What's better than a new Chick-fil-A restaurant? A new Chick-fil-A restaurant with a drive-thru! That's exactly what we are going to get at the northwest corner of the high-traffic intersection of N. Frederick Avenue (MD 355) and Montgomery Village Avenue. This is on the former IBM/Leidos site in Gaithersburg right off I-270.
A fast food restaurant with drive-thru was anticipated for this corner of the site, but the plans for the rest of the property have shifted over the last few years. While a natural location for a corporate headquarters, such as for an aerospace or tech firm, there were no takers. Even biotech firms had no interest. In fact, Montgomery County hasn't attracted a single major corporate HQ in a quarter century.
Amazon had the property on its radar next. After Montgomery County's elected officials humiliatingly fumbled the Amazon HQ2 to Northern Virginia in 2018, the online retailer then decided it could still use the site as a prime (pun intended) location for a distribution center. Despite the County falling behind all of the region in job creation over the last decade, elected officials fought the 850-job center - and won: Amazon withdrew the plan.
Now the landowner plans several smaller buildings with commercial and retail uses, and the Chick-fil-A. The latter will have the trademark dual-lane drive-thru, as found at the Research Row Chick-fil-A restaurant in Rockville. There will also be two outdoor dining spaces. One will be directly outside the restaurant, and the second will be in the center island of the parking lot. There will be no vehicle access to the restaurant from Montgomery Village Avenue; access will be via MD 355 and a new street, Progress Way.
Renderings courtesy Matan Companies
No comments:
Post a Comment