Something new is on the horizon as you drive southbound on the I-270 spur toward the Capital Beltway. It is The Grandview retirement community, now under construction on the former site of the Marriott International headquarters at 6701 Democracy Boulevard. The developer is Erickson Senior Living.
It's great news for seniors seeking various levels of assisted living housing, and is located close by to the many medical offices along Rock Spring Drive. However, there is very little else within easy walking distance of the site for people with reduced mobility. Ultimately, having a 33-acre corporate headquarters site on an interstate on-ramp be replaced with a retirement community remains one of the countless humiliating embarrassments for the Montgomery County Council this century. The moribund County has failed to attract a new major corporate HQ in over 25 years. Heckuva job, Brownie!
10 comments:
Billions in private investment into downtown Bethesda and Rock Spring, supporting thousands of construction jobs along with over a thousand new permanent hospitality and medical staff jobs between the new flagship hotel and this site and Dyer still finds a way to complain it's "moribund."
7:48: I didn't know Council staff worked on weekends. To make a revenue and economic-impact comparison between a defense or aerospace firm operating a research facility or corporate HQ on this site with a retirement community just doesn't hold up to the facts.
The typical nursing home has one physician, a physical therapist, and a director. Most of the remaining medical staff are immigrant workers hired because they will accept a lower wage than Americans. Then you might have a receptionist or office manager.
Ask Glenn Youngkin if he would take this retirement community project in exchange for the HQs of Northrop Grumman, Amazon HQ2, Intelsat, Volkswagen, Capital One, etc. He needs a good laugh to deal with the Washington Post-propped-up clowns and ex-cons in the Virginia legislature.
The fact that there is “very little within walking distance” is the prime reason the this site was not ideal for a corporate headquarters. Not to mention, poor mass transit access. That is why Marriott decided to move to downtown Bethesda. A large senior housing development seems like a good use for this campus. One simple hourly shuttle bus ride for senior mall walkers over at Montgomery Mall.
10:29: On the contrary, this site is ideal for a defense, tech, or aerospace HQ or research facility, which require high security and generally have on-site dining. Such campuses are not found in urban areas.
Marriott's planning was short-sighted, as its HQ is operating far under employee capacity today. Hardly any of its employees use mass transit, which is why Marriott leased an entire garage across the street, in addition to the garage under the building.
A large senior housing development is not a good use for a prime office park site with immediate interstate highway access.
7:48 is reading his/her own press releases.
Great location - you can see the building as you exit the mall facing that direction. Maybe walkable for some seniors though I expect they'll have a shuttle to the mall and Giant.
What? Marriott's new location and building are infinitely better than their previous ones. Every corporate relocation is to a dense, transit-served location, including nearly all of them in Virginia, even the defense contractors that usually like to be isolated for security reasons.
If Marriott is short-sighted then every other corporation is short-sighted for not anticipating the pandemic and associated long-term decline in office utilization.
How do you know how many Marriott employees use mass transit? Marriott originally reported that it expected about 40% of its HQ workforce to use transit, bike or walk to work. I see lots of folks walking to and from the Metro and Marriott each day. Other than guessing, what facts can you provide that prove otherwise.
Yes, of course, Marriott and the hotel business in general is still recovering from COVID and work from home policies, so their population is likely smaller than anticipated.
Reading basic facts.
I'm interested in seeing that information, too. It doesn't seem to be readily available using a range of search terms. Anyone have official numbers? Thnx
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