Over the past few months, the Kentlands Board meetings have been visited by three important partners from Kentlands downtown businesses. All three are moving forward with development plans that will impact us as a community.
First, we were visited by the owners of the property at the intersection of route 124 and Great Seneca that currently houses the Diya Restaurant. As you may know, these owners have submitted plans to the City of Gaithersburg for a two building, six story apartment complex. I have written about these plans in the past and there will be a joint work session on March 13 at 7:30 in the City Hall Council Chambers if you wish to make comment. You can also email adminplanning@gaithersburgmd.gov
Second, we were visited in January by KIMCO, the new owners of the Market Square Shopping Center (from Whole Foods past Vasilis and finishing at Buca di Beppo). KIMCO also held a forum for the community on February 27th at the Kentlands Movie Theater. KIMCO, which is listed on the NYSE (KIM), is one of North America’s largest publicly traded owner/operators of open air shopping centers. The KIMCO plans include relocating what is now The Wine Harvest and Tea Spa Wellness Center and cutting through them and the former Bally’s Gym (the temporary home of Persiano Gallery), therefore creating a pedestrian walkway from Market Street through to the parking lot on the other side in a “Bethesda Row” style walk-through with restaurants, outdoor seating and more storefronts.. They also plan a complete overhaul of the facades of their units, making them more contemporary similar to Vasilis. KIMCO is still in early stages of planning with the City of Gaithersburg and has longer term plans which include redeveloping the parking lot between the Post Office and what is now Persiano’s with a multi-story office/residential complex to complement the short-term redevelopment
In addition, we were visited in February by representatives from Saul Centers who own the property that includes everything from the Bonefish Grill, past Lowes and Chipotle, to the Giant and Kmart shopping center and relative parking lots. Saul Centers is also a NYSE listed (BFS) Real Estate Investment Trust headquartered in Bethesda which is committed to the metropolitan Washington area having 85% of its cash flow generated from the environs. Saul Centers has submitted a sketch plan application to the City for a massive redevelopment of the Kmart shopping center (but not including Giant) and the parking lots between Kmart and Lowes. This plan envisions creating a mixed use office/residential/retail complex of varying heights surrounding a small park with direct access to the BRT (CCT) station to be built on the Kentlands side of Great Seneca Highway. Saul Centers is consulting with the Kentlands Commercial District “Master Plan” that was adopted by the City of Gaithersburg in 2008. This master plan allows for some residential buildings to be as high as twelve stories.
Finally, we had representatives from the City of Gaithersburg Planning and Code Administration including Director John Schlichting discuss aspects of the “Master Plan” adopted by the City Council in 2008 help explain the process for moving forward with some of this redevelopment.
As a Board, we recognize the positive impact these developments can have on our community and are pleased to see the developers reaching out to the community for feedback in the early stages of their plans. We encourage members of our community to review the various plans, attend planning meetings, provide input and help to better represent all of our interests. Only by participating in the process can we ensure that our voices are heard.