Five Below opening at Gaithersburg Square

Five Below is coming to Gaithersburg Square. The everything-is-five-dollars-and-below retailer will be two doors over from Halal Guys. Five Below currently has a location at Kentlands Market Square.

Signage installed at True Food Kitchen at Rio Lakefront (Video+Photos)

True Food Kitchen isn't scheduled to open at Rio Lakefront until next spring, but permanent signage has already been installed on the restaurant's exterior. The healthy dining concept replaces Joe's Crab Shack, and its Bethesda location has racked up stellar reviews and sales. Expect the same here, with another great dining option for Rio and Gaithersburg.

Amazon Fresh Shady Grove Road update (Photos)

The exterior of the future Amazon Fresh grocery store is nearly complete at the 270 Center on Shady Grove Road. Of course, there's no logo yet. The Friendship Heights location has already opened, but this one remains top secret.

Gaithersburg Mayor & Council to be briefed on Corridor Forward plan by Montgomery County

 

Montgomery County planners are scheduled to brief Gaithersburg's Mayor & Council on the County's "Corridor Forward: I-270 Transit Plan" at tonight's Mayor & Council meeting. The plan includes some long-delayed and unrealized transit projects, such as adding MARC capacity in the I-270 corridor, a Metro Red Line extension, and the Corridor Cities Transitway. From that standpoint, it makes practical sense.

But the plan includes a menu of developer pay-offs, such as extensions of the Purple Line that would obliterate the western segment of the Capital Crescent Trail, implementing coal-mining-style hilltop removals and clearcutting wooded areas from the southwest of downtown Bethesda to the D.C. line. It also calls for bizarre new actions in the County's ongoing War-on-Cars, such as actively taking steps to prevent any additional automobile capacity - for a corridor that is automobile-dependent!

As currently envisioned, the Corridor Forward plan can be summed up thusly: A taxpayer-funded payoff to the developers who fund all nine County Councilmembers' campaigns. It evens states as a goal improving access for Frederick County to the District, and to Tysons. 

So it would give an economic boost to Frederick and Fairfax counties, further establish Montgomery as a bedroom community, increase development in the exurbs of Frederick (which the Council and their developer friends claim they oppose), and have you, the taxpayer, subsidize all of this, to boot. In short, it's a close runner up to Thrive 2050 for the Al Capone award.

Update on Starbucks at the Spectrum in Gaithersburg (Photos)

Starbucks is still ahead of Royal Farms in the construction race at the Spectrum development in Gaithersburg. Fortunately for Royal Farms, it is going to open probably a year before rival Wawa arrives across town. At Starbucks, work is now advancing on the landscaping, parking lot and drive-thru. Drainage may need attention in the drive-thru lane, as there was significant standing water left from the heavy rains yesterday.

Sexual assault reported at Gaithersburg school

A sexual assault was reported to Montgomery County police at a school in Gaithersburg on September 20, 2021 at 4:23 PM, according to crime data. The victim reported being fondled at a school in the 18200 block of Contour Road. Notably, the data does not indicate the victim was a child, as it typically would for a minor victim. No further information is available at this time.

Light poles installed at Royal Farms in Gaithersburg (Photos)

 

One typical feature of mega gas stations off interstate highways is that they are well-lit at night. Royal Farms at the Spectrum development off I-270 at Watkins Mill Road will be no exception. Light poles about 18'-19' tall have been installed at the site of the future mega gas station and convenience store. It looks like there are still some to be added, if the full area of the lot is to be covered.

Germantown Best Buy getting "refresh"

The Germantown Best Buy at the Milestone Shopping Center is getting a "refresh," the company says. When I stopped by, there was curbside pickup only, and a team of workers was moving merchandise and displays around inside the store. Best Buy CEO Corie Barry announced late last year that the chain would be remodeling stores to convert existing sales floor space into more fulfillment space, to better facilitate pickup of online orders.

Gaithersburg Mayor & Council to consider spending $249,451 on hybrid police interceptors

Gaithersburg's Mayor and Council will consider approval of a contract to purchase seven hybrid Ford Police Interceptors at their meeting tonight. If approved, the vehicles would be purchased from Apple Ford in Columbia for $249,451. City staff recommends approval of the purchase, which would replace seven city vehicles it argues are reaching the end of their service life.

Photo courtesy Ford Motor Co.

T-Mobile store reopening today at Lakeforest Mall

The T-Mobile store inside Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg is expected to reopen today, September 20, 2021. It has been undergoing what the wireless company terms a "retail transition."

Gaithersburg cancels Oktoberfest for 2021

It's been a year of cancellations in Gaithersburg. First the Fourth of July fireworks, then the Labor Day fireworks, and now the Oktoberfest that was scheduled for Sunday, October 10, 2021. “With the Delta variant still pervasive in our community, we felt it was prudent to cancel the event for this year,” Carolyn Muller, Director of the Gaithersburg Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture, said in a statement.

Gaithersburg construction update: Starbucks at The Spectrum (Photos)

In Tyvek we trust: The new Starbucks at the Spectrum development in Gaithersburg is still sporting a polyethylene headwrap courtesy of DuPont. Nevertheless, the drive-thru lane and landscaping are beginning to take form. Who is going to open first, Starbucks, or Royal Farms?

Gas pumps being installed at Royal Farms in Gaithersburg

It doesn't look like any progress has been made on the Royal Farms convenience store building since my update 48 hours ago. But there is big progress under the mega gas station canopy in front of the future store at the Spectrum development in Gaithersburg. Royal Farms-branded gas pumps are now being installed, and are glistening in the cool breezes coming off I-270.

Montgomery County-based JBG Smith announces it has achieved portfolio-wide carbon neutrality

4747 Bethesda Avenue lobby

JBG Smith, a real estate development firm headquartered at 4747 Bethesda Avenue, announced this morning that it has achieved carbon neutrality across its entire operating portfolio of properties, including Rock Grove in Gaithersburg. It accomplished this by purchasing verified carbon offsets for scope-one carbon emissions, and renewable energy credits (RECs) for scope-two electrical consumption.

Galvan development in Rockville

In order to maintain carbon neutral status in the coming years, the company said it will have to take further actions. Those actions will include:

1.       Driving down energy consumption across its existing portfolio

2.       Reducing anticipated energy consumption and embodied carbon for its development pipeline

3.       Deploying onsite solar where most impactful

4.       Exploring offsite solar opportunities and bringing additional renewables to the national electrical grid 

5.       Addressing the remainder of carbon emissions with verified carbon offsets and renewable energy credits (RECs)

7200 Wisconsin in Bethesda

“Achieving carbon neutrality across our operating portfolio provides JBG Smith with a strong and compelling competitive advantage," JBG Smith CEO Matt Kelly said in a statement. "Our office, residential, and retail customers increasingly demand this from their real estate space and service partners and our investors expect that we are doing all that we can to address this looming and critical threat, Our collective actions over the next decade are essential in offsetting the current carbon emission trajectory and, through sustainable best practices, JBG Smith remains committed to positively impacting the communities we serve at every level.”

Terano in Rockville

JBG Smith has developed, owns or manages many properties in Montgomery County, including the Trader Joe's-anchored 8001 Woodmont and 7200 Wisconsin in Bethesda, the Rock Grove shopping center in Shady Grove, and the Galvan and Terano in Rockville. Its most prominent venture is the Amazon HQ2 National Landing project in Arlington County, Virginia.

Rock Grove shopping center