed at The Grove in Potomac + construction update (Photos)

Signage has been installed at The Grove, the new restaurant opening soon at 7747 Tuckerman Lane at Cabin John Village in Potomac. The logo reflects the flower design theme that is expanded upon in the interior design of the space, which was previously home to Lahinch Tavern and Grill. The Grove is a new Belgian cuisine concept from the Common Plate Hospitality Group. Common Plate is behind several restaurants in the region, including Mason Social and Augie's, as well as the highly-anticipated food hall at The Shops at Wisconsin Place in Chevy Chase, The Heights.

Rockville Wegmans opening delayed to 2025 (Photos)

With construction of the Phase 1 building of Twinbrook Quarter rounding into the home stretch at Rockville Pike and Halpine Road, many including me assumed interior fit-out of the Wegmans grocery store in the ground floor would begin before the end of the year, and that the Wegmans would open in 2024. But the Rockville Wegmans is now anticipated to open in 2025. Here's a look at the latest stage of construction at the site: