Rockville Best Western to add restaurant

The Best Western hotel at 1251 W. Montgomery Avenue in Rockville is planning to add a restaurant to its property. Because the hotel usually has 74-164 parking spaces free, the property owner argues that the city should waive a required extra 29 parking spaces for the restaurant. The restaurant will be inside the existing hotel's lobby area, which will be reconfigured under the proposed plan.

Rockville's Planning Commission will consider the waiver request at its December 11, 2019 meeting. City staff is recommending approval of the waiver.

Christmas at Rockville Town Square (Video+Photos)

Here are a few scenes from the holiday season at Rockville Town Square. A world champion Zamboni driver just happened to be on the skating rink at this moment, putting on a master class in Zamboni driving.

Ding Tea Rockville update

Ding Tea, the new tea shop coming to 785-C Rockville Pike, has posted some Coming Soon signage in their storefront. They are also hiring staff right now, and they've got a very slick website with beverage menu that should increase excitement about this new addition to Rockville. It shows milk teas, bubble tea, matcha and more. Ding Tea will be in the Ritchie Center shopping center.

Goldfish Swim School opening on Rockville Pike

Goldfish Swim School, a swimming education program for kids, is opening a location at 1701 Rockville Pike. It will be in the Shops at Congressional Village. Goldfish promises "shiver-free pools that are a pleasant 90° all year long," snacks and necessary gear. A swim school is an interesting retail tenant, given the infrastructure commitment for both the school and the landlord.

IQ Tech opens at Montgomery Mall

IQ Tech has opened a kiosk for the holidays on Level 1 at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. It is a hi-tech accessory you can attach to clothing, hats, etc., that displays images that change based on music and sounds around you.. See the video for a sample.

Kyoto Matcha opening today in Rockville

Kyoto Matcha Dessert is opening today at 33 Maryland Avenue at Rockville Town Square. This is a soft opening for Black Friday, for a special treat in-between doorbuster missions. Kyoto Matcha's desserts promote both matcha tea culture and traditional Japanese tea culture, the company says.

Their matcha tea is sourced from the Uji Matcha Supply Factory in Japan. Their philosophy is that of the modern expert on matcha, Mr. Matsushita, who advocates we "Let the tea return to the forest" - experiencing the beauty of the forest through the flavor of fine matcha tea.

Rockville gas station to be replaced with a new gas station, convenience store

The owner of the Gulf gas station at 801 Hungerford Drive, Petroleum Marketing Group, is proposing to demolish the station and redevelop the site. A new gas station with a convenience store has been proposed for the site by PMG.

Site plan

Site plan renderings show a 6-pump gas station with canopy, and a convenience store structure. The convenience store would be on currently-forested land on the property. No brand for the new station is indicated. With very limited parking, it does not appear to be a Wawa/Sheetz-scale operation. A community meeting on the project is scheduled for December 4, 2019, but no location or time information is currently given by the developer.