Rockville construction update: 1900 Chapman Avenue (Photos)

Mystery project name. Mystery developer. Despite still being publicly known by an address and an LLC, construction is underway at the future 1900 Chapman Avenue development in Rockville. The project includes 319 apartments, 61 townhomes, office space, and 3 to 4 retail spaces.

Right now, concrete and asphalt have been demolished and cleared, and some grading work appears to be underway. You can see how close the townhomes will be to passing CSX, Amtrak, MARC and Metro trains in some of these photos, an issue raised by some planning commissioners during the approval process.

The site is bordered by the railroad and Twinbrook Parkway. It was previously home to Syms. From some angles, the current state of the site creates a surreal atmosphere. In the photo below of a Metro train passing the site, I can almost convince myself I'm standing near a CSX main line in Boyds or Adamstown. Almost.

Rockville construction update: The Metropolitan apartments (Photos)

The Kettler mixed-use project called The Metropolitan at Rockville Town Center continues to rise from the hole at 255 N. Washington Street. This is part of Phase 2 of redeveloping the Town Center area.

275 apartments will range from one-bedroom lofts to three bedrooms on the former site of the historic Suburban Trust Building. Amenities will include a fitness center, a yoga room, a pet grooming station, bike storage, two courtyards with outdoor grills, a swimming pool, and a two-story entertainment lounge and terrace.

A two-level, 303-space underground parking garage and 6000 SF of ground floor retail round out the project. Delivery is expected in the fall of 2017. A very bare bones website has been launched to market the apartments.

Maryvale Elementary School students' art livens up N. Washington St. in Rockville (Photos)

A graffiti-style painting that appeared in a pedestrian covered walkway on N. Washington Street may have been a premonition of things to come. CBG Building Company, which is constructing the Brightview Rockville Town Center senior apartment project at 285 N. Washington Street, has an art program that puts works by local students on display at their construction sites.

Here in Rockville, CBG asked third, fourth and fifth graders at Maryvale Elementary School what they do for fun in their neighborhood. The resulting artworks have now been installed at the site's covered sidewalk area. In addition, CBG posted a couple of renderings of the project, which is expected to deliver in May of 2017.

Abandoned Twinbrook Safeway (Photos)

The vacant former Safeway store at the Twinbrook Shopping Center may have been stripped of exterior signage, but inside it still very much looks like a grocery store. Just without any groceries on the shelves.

Interestingly, the lights are still on inside. This was not the classic Safeway store design like that found in Damascus, which ended up being demolished. All contents were auctioned off prior to demolition.

This situation looks more like that at the old Magruder's in College Plaza. That store was put up for lease, and the new tenant utilized the leftover checkouts and even shopping carts when it opened. Other than a potential redevelopment of the shopping center, the question here is, will it be a new grocery store chain or an ethnic grocery store?

Mayor & Council nix dramatic changes for Southlawn industrial area in Rockville

Rockville will likely take a more conservative approach to improving the co-existence of the Southlawn industrial area and the residential neighborhoods that adjoin it than a consultant study recommended. The study provided a range of options from modest to dramatic for review by the Mayor and Council. Last night, there was unanimous agreement on most issues that it is too early to take a radical approach.

Transportation is one of the biggest concerns of residents in East Rockville, especially cut-through traffic. Several residents testified during the Community Forum earlier at last night's meeting that they were displeased with City staff's recommendations to not take more drastic action to curtail such traffic. They noted that neighborhood plans from years ago were already recommending such changes prior to the Southlawn Industrial Area Study.

The Mayor and Council, while seeking further study of the citywide implications of more dramatic options like closing sections of streets, generally felt that more modest measures could have an impact. These could include stricter enforcement of truck traffic restrictions, and more speed cameras on N. Horners Lane.

Regarding potential road network changes, Councilmember Julie Palakovich-Carr said she was "not quite ready to take this one off the table." She asked for further study, including whether adding more direct road connections rather than closing sections of roads might help reduce cut-through traffic. Councilmember Mark Pierzchala did not favor road closures at this time, saying it could actually hurt access for residents by making the neighborhood "one big giant cul-de-sac." He suggested a better approach would be to "make it a real pain to traverse that area," by adding more stop signs and increasing funds in the next budget for traffic enforcement in that area.

Of 10 transportation recommendations, the Mayor and Council ultimately gave the green light to Recommendations 1 through 6. They asked for further study of #7, the potential realignment of Southlawn Lane to straighten the bend north of Lofstrand Lane. Recommendations 7 and 8 were eliminated, and they asked staff to come back with more potential options for #10, long-term changes to the street grid.

The other major decision was whether or not to rezone the public housing development David Scull Courts. Clark Larson, project manager for the City on the Southlawn study, said staff concluded the development's current industrial zoning is not an issue. As public housing, David Scull Courts retains a public use rather than being a private residential development. To rezone it as residential would essentially be a semantic change, rather than a practical one.

"I don't see the need to change the zoning," Pierzchala said. Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton, Palakovich Carr, Onley, and Councilmember Beryl Feinberg concurred with Pierzchala on leaving David Scull Courts as industrial. They did not favor reducing setbacks between industrial and residential uses where an opaque wall separated the two uses, nor did they want to change zoning for properties in the industrial area at this time.

The formal process of addressing concerns in the Southlawn area began 13 months ago, when the City began a long-asked-for review of community issues there.

MoCo Council crackdown on airbnb reinforces County's anti-business, "fight-the-future" reputation

Anti-business Montgomery County
Councilmember Hans Riemer

When Montgomery County Councilmember Hans Riemer declares he has found a new sector of the economy to fix, businesspeople are justified in heading for the hills. After chasing 96% of food trucks out of the County (or out of business altogether), running 9 bars and a 24-hour restaurant out of business in Bethesda with his "nighttime economy" initiative, and spearheading a "get government of the liquor business" drive - that ended with Riemer endorsing the County government monopoly on liquor, where to next for Hans Riemer?

Well, after Riemer and his Council colleagues finished raising your Uber fares in Montgomery County, they're now fighting another modern upstart in the cutting-edge "sharing economy" sweeping the nation: airbnb.

County residents found a wonderful business opportunity in offering their properties for short-term rental on airbnb. They dared to have some success and make money, without help or involvement from Montgomery County Government. And that's sure to run you afoul of the Montgomery County political cartel.

As with Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing services, the Council has their Communist China-style doublespeak ready to deploy. They are actually "legalizing airbnb," if you read their taxpayer-funded propaganda regarding the bill and zoning text amendment. Most people struggling to pay the bills and get the kids to school on time will hear that, shrug, and keep going.

Here's what they're really doing:

First, folks in the County have found a relatively simple and easy source of revenue through airbnb. So the MoCo cartel has to figure out A) how to eliminate this business opportunity, or at least make it difficult and complicated enough that "the masses" (a.k.a. the little guy) will be discouraged from engaging in it; and B) how does the MoCo cartel get a cut of the money?

The answer is very similar to their agenda with Uber. Apply a new tax. Make Uber more expensive to use. Make doing business here more costly for Uber, thereby driving up Uber fares and driving down another new economic opportunity, driving for Uber. Less drivers adds to the pressure for higher fares, and Uber becomes less appealing to use for those with less money. And "the little guy (or gal)" who thinks of a way to disrupt Uber with his or her own ride-sharing innovation now can't get into the market, because the entry cost is higher than it was when Uber and Lyft got in. Mission accomplished, and they sold it as "legalizing Uber."

Now, it's airbnb's turn. A public meeting will be held tonight to seek feedback on the airbnb crackdown. You can RSVP online.

Riemer, et al, have pointed out with glee that they are so inept (the County government was found to run on Windows 2000 four years after Riemer took office), that they passed a zoning code in 2014 that made airbnb "illegal."

Montgomery County is not enforcing the supposed rules that "banned" airbnb. In fact, a search on the airbnb website for rentals available for this coming weekend in Bethesda and Chevy Chase alone shows 26 listings. Those include a bargain $38 airbed available on Westbard Avenue. There are 30 listings in Silver Spring, including a "cheerful, serene" room near Forest Glen for $39.

Those prices are for check-in Friday through check-out Sunday. For the traveler who can't afford an overpriced hotel room, that's a huge deal. That also ticks off the County political cartel.

So, if successful, the Council will double-tax airbnb "landlords" by forcing them to pay both income tax and a hotel tax, a law already passed by the Council last year. Now they'll add a new "tax," which they're calling a license, and which must be renewed annually.

In addition, airbnb entrepreneurs would only be able to rent their primary residence. The bill also contains a stipulation that "County officials" (and the language leaves open that it could be any County official, if designated by one of three officials named in the bill) have the right to enter your property at any time for any inspection "they may deem necessary." Finally, the bill demands that the property owner maintain a guest register like a hotel, with personal information on each airbnb guest, that the County can review at any time.

With the hotel tax and register, once again the Council is treating one type of business as another. They successfully forced ride-sharing services under the same rules as taxicabs, a completely different business model. Here, they're attempting to reclassify airbnb rentals as hotel rooms, or bed-and-breakfasts.

And once again, the cutting edge of business and technology is going to be blunted by our "Fight the Future" County Council. Across the country, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other businesspeople seeking to launch start-ups are paying attention to the follies of our elected officials.

They're finding Montgomery County to be an expensive and complicated place to do business. That hurts businesspeople, and it hurts consumers. We get less choices. Prices go up. Opportunities and jobs continue to go elsewhere.

What are we missing out on under the "leadership" of Riemer and our current Council?

Global revenue from the "sharing economy" is forecast to reach $335 billion by 2025, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Even the famously-liberal City of Takoma Park isn't cracking down on airbnb.

Message? If you want to start a disruptive tech company, don't start it in Montgomery County. With an already-moribund private sector economy, and billions in wealth fleeing to neighboring jurisdictions, that's a message we literally cannot afford to send.

East Grill Karaoke, Class 520 Thai ice cream rolls coming to Rockville Town Center (Photos)

Two new dining options are coming to Rockville's Town Center. East Grill Karaoke is moving into the Courthouse Center shopping center at 12 N. Washington Street. And a new ice cream shop called Class 520 is taking over the former My Vapez space at 5 Dawson Avenue. The store will offer handcrafted Thai ice cream rolls.

Future home of
Class 520

Is this the first place to offer Thai ice cream rolls in Rockville, or just the first one I've heard of? These are also known as stir-fried ice cream, a way of making ice cream that originated in Thailand.

Here is a video showing how the rolls are made.