Fourth try for stalled Rock Spring Centre development in the works (Photos)

Project density reduced to delay high-rises

in favor of mid-rise residential and

retail anchored by grocery store

Rock Spring Centre, a major mixed-use development in North Bethesda that has been stalled since 1998, is coming out of the cobwebs for a fourth time by my count. And it's taking a suburban turn away from the original urban concept for now, due to a weakening in the Montgomery County real estate market. In a new site plan amendment, developers seek to significantly reduce the number of residential units in two high-rise buildings for Phase 1 and Phase 2, to allow for more-immediate development of 133100 SF of non-residential uses and 610 residential units in Phase 3 at the lower southeast corner of the property. Any other uses would be relegated to a new Phase 4 in the future.

The project had been revived once in 2011, and partner Peterson Cos. dropped out the following year. In the fall of 2015, DRI attempted to move a revised plan without a movie theater forward, but financing proved to be an issue when an additional investment partner did not materialize. By 2019, the project's approvals were set to expire, which would have scuttled the whole plan. A team of Rock Spring Properties, Floyd E. Davis Company and Buchanan Partners sought and received an extension last July.

View from helicopter over future
Rock Spring Plaza and forest
conservation area

At the time, the applicants' attorney, Steven A. Robins, told the Montgomery County Planning Board that the plan had "evolved" since 2015, and that a new preliminary plan would be filed at a later date. Now we have a site plan amendment in the works, which would reduce the number of residential units in Rock Spring Tower One by 226 units and in Rock Spring Tower Two by 227 units. This density would then be transferred to the Phase 3 development. In other words, consider Phase 3 to be "Phase 1" at this point.

View across Rock Spring Drive from
helicopter above Walter Johnson/Giant side

The applicant developers are the same as in 2019. In a statement filed with the Montgomery County Planning Department by the applicants' law firm, Lerch Early & Brewer, the developers explain that "[t]here currently is not a market to support construction of high-rise residential towers on the Property." As a result, they are now seeking to build the Phase 1 and 2 towers with only 125 units in each building at a later date, if the market improves for high-rises.

View from northbound
Old Georgetown Road

A ground lease on the property forbids condo development, so all units at Rock Spring Centre will be rental-only. The developers stress that the amendments being sought are primarily to position a larger Phase 3 for successful realization, by ensuring there are enough residents in the Phase 3 area to support the significant retail that will be located there.

Residential and retail buildings at corner of
Old Georgetown and Rock Spring Drive
showing internal parking

Phase 3 will be split into two sub-phases, 3a and 3b. Phase 3a will include a shopping center with surface parking, anchored by a grocery store, and with a drive-thru restaurant pad site at the southeast corner facing Old Georgetown Road and the future Quarry Knoll Drive. It will also include a 6-story residential building with up to 305 units and up to 33000 SF of ground floor retail. That building will have six levels of parking, five of which will be "semi-concealed" by storefronts, residential units or architectural treatments.

Grocery store-anchored shopping center
with surface parking, drive-thru restaurant
a block north of the mixed-use part of Phase 3

The developers note that drive-thrus have even greater importance now in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. They also say that the location and current market demand a traditional, auto-centric retail center at this time, and that they will have the option to develop a building on the surface parking when the market calls for it at a later date, "when the market can support a more 'urban' grocery store at this location."

Grocery store

Phase 3b will feature a 7-story residential building with up to 309 units, and up to 23300 SF of ground floor retail space. It will have a 6-story above-ground parking structure with concealing treatments similar to the other building. The developers are leaving the option open to build Phases 3a and 3b separately, or simultaneously, based upon market demand.

View from Rock Spring Drive

The developers say that there will be three points of emphasis in the Phase 3 development: significant forested areas that will remain preserved on the site, the natural water feature from which the property derived its name, and pedestrian safety. An internal spine road, Stone Gate Lane, will connect Old Georgetown Road with Rockledge Boulevard. It will have street parking, but be wider than the internal roads of Pike & Rose. There will be street trees and outdoor cafe seating.

View from across Old Georgetown Road

A main internal intersection - Stone Gate Lane at Stone Spring Street - will be constructed as a "tabletop intersection." The roadway will be flush with the sidewalk there, and have special pavers, bollards, lighting and planting the applicants state will calm traffic and improve pedestrian safety. It will also be the gateway to a 0.60 acre Rock Spring Plaza public space and the forest conservation area beyond it. Rock Spring Plaza will have an active water feature, performance space and seating areas.

Current state of the interior of
the Estate House on the property

Immediately adjacent to the plaza and forest area will be a replica of the existing Estate House, the original family home which currently still stands on the property. It will house retail or a restaurant. The developers are in discussions with the Planning Department and Montgomery Parks about the possibility of creating an interim recreational field atop stormwater management space at the corner of Rockledge Drive and Rockledge Boulevard.

A signaled intersection will provide safer access to the property from Walter Johnson High School across Rock Spring Drive. Recreational trails traversing the forest conservation areas are planned, but most other recreational features will be for residents of the future buildings.

According to the developers, the project can build up to 1250 units, and will not be impacted by a development moratorium related to school overcrowding.

The downsizing at Rock Spring is the latest evidence that the market for apartments and condos is weakening in Montgomery County. Virtually every new high-rise apartment building since the Great Recession is hosting airbnb hotel guests, students, and contract housing recipients, rather than all actual renters paying full rent.

A Westbard redevelopment plan rammed through over resident objections is already partially collapsing from the late realization of what residents had argued from the beginning - there just isn't much demand for residential or retail space in a town already dotted with vacant apartments and storefronts. Sector plans that similarly gave away the store to developers in places like Wheaton and Forest Glen have stalled out entirely. Just yesterday, the County Council proposed giving developers a sweetheart deal to build at Metro stations in those areas - 15 years of paying no property taxes, even as residents were socked with yet another property tax increase in the FY-2021 budget.

In making the announcement, Councilmember Hans Riemer acknowledged that there is currently no market demand for such multifamily projects in Montgomery County. He did not articulate why taxpayers should subsidize developments for which there is currently no market, probably because the whole idea makes no sense whatsoever.

Fortunately, Rock Spring Centre is not seeking such taxpayer handouts. It still looks like it could be a pretty good development in this form, if the right retail and restaurant tenants can be attracted. That is a challenge in itself, in moribund Montgomery County. But the site has always had the advantage of being right at an interstate interchange, a potential traffic generator that downtown Bethesda and Westbard do not share.

Westfield, Rock Spring Centre ask for extensions due to development moratorium

Rock Spring Centre rendering (2015)

Two developers with projects impacted by the Walter Johnson cluster development moratorium are asking the Montgomery County Planning Board for extensions. Westfield is seeking to extend the period of review for preliminary and site plan amendments to its Montgomery Mall outdoor expansion project from July 18, 2019 to July 16, 2020. And the development team for Rock Spring Centre, to be located across Rock Spring Drive from WJ itself, is seeking an extension for the review of its preliminary plan to January 16, 2020.

The extension requests are routine in these situations, but of great public interest in this case for two reasons. For one, this is the first news on the Rock Spring Centre front in five years. The project had approval in 2011, but Peterson Cos. backed out of the partnership in 2012. DRI was ready to reboot the project minus the Silverspot cineplex (which was sunk by the arrival of nearby ArcLight Cinemas and iPic since the original project approval) in the fall of 2015. All that was needed was a new investment partner, which DRI believed it had found.

But that partner never materialized, and the project went quiet for the last four years. The clear concern is that the approvals would expire. Now, Rock Spring Properties, Floyd E. Davis Company and Buchanan Partners say they are prepared to submit a new preliminary plan, but need the extension.

It will be very interesting to see what changes are made, given the state of the market in 2019, and the truly mixed-use nature of the original vision. Class A office space, hotel, retail and entertainment uses were given top billing alongside only 161 apartment units, a downright modest residential component compared to most County projects on far smaller lots. In a letter to Planning Board Chairman Casey Anderson, Rock Spring Centre's attorney Steven A. Robins writes that "the plan has evolved."

Robins adds that site plan amendments allowing those changes could be submitted to the County within the next two months. According to his letter, the project still contains office and hotel uses, along with residential, retail and services. We'll have to see what the changes entail to determine if this is still the winning project it has been up to this point. Getting Dave & Buster's into the 90,000 SF entertainment space, and keeping residential in balance with office space, would be winning moves here (D&B has shown with their new Rio location that they are not afraid to have multiple locations in the County).

The second notable thing about the requests by both developers is how supremely incompetent the Montgomery County Council is. They've been doing a lot of talking since 2014 about solving the infrastructure backlog, especially as it regards school capacity. Both of these projects have been in works for years, particularly Rock Spring Centre. Yet, all of these years later, the Council has failed to put together a plan and actually take action. If you can't figure out how to solve the infrastructure deficit in five years, to provide the needed classroom space and prevent a development moratorium, you have no business being on the County Council.

Both extension requests will be reviewed by the Planning Board at its July 18 meeting. Planning staff recommends approval of both extensions.

Rock Spring sector plan public hearing set for December 1

The Montgomery County Planning Board has scheduled a public hearing on the Rock Spring sector plan draft for Thursday, December 1. Those interested in testifying will be able to sign up online beginning ten days prior to the hearing date. The plan covers several office parks and retail centers along Democracy Boulevard, Rockledge Drive, Rock Spring Drive, and Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda.

Residents have expressed concerns about the impact on the Walter Johnson school cluster from the proposed residential development in the plan, as well as pedestrian safety and green space. Most of the development will come from redevelopment of existing office parks, and on a significant greenfield property across from Walter Johnson High School, which has been delayed for years. The permit for construction of that promising project, Rock Spring Centre, is nearing its expiration date.

Rock Spring Centre developer wants to "begin construction as soon as possible" (Photos)

One of Bethesda's longest-stalled developments may start moving forward soon. Steve Robins of Lerch, Early & Brewer, representing developer DRI, says the company wants to "begin construction as soon as possible" on the 1,050,000 SF mixed-use center. He outlined the firm's plans at a public meeting on the Rock Spring master plan held at Walter Johnson High School last night.

Located on a now partially-wooded site bordered by Rock Spring Drive to the south, Rockledge Drive to the west, the I-270 spur to the north, and Old Georgetown Road to the east, the project is almost identical to the one that former development partner Peterson Cos. backed out of in the fall of 2012.

There will be 549,900 SF of office space, 210,000 SF of retail, 90,000 SF of below-ground entertainment space (minus the Silverspot Theatres, which were no longer viable after ArcLight Cinemas and iPic Theatres opened nearby), a 200-room hotel, and 161 apartments. This means that the project remains truly mixed-use, in comparison to the not-so-smart-growth trend of deleting office space in Montgomery County.

One resident in the crowd asked if Walter Johnson students would skip class to patronize the entertainment options at Rock Spring Centre. "We hope they will," Chuck Irish of the engineering firm VIKA joked to laughter. Robins used the light moment to segue into a serious discussion of the pedestrian safety aspects of the plan, particularly how they relate to WJ. The median on Rock Spring Drive will be extended the length of the street to Rockledge, and a pedestrian barrier will prevent any crossing other than at controlled intersections.

Michael Perucci of DRI (far left) and
attorney Steve Robins (right) present
Rock Spring Centre plans

Robins also said that an easement for a future Bus Rapid Transit line is already built-in to their plan.

The time frame for that plan has been the question on the minds of many of my readers.

Michael Perucci, Development Manager at DRI, said, "We're in talks with an investor" who will take the place of the now-departed partner Peterson. Perucci said he expects that unnamed investor will be on-board in about a month. The company will then go to the building design phase, he said.

Robins noted that the delay can't go on forever, because DRI has existing approvals that will expire if the development isn't built within their time frame.

"Where are those kids going to school," one resident asked of the 161 apartments. "We're already at 120%" of capacity, she said. Perucci told several concerned residents after the meeting that he has attended all of the Rock Spring meetings, and fully understands their concerns about school overcrowding, having attended Montgomery County schools in portable classrooms himself. He said that even though developers have to pay fees for school construction, they have no control over where the County ultimately spends those dollars.

I asked Perucci about the future of the 90,000 SF entertainment space, now that the theater won't happen. He said it is too early to predict what type of tenants might end up down there, or if the company will even build out the full 90,000 SF. He did say DRI expects "a mix of national retailers and mom-and-pops. A mixture of restaurants, apparel, [and] maybe a grocer."

The renderings of this project, created by the Boston firm Arrowstreet, look fantastic. Let's hope the final designs resemble this, or are even better.

It would be great if they got a tenant like Dave and Buster's or a bowling alley for the underground entertainment space. Neither type of business requires windows. (Although it couldn't likely be D&B, as they've already signed on at Ellsworth Place in Silver Spring.) Pinstripes is going to open up the road at Pike & Rose. I believe Jillian's is down to a couple of California locations at this point. Lucky Strike?

Add your suggestions for entertainment tenants in the comments below.

Later in the meeting, McLean Quinn, Vice President of Land Acquisition and Development at EYA, announced that 19 of the 168 luxury townhomes at the firm's Montgomery Row development have been sold. He said you can expect to see the first homes rising out of the ground at the site at Fernwood Road and Rock Spring Drive in the next 2-3 weeks.

The site had previously been slated for a 439,063 SF office building under an out-of-state owner, before being purchased by EYA.

Renderings courtesy DRI/Arrowstreet
All rights reserved

Photo by Robert Dyer