Developer Regency Centers has announced it will hold a public meeting on January 31, 2018 at 7:30 PM at Westland Middle School, where it will unveil a revised plan for the redevelopment of its Westbard properties. After the presentation, questions will be taken from the audience. Regency owns more than 20 acres of land along Westbard Avenue and Ridgefield Road.
Rumors have been floating around since late October that Regency was meeting with selected community groups, and that a revised plan was in the works for January. A legal decision is still pending in a case between residents and Montgomery County regarding the Westbard sector plan, which determines what can actually be built by any of the landowners in that area.
Some of the biggest questions in a revised plan: Will density and height - the two biggest community complaints - be reduced? Will Regency give up extra height and density previous property owner Equity One received in a trade for more-than-the required amount of affordable housing? Will the company still agree to a new alignment of Westbard Avenue sought by the Springfield Civic Association? Will Regency agree to bury power lines in the area, something Equity One refused to do, annoying community members? Will Regency proactively try to resolve the controversy over the Moses African Cemetery on the Westwood Tower site it owns? Will staging and leasing issues be addressed to allow current businesses in the retail spaces there now to survive and return in the new development?
30 comments:
Wonder where Dyer will be at 7:30pm on January 31st?
"Will the company still agree to a new alignment of Westbard Avenue sought by the Springfield Civic Association?" Interesting -- could someone please explain what this requested alignment is? Thank you.
Is it true that Westbard Avenue is only "2 blocks long" between Ridgefield and Massachusetts Avenue, as Robert Dyer has repeatedly claimed?
6:36: Never claimed that. I've said, correctly, that the area which is being redeveloped along Ridgefield Road and Westbard Avenue is the equivalent of one-and-a-half city blocks (Ridgefield is half-a-block in length between River Road and Westbard; the Westbard Avenue portion of the development is one city block between Ridgefield and the traffic light at the driveway to Kenwood Place condos.
6:21: The requested alignment is to make Ridgefield dead-end at Westbard, and extend Westbard down to River Road. I haven't heard it explained how residents will safely turn left from Ridgefield onto Westbard if that new intersection isn't signaled, however.
MoCo, DC, and NOVA included in narrowed down Amazon HQ2 list!
http://www.wbaltv.com/article/the-final-20-amazon-narrows-list-candidates-for-hq2/15384760
"Dead-end" does not mean what you seem to think it does, Dyer.
Amazon put "moribund" Montgomery County on their shortlist. It's the *only* county on their list.
Yes, "moribund" Montgomery County is going toe-to-toe with New York, Austin, Dallas, Boston, etc.
7:16 AM Imagine that, a "MORIBUND" MoCo is STILL in the running and DIRE DYER is asleep at the wheel in mommy's basement. AGAIN!
Let's stop the fake Miss America surprise reactions. It was guaranteed we would be on the "short list" for Amazon HQ2, for purely political reasons. Look at the list: they are virtually all Democrat-controlled liberal cities, even the ones in Texas and Nashville. I don't see a single Republican economic boomtown on the list. Nice political statement by Jeff Bezos. As a business decision...not so much. He looks foolish.
Amazon is one of the few companies we almost have a shot at winning, only because the CEO is politically aligned with our far-left extremist elected officials. Like the "new" Marriott, he might be willing to take a big financial hit to make a political statement.
Personally, I still don't believe even Jeff Bezos is stupid enough to do so.
"they are virtually all Democrat-controlled liberal cities"
Indianapolis? A "liberal city"? Lol.
I don't see a single Republican economic boomtown on the list
Because no such place exists.
8:19: The mayor and a majority of the city council of Indianapolis are Democrats.
8:20: You again just proved you know nothing about business in the year 2018. Did you seriously just claim that there are no Republican boomtowns in America? At least try not to sound like a complete idiot.
LOL Look how quiet it got. Jeff Bezos gave us a nice list of possible places to hold the 2020 Democratic convention. In terms of business smarts, it's a hugely embarrassing list. Humiliating.
Thanks for the update. Where is there further information on the meeting?
Amazon
Among its criteria: more than one million residents, proximity to an airport, manageable commutes, diverse demographics, connectivity and local schools churning out potential employees.
Interesting NYT read today, telling what some cities are offering
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/technology/cities-amazon-headquarters.html
@Dyer 8:45: Two questions:
1) I’ve run several successful businesses. How many P&L’s have you been in charge of?
2) Can you provide a few examples of “Republican boom towns”?
Which Republican boomtown city was left off the list?
11:23 AM If you're so successful and Dyer is so wrong, why post as "Baloney Concrete"?
You lose credibility.
Says "Anonymous."
Regarding Amazon: the short list is quite long. Montgomery County is just one of many places (20) being considered. And I don't understand when Leggett said Montgomery County was the only county in the country being considered. Did he mean to say it was the only county in the state of Maryland being considered? And if it is the only county, does that really matter when all the other places are big cities or areas. Why does the designation of county seem such a big deal to Leggett? (These are legitimate questions, so if anyone has an answer, please chime in.)
@4:52pm Leggett is just making a useless announcement. I guess it's the only "county" on the list -- the others are cities.. but who cares?
My guess is Amazon shortlisted DC, MoCo, and NoVa so they can all fight to offer the best incentives.
Still waiting for Dyer's list of Republican boomtowns that were left off the list.
2:07: So you are admitting you are unfamiliar with the business landscape in 2018, and with any of the Republican-led jurisdictions that are killing Montgomery County in economic development, even in our region?
In that case, what qualifies you to criticize anything I say, and how can your praise for our corrupt and impotent County Council be taken seriously?
11:08: What do you mean by "further information?" This is all of the information released by Regency Centers regarding the meeting, with additional bonus information from my own reporting.
There you have it, folks: Mr. Dyer cannot name any Republican “boomtowns.”
(Because there are none.)
5:07: You're the one who can't name them, meaning you're completely uninformed on the topic. Hint: There are some right here in our region.
Robert,
Way up at 8:09am you said "Look at the list: they are virtually all Democrat-controlled liberal cities, even the ones in Texas and Nashville. I don't see a single Republican economic boomtown on the list."
After that people asked you to name one. You turned it around to tell them "You're the one who can't name them, meaning you're completely uninformed on the topic"
Well, yes! I reads to me like that's what they were saying all along - that they can't think of one, and asking you tell them.
Why all the drama?
Regionally? I don't know, what's regional? They've been pushing some places for decades: Odenton/Ft Meade, Laurel, Columbia, Frederick, Anne Arundel County.
7:16: Considering that there are jurisdictions and cities led by Republicans that are doing a better job on economic development than Montgomery County in both our region, and nationwide, how can someone be qualified to criticize what I've said if they aren't knowledgeable about that fact?
You are mistaken. Go back and read the comments. YOU started it all @ 8:09am with "Look at the list: they are virtually all Democrat-controlled liberal cities, even the ones in Texas and Nashville. I don't see a single Republican economic boomtown on the list. "
It's just a question. Nothing more than what you'd be asked by a potential voter, not some secret to laud over others.
I'm asking:
What are these " jurisdictions and cities led by Republicans that are doing a better job on economic development than Montgomery County in both our region, and nationwide"
This isn’t rocket science, Mr. Dyer. You keep insisting that Republican boomtowns are all over the place, and that we’re all just too dumb to name them. The point I and others are making is that they do not exist..
This is always your shtick: Refusing to back up your claims because you consider them to be self-evident, and anyone who claims otherwise is simply ignorant. How tiresome, not to mention unprofessional.
So, for the last time: Tell is which cities you consider to be “Republican boomtowns.”
Still waiting for a list of Republican boomtowns that meet Amazon's qualifications (city size, etc).
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