W.C. & A.N. Miller can't wait any longer for the Purple Line. The longtime developer and landowner of The Shops at Sumner Place shopping center (a.k.a. Little Falls Mall) at 4701 Sangamore Road in Bethesda is proposing to redevelop part of the property as an apartment building. According to a sign posted on the property yesterday, The Apartments at Sumner Place would be 45' tall, and house 132 apartments, up to 20 "live/work units," and "amenity open space."
The sign does not specify what additional parking facilities would be provided for tenants of the new apartments, nor the specific location of the proposed building on the site. A section of the large parking lot that is currently used for vehicle storage by W.C. & A.N. Miller and other authorized tenants includes a vacant building that was formerly a PNC Bank. The shopping center is surrounded by other multifamily housing developments on three sides, including Sumner Village and Sumner Highlands, and the Intelligence Community Campus is across the street on Sangamore Road.
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| Sign posted on the property (please click to enlarge) |
A required public meeting has been scheduled on the proposal for Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 7:00 PM at Capital Workspaces (located over the Safeway at The Shops at Sumner Place) at 4701 Sangamore Road, Suite 100N. In a rare move for the pandemic era, no virtual meeting URL is mentioned on the sign. However, the sign does give a URL where the presentation materials will be available starting April 10, and gives an email address you can contact for "virtual options."
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| Currently underutilzed area of the Sumner Place parking lot indicated in red (former PNC Bank at center-left) |
By moving forward now, the additional density the Purple Line would allow will not be there to take advantage of with this project. While the theoretical justification for going to Sumner with the light rail line would have been the major employment centers of the ICC campus and Sibley Hospital, I am curious if the behind-the-scenes discussion is turning against extending the Purple Line in that direction. Every inch of the Purple Line extension beyond downtown Bethesda will be a fierce political and legal battle. After all the smoke and courtrooms clear, and the extension were actually built, I firmly believe it would be 2050 or later.
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| Vacant PNC Bank building |
Much "YIMBY Astroturf" discussion in recent years has debated taking the Purple Line to River Road to urbanize the Westbard area, but then having it run out River Road to the Capital Beltway, and then to Tysons over the American Legion Bridge. We do know for certain that the Montgomery County and Maryland state governments have taken several drastic traffic-engineering steps along that stretch of River Road in recent years that clearly indicate their (and developers') perverse desire to redevelop the churches, Kenwood Golf & Country Club, schools, State Highway Adminstration depot, and American Plant site between Kenwood and the Beltway into multifamily housing. That is a greedy and damnable effort you can expect to persist regardless of the Purple Line's future route. But one reader recently suggested something in the comments I hadn't thought of: Is the Montgomery County government's fever to capture half of Little Falls Parkway really about securing that space for the Purple Line to run down the parkway to River Road?
7 comments:
While both Old Georgetown Road and River Road have been proposed as possible extensions for the Purple Line, the Old Georgetown Road extension, including Montgomery Mall and Rock Spring, would be more beneficial for several reasons:
Greater population density: The Old Georgetown Road extension would serve a larger population than the River Road extension. According to census data, the population density along Old Georgetown Road is higher than that of River Road. This means that there would be more potential riders along the Old Georgetown Road extension, making it a more cost-effective investment.
Access to jobs and services: Montgomery Mall and Rock Spring are major employment centers and shopping destinations in the region. By extending the Purple Line to these areas, residents would have improved access to jobs and services, making it easier for them to commute and complete daily tasks.
Reduced traffic congestion: Both Montgomery Mall and Rock Spring are located near major highways, such as the Beltway and I-270, which experience significant traffic congestion during peak hours. By extending the Purple Line to these areas, commuters would have a reliable alternative to driving, reducing traffic congestion and improving the overall flow of traffic.
Improved economic development: Montgomery Mall and Rock Spring are also significant economic development zones, with many businesses and offices located in the area. By extending the Purple Line to these areas, it would provide an additional incentive for businesses to locate in the area, resulting in more jobs and economic growth.
Support for urban planning: Finally, the Old Georgetown Road extension is more supportive of urban planning goals than the River Road extension. Urban planners typically prioritize transit-oriented development, which focuses on developing high-density residential and commercial areas near public transportation. By extending the Purple Line to Montgomery Mall and Rock Spring, it would support this type of development, whereas the River Road extension would not.
While both Old Georgetown Road and River Road have been proposed as possible extensions for the Purple Line, the Old Georgetown Road extension including Montgomery Mall and Rock Spring would be more beneficial due to the greater population density, access to jobs and services, reduced traffic congestion, improved economic development, and support for urban planning.
10:16: I recall that the executive from Westfield said at a meeting that they were very welcoming of a rail station at the mall, and that they were designing future development to leave a space for a station close to I-270 on the property.
"By moving forward now, the additional density the Purple Line would allow will not be there to take advantage of with this project."
The Purple Line is nowhere near this site and never will be. At least you're finally admitting you were lying for all those years pretending there was some political conspiracy afoot.
This makes no sense given the proximity of the Bethesda, Medical Center, Grosvenor and formerly known as White Flint Metro stops and connecting bus transportation. Maybe a spur built off of Grosvenor. But otherwise this is an idea without merit that threatens fire and rescue infrastructure, churches and synagogues, NIH, Suburban, the YMCA etc. It would also further exacerbate traffic impacted by the poorly designed bike lanes.
8:16: I've never lied about it. It's been under discussion for decades, and nothing final has been decided about it. In the last few years, the discussion has begun to surface publicly, at the Montgomery County Council, the developer-funded Greater Greater Washington and the Planning Department. The Planning Department even posted a map showing a desire line for the Purple Line to go to Westbard and Sumner, and deleted it after I inquired about it.
The Purple Line extension would follow the CCT route, so it indeed would be near this site. But there appear to be some competing voices now in the cartel who would like it to turn at River Road and go to the Beltway. That was never discussed until the last couple of years, and makes no sense from a planning standpoint anyway.
Robert, another strong possibility is that the County hopes to move all of the pedestrian and bike traffic from the CCT onto LFP ("the all-new CCT"), so they can re-purpose the CCT ROW for the Purple Line extension. This approach could free up the train route as far as Sangamore, by utilizing LFP and the Little Falls Stream Valley Trails for pedestrians and bikes.
9:25: Yes - I don't know if you were also the person who mentioned that in the comments of the article about the parkway, but that is a real possibility I never even thought of. The County has been so crazed about this project - it has leapfrogged over so many other longstanding, actual problems in Bethesda that haven't been addressed for years, that it's clear something big is driving it behind the scenes.
It would get them around Kenwood and the likely lawsuits that would trigger, and save big bucks not having to include a rebuilt CCT between the parkway crossing and River Road or Massachusetts Avenue.
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