Yardbird coming to Rockville

Yardbird, the Minnesota-based outdoor furnishings retailer, is opening a new location on Rockville Pike at White Flint Station. The space was previously home to City Bikes. 

Yardbird was founded by Bob and Jay Dillon in 2016. It cuts out the middleman by shipping furniture directly from suppliers to its own stores. 

The niche of home patio furnishings seems promising in a pandemic environment, especially as temperatures turn upward for summer. Primarily based in the midwest and Denver so far, Yardbird is now moving into the northeast and Mid-Atlantic with the opening of this location.

Rockville construction update: Burger King - Shady Grove Road (Photos)

Renovation of the Burger King at 16004 Shady Grove Road on the Rockville-Gaithersburg border continues. It's really almost the construction of a totally new building, which is why the restaurant is closed during the project. Customers are being directed to the "Silver Spring" and Germantown Burger King locations. Don't go to bed before the King!

Rockville Planning Commission meeting canceled

The March 24, 2021 Rockville Planning Commission meeting has been canceled. No reason was given in the announcement. The next Planning Commission meeting is currently scheduled for Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Earlier this week, commissioners presented the draft Rockville 2040 Comprehensive Master Plan to the Mayor and Council, and recommended its approval. 

Rockville Amazon Fresh store update (Photos)

Amazon Fresh store under construction
at the Collection at Chevy Chase

Here's a look at the progress on two Amazon Fresh grocery stores in Montgomery County. The store at the Collection at Chevy Chase in Friendship Heights is nearing the finish line. In contrast, the sound of the starting gun is still echoing at the second Amazon Fresh store at the 270 Center on Shady Grove Road, on the Rockville/Gaithersburg border. 

Chevy Chase

Both locations are massive makeovers of buildings that already hosted retail stores; a Giant in Chevy Chase, and an Office Depot at 270 Center. A lot of work recently at the Chevy Chase location has been the complex wiring that will govern the high-tech shopping and checkout experience. At 270 Center, work so far has been gutting the Office Depot, and boarding up all of the entryways and most window openings.

Shady Grove Road 270 Center

Melina posts "coming soon" signage in Rockville

The CAVA restaurant group has given us more signs of the arrival of its newest dining concept at Pike & Rose along Rockville Pike. "Coming soon" signage for Melina is now screening off the windows at its future space at 909 Rose Avenue in the Federal Realty headquarters building. It includes the Instagram account for the Greek restaurant.

Athleta installs signage at Congressional Plaza in Rockville (Photos)

The signs are up at Athleta, opening soon at Congressional Plaza on Rockville Pike. Last night, the main sign was already lit. A smaller, pedestrian facing sign has also been installed outside the storefront. The performance apparel store is scheduled to open this spring.

Montgomery Mall, Wheaton Plaza to be sold in 2022

International mall operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) plans to sell most of the malls it owns in the United States in 2022, the company announced last week. The news immediately puts the future of Montgomery Mall and Wheaton Plaza into serious question; URW owns both malls.

The news might have been a complete shock had it come prior to Westfield's acquisition by Unibail-Rodamco in 2018. After all, Westfield sunk well over $90 million into additions and renovations of Montgomery Mall alone this past decade. If Westfield was still the sole principal owner, this would not be happening.

Clearly, URW is not committed to bricks-and-mortar and indoor malls, and is seeking a Sears-Kmart-style payday via selling off the real estate. Here in Montgomery County, that real estate is worth a fortune.

However, despite a Wheaton sector plan filled with developer giveaways, there has been little to no demand in the private sector for mixed-use development in the same area of Wheaton where Wheaton Plaza is located. Since the new plan was passed by the Montgomery County Council roughly a decade ago, only two smaller, private sector apartment developments with no retail or dining have been constructed. A Montgomery County government project, a taxpayer-subsidized government office building at the Wheaton Metro station, is the only other significant project to be realized in the last decade.

It will be interesting to see who the potential buyers of Wheaton Plaza will be, and what they plan to do with the property. Montgomery Mall's site has greater demand. But there is serious question as to the quality of the redevelopment of both sites. 

Will they become two more cookie-cutter multifamily housing developments like recent housing projects at Rockledge and Tower Oaks, or vibrant communities with high-profile retail and restaurant tenants like Pike & Rose and Virginia's Mosaic District? Will the new owners take the cautious approach Westfield had planned by building on parking lots around the malls first, or a high-risk dice roll like the one that backfired on Lerner, when it pulled the plug on its popular White Flint Mall only to wind up with an empty field and no income?