Live Crawfish & Seafood holding soft opening in Rockville (Menu + Photos)

Live Crawfish & Seafood is holding a soft opening today and tomorrow in the Ritchie Center, at 765 Rockville Pike. They have a special offer for the soft opening: Buy one pound, and get a second pound at 50% off. The menu is Cajun cuisine, for lunch and dinner, and they also have a kids menu.

Here is the full menu:

Montrose Parkway East extension is essential infrastructure for Montgomery County

A third major effort to kill the long-delayed eastward extension of Montrose Parkway to Veirs Mill Road is underway. The war-on-cars Montgomery County Council is due to vote on the funding for the project in January. Killing the road or delaying it further would not be well-received by their constituents, who are stuck on the few existing east-west roads during rush hour daily. Then again, some on the Council sealed their electoral fates this fall, when they voted to kill the Midcounty Highway Extended (M-83), so maybe they have nothing to lose.

In times when radical ideologues put political whims and developer interests above their constituents, and are derelict in their duty to provide essential infrastructure, it's worthwhile to review the facts.

1. The Montrose Parkway, including the Montrose Parkway East, is arguably the infrastructure linchpin of the White Flint sector plan. 

2. Opponents often claim it is incompatible with the White Flint street grid, which misses the critical point: Montrose Parkway is not and was never meant to be part of the White Flint urban street grid. Its primary function, in fact, is to keep traffic that is not destined for White Flint off of that local street grid. That actually makes it safer for the pedestrians and cyclists we are encouraging to use those alternate modes of transportation to get around the urbanized Pike District.

3. Montrose Parkway, especially including the eastern extension, is critical to the success of retail and restaurant businesses in White Flint. The parkway's secondary function is to bring patrons of the businesses in the Pike District who live elsewhere in the County into the "downtown" from places like Wheaton, Aspen Hill and the I-270 corridor. Increasing trip times will only send those drivers to other commercial destinations. With a private-sector economy increasingly termed "moribund" by even the most progressive voices in the County, a loss of more than 2000 retail jobs since 2000 (according to the Maryland Retailers Association), and a stagnant restaurant sector (according to Melvin Thompson of the Restaurant Association of Maryland), we can hardly afford to self-sabotage White Flint.

4. The Montrose Parkway is a vital piece of a cross-county right-of-way known as the Rockville Facility. It was placed in earlier master plans as a future road to handle what everyone tells us will be a massive influx of new residents and development between now and 2040. The Rockville Facility extends from Falls Road in Potomac along Montrose Road and the Montrose Parkway to the Intercounty Connector, near the former site of the Indian Springs Country Club in Layhill.

For that reason, any attempt to downsize or intentionally slow traffic on the parkway will have dire repercussions far beyond the Pike District. It is gambling away what little capacity and valuable right-of-way we have left in reserve. The reality is, there is no other such east-west route available for a road.

5. Failure to build the extension, including the grade-separated interchange at Parklawn Drive, would forever stain the records of those who cast such a vote. There are four major infrastructure projects that were promised by all stakeholders in exchange for profitable development opportunities at White Flint, a $72 million developer tax cut, and hefty campaign checks for the Montgomery County Council. Only one of them, the Western Workaround, is currently moving forward. Still unprovided by the County Council are the new elementary school, the new MARC station, and the Montrose Parkway extension.

Very similar to the Council's bait and switch betrayal of upcounty residents with the M-83, cancellation of the Montrose Parkway East would prove that councilmembers only give lip service to necessary infrastructure in order to ram through the development. That's exactly the attitude that caused term limits to pass by an overwhelming vote by County residents last fall.

6. Funding for the Montrose Parkway vs. other long-delayed infrastructure in the County is not a zero-sum game. The parkway is an essential piece of infrastructure upon which all of the current and future development in White Flint and White Flint 2 will rely for adequate transportation capacity, and to promote the success of a walkable urban street grid amongst its new developments. It is not something that can simply be deleted because funds are tight, or because the Council has dropped the ball on infrastructure countywide. That's not the way planning and infrastructure work.

Much like M-83, the time to fund and construct the Montrose Parkway East is now; based on what County officials are hinting at for the redevelopment of Aspen Hill, Glenmont and Wheaton, it won't be long before we'll have to start planning future extensions to Connecticut Avenue (where ramp stubs are already in place for the road's planned cloverleaf interchange), Georgia Avenue and the ICC.

7. There are enough major development opportunities at the Montrose Parkway-355 interchange that we don't need to sabotage the parkway to create a smaller one near Parklawn. Air rights above the entire interchange can be sold to any interested developer. Along with the orphaned, pointless parking lot north of Pike & Rose, decking above the interchange could eventually create a seamless pedestrian connection between that development and a redeveloped Montrose Crossing.

The County Council's vote will cement their historical position as either responsible, honest stewards of growth and infrastructure (and I realize that is, frankly, a laughable thing to say about this Council) at White Flint, or a radical, war-on-cars mob of firebrands who have no qualms about burning down the foundations of the sector plan they passed unanimously in 2010.

All-day restaurant Julii to open at Pike & Rose, 930 Rose model unit opens this Saturday

More Phase II developments at Pike & Rose: Everyone who has visited Pinstripes or Rose Park has been wondering for months who the future tenant will be in that sleek, glass building on the edge of the park. The founders of the local Cava empire have answered that question. They will open an all-day restaurant called Julii, serving French-Mediterranean cuisine in a casual atmosphere for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Julii's menu will include everything from croissants to shakshouka to roasted chicken. The restaurant will also have a coffee shop. “We selected Pike & Rose for many reasons, particularly the tenant mix of new, diverse brands – many exclusive to this community,” Ted Xenohristos, co-founder of CAVA, said in a statement yesterday. “With amenities from bowling to ramen to the great outdoors, Federal Realty is building something special at Pike & Rose and we want to be part of it."

The street address of Julii will be 11915 Grand Park Avenue. No target opening date has been announced.

930 Rose model unit

Less distant in the future at Pike & Rose will be the grand opening of the first model unit at the 930 Rose luxury condos, atop the future Canopy by Hilton hotel, this Saturday, December 2, from noon until 4:00 PM. Enjoy appetizers from neighboring restaurant Summer House while you tour the model and learn about the hotel amenities and services that will also be available to 930 Rose residents.

930 Rose is at the corner of Rose Avenue and Grand Park Avenue, across from L.L. Bean and Rose Park. Parking is available in the Trade Street Garage, directly behind the Canopy/930 Rose building.

MoCo school board thumbs nose at Rockville parents in Richard Montgomery ES #5 boundary decision

Option B was approved in a split
vote by the school board Monday night

The Montgomery County Board of Education will bus some kids out of their home neighborhoods to the new Richard Montgomery Elementary School #5, after choosing Option B out of five redistricting proposals Monday night. While it was far from the worst of the options to parents' minds, it still will result in longer travel times for a good number of Rockville elementary school students. Those students would have originally attended Beall ES and Ritchie Park ES in their own neighborhoods; now they will be bused to RMES#5.

The board's decision maintains a high number of FARMS students at Twinbrook ES, students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals, meaning they will be able to continue going to their neighborhood elementary school.

Veirs Mill Corridor master plan meeting December 13, 7:00 PM

The next Veirs Mill Corridor master plan public meeting will be held on December 13, 2017, at 7:00 PM at Albert Einstein High School, located at 11135 Newport Mill Road in Kensington (note the venue change). Montgomery County planners will present their preliminary recommendations for land use and zoning; urban design; transportation; parks, trails and open spaces; sustainability and community facilities. They will also take your feedback on those recommendations.

Toy Kingdom to close at Rockville Town Square

The news out of Rockville Town Square is a cannonball to the gut of those hoping small, mom-and-pop businesses have a future in redeveloping areas of Montgomery County. Toy Kingdom will close on December 31, after 11 years in business. All items are now 20% off during a closing sale.

Many residents surveyed for the city's Rockville 2040 Master Plan listening sessions mentioned Toy Kingdom as the type of local business they would like to retain, even as the city continues to grow and redevelop. And the store was frequently cited as an example of how small shops could survive alongside national chains in new urbanist town centers.

"As a parent, this is a big bummer," one patron told me Sunday. "It was a nice little shop, and will leave another hole in Town Center." In a letter to employees and customers, Toy Kingdom's owner called the closure a "difficult decision." If you consider the increasing challenges of climbing taxes and rents, and online shopping - - combined with the "Great Recession" hitting right after the store opened, eleven years can certainly can be considered a very impressive run for Toy Kingdom.

Montgomery County has suffered a net loss of over 2000 retail jobs since 2000, according to the Maryland Retailers Association.

Amici Miei Ristorante to take over The Inkas space in Rockville (Photos)

A new Italian restaurant is coming to Rockville's Town Center. Amici Miei Ristorante will be moving from Potomac Woods Plaza to Federal Realty's Courthouse Center. They will take over the vacant space at 6 N. Washington Street, formerly home to The Inkas. Considering their liquor license hearing isn't until December 7, I wouldn't expect them to open before then, but stay tuned.