Montgomery County Development News

[uptn1bx2hrlm5blyn]

Originally Posted by diplomat74

I guess they rather keep losing income taxes and let MoCo's fiscal gap balloon to a billion dollars which appears to be the next step if nothing is done. Where do these people think new tax revenue is going to come from if new economic centers are not established in the county? The county has already lost many of its wealthy business owners due to the millionaires tax and the economoy. I am sorry but I will deal with more traffic if it keeps my county from going broke and losing revenue from high tech jobs that it desperately needs.

Exactly and I am Very Sick and Tired of Fairfax County and Loudon County continuing to magnet more Office Growth while Montgomery County and PG County continues to lag behind. Its about time for Suburban Maryland to pull their sleeves back and DEMAND that more Businesses/Office Development Increase significantly in order to remain at the Level of Northern Virginia/DC.........

[diplomat74]

Originally Posted by uptn1bx2hrlm5blyn

Exactly and I am Very Sick and Tired of Fairfax County and Loudon County continuing to magnet more Office Growth while Montgomery County and PG County continues to lag behind. Its about time for Suburban Maryland to pull their sleeves back and DEMAND that more Businesses/Office Development Increase significantly in order to remain at the Level of Northern Virginia/DC.........

Pretty funny/sad that people in Detroit, cleveland and other rust belt metros areas are literally begging for these type of jobs, high tech industry and economic development. Yet here in the dc metro area where the federally govt is a huge economic driver people snub their nose to the prospect of 60,000 bio tech jobs because they dont want to deal with the traffic. I am sure if u ask the un-employed factory workers in detroit they would gladly deal with traffic if it meant high paying jobs.

[uptn1bx2hrlm5blyn]

Originally Posted by diplomat74

Pretty funny/sad that people in Detroit, cleveland and other rust belt metros areas are literally begging for these type of jobs, high tech industry and economic development. Yet here in the dc metro area where the federally govt is a huge economic driver people snub their nose to the prospect of 60,000 bio tech jobs because they dont want to deal with the traffic. I am sure if u ask the un-employed factory workers in detroit they would gladly deal with traffic if it meant high paying jobs.

Oh best believe that traffic is not the excuse for going against it......

Where is all of the whining and complaining about traffic when the Developers Rapidly Developed the I-66/Dulles Toll Road Corridor from Arlington to Loudon County....

[sovman]

Originally Posted by diplomat74

Pretty funny/sad that people in Detroit, cleveland and other rust belt metros areas are literally begging for these type of jobs, high tech industry and economic development. Yet here in the dc metro area where the federally govt is a huge economic driver people snub their nose to the prospect of 60,000 bio tech jobs because they dont want to deal with the traffic. I am sure if u ask the un-employed factory workers in detroit they would gladly deal with traffic if it meant high paying jobs.

Well, I don't think telling them that a development will bring jobs is as effective an argument here as it is in Detroit, where unemployment is astronomically high. In the DC area, unemployment is extremely low (relative to the rest of the country). So when you tell the people in North Potomac, west Gaithersburg and Kentlands that you want to build something that will bring high paying jobs, they probably won't care because odds are they already have high paying jobs (they'd have to, otherwise how could they afford to live in that area?). So they don't see this development as a benefit to them... instead they see it as bringing in more people (and traffic) to their community, making life for them more difficult.

[sovman]

Postal Service to sell Bethesda site

The post office building is the 1 story structure right next to the Hyatt. I hope that whatever replaces it isn't a boring generic glass office tower or whatever... The post office building there is very nice looking, with its stone facade and dark brown trim... It'd be shame if something generic replaced it. I hope the developers do the property justice.

[diplomat74]

Originally Posted by sovman

Well, I don't think telling them that a development will bring jobs is as effective an argument here as it is in Detroit, where unemployment is astronomically high. In the DC area, unemployment is extremely low (relative to the rest of the country). So when you tell the people in North Potomac, west Gaithersburg and Kentlands that you want to build something that will bring high paying jobs, they probably won't care because odds are they already have high paying jobs (they'd have to, otherwise how could they afford to live in that area?). So they don't see this development as a benefit to them... instead they see it as bringing in more people (and traffic) to their community, making life for them more difficult.

You make a good point, but with a fiscal gap approaching $800 million the options you have is to grow your tax base, raise taxes in general or cutting services dramatically. Out of the three options I would choose to deal with the traffic and grow the tax/economic base.

[sovman]

Originally Posted by diplomat74

You make a good point, but with a fiscal gap approaching $800 million the options you have is to grow your tax base, raise taxes in general or cutting services dramatically. Out of the three options I would choose to deal with the traffic and grow the tax/economic base.

Yup, that's exactly how the argument should be framed.

[diplomat74]

Originally Posted by sovman

Yup, that's exactly how the argument should be framed.

Yeh seems to me all the local leaders in rockville and gaithersburg have pretty messed up priorities. They focus all of their attention on fighting this future job growth that will come in 40 years which is a really long time frame, so basically these jobs would be for their own children and future generations in Moco. Also take into consideration how much bethesda, rockville, white flint etc have changed since the 1970's which is the same time frame who knows how the area will be in 40 years. You would think they would be focusing their attention on getting the unemployed back to work and getting their local economies back on track instead of spending all their energy fighting this.

[sovman]

Originally Posted by diplomat74

Yeh seems to me all the local leaders in rockville and gaithersburg have pretty messed up priorities. They focus all of their attention on fighting this future job growth that will come in 40 years which is a really long time frame, so basically these jobs would be for their own children and future generations in Moco. Also take into consideration how much bethesda, rockville, white flint etc have changed since the 1970's which is the same time frame who knows how the area will be in 40 years. You would think they would be focusing their attention on getting the unemployed back to work and getting their local economies back on track instead of spending all their energy fighting this.

I think that it's an extremely complicated issue for the politicians of those towns. On the one hand, the county officials seem to want this (especially the planning board) but on the other, these developments won't directly benefit Gaithersburg and Rockville. Belward is just outside of the Gaithersburg border, and it's a few miles outside of Rockville, so they won't get direct tax revenue from it. Instead they'll be stuck dealing with traffic as people pass through Gaithersburg/Rockville to get to Belward for work, which makes their residents upset. If they support this project, then their constituents may get angry and not elect them into office again... so they're thinking more in the present than in the future (which is where they should be thinking, since this project will take several decades to come to full fruition). The good news, of course, is that since this project is outside those towns, the opinions of their officials doesn't really impact that much the outcome.

[diplomat74]

Originally Posted by sovman

I think that it's an extremely complicated issue for the politicians of those towns. On the one hand, the county officials seem to want this (especially the planning board) but on the other, these developments won't directly benefit Gaithersburg and Rockville. Belward is just outside of the Gaithersburg border, and it's a few miles outside of Rockville, so they won't get direct tax revenue from it. Instead they'll be stuck dealing with traffic as people pass through Gaithersburg/Rockville to get to Belward for work, which makes their residents upset. If they support this project, then their constituents may get angry and not elect them into office again... so they're thinking more in the present than in the future (which is where they should be thinking, since this project will take several decades to come to full fruition). The good news, of course, is that since this project is outside those towns, the opinions of their officials doesn't really impact that much the outcome.

Again, another good point, is this what happened with the Howard Hughes Janelia Farm Research Campus? I also viewed that as a huge loss for MoCo, can you imagine how much farther along the biotech industry would be if that research campus was in MoCo along with the proposed Hopkins science city.

[uptn1bx2hrlm5blyn]

Originally Posted by sovman

Postal Service to sell Bethesda site

The post office building is the 1 story structure right next to the Hyatt. I hope that whatever replaces it isn't a boring generic glass office tower or whatever... The post office building there is very nice looking, with its stone facade and dark brown trim... It'd be shame if something generic replaced it. I hope the developers do the property justice.

And why would it be a issue if they build another Modern Office Tower..........

[sovman]

Originally Posted by uptn1bx2hrlm5blyn

And why would it be a issue if they build another Modern Office Tower..........

Good lord, enough with you already. I said I hope they don't build a boring generic office building. That means I hope they build an attractive one.

[uptn1bx2hrlm5blyn]

Originally Posted by sovman

Good lord, enough with you already. I said I hope they don't build a boring generic office building. That means I hope they build an attractive one.

What I am trying to ask is what do you have against Glass Office Towers.......

[sovman]

I don't care what they're made out of as long as they look attractive and not boring...

[BibsTor]

Originally Posted by sovman

Yeah. I guess they're just used to it being a scenic open farm, and they're afraid of what several million square feet of development will do to traffic. I think they should suck it up and deal with it. It's going to bring in a lot of job opportunities and help the county's case for federal funding of the CCT, which will only increase their property values...

Also, looks like Johns Hopkins is going forward with expanding their Montgomery County Medical Center (which is about a mile east of Belward, just above Shady Grove hospital). They've currently got about 200,000 sq ft in 3 3-story office buildings on the site, and they're seeking to expand it to almost 900,000 sq ft (with two 7 story buildings). It's my understanding that the site plan is already approved, they're just seeking a small amendment in the layout and the timing of construction. It's going to the Planning Board tomorrow. Here's the link to the planning department staff memo.

Thanks for the great info! Thought I'd add this article from the Washington Business Journal:




JBG to build National Cancer Institute HQ

The General Services Administration has selected The JBG Cos. to build a consolidated headquarters for the National Cancer Institute on Johns Hopkins University’s Montgomery County campus as part of the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center, the agency announced Wednesday.

JBG will build 575,000 square feet in two connected buildings on what is currently a surface parking lot on the campus.

The National Cancer Institute, which said the move will help it streamline its research and operations, will move 2,100 employees to the new site.

JBG negotiated a 99-year long-term ground lease for the site that will host the $200 million development.

The developer submitted initial plans to the Montgomery County Planning Board Feb.1. The board is scheduled to discuss the plans at its March 11 meeting.

The new NCI headquarters will also become part of Hopkins’ master plan for its campus, which includes a total of seven buildings. There are currently three buildings on site.

JBG is only involved in the NCI component currently, but said it would be interested in partnering with the university on the development of the future buildings. Preliminary plans envision 11,960 square feet of retail space that would wrap around one of three planned structured parking lots on site.

The Life Sciences Center site is zoned for up to 894,636 square feet of development.

JBG was one of three developers that made NCI’s shortlist for its move from its current offices along Executive Plaza and East Jefferson Street in White Flint. Other sites included Boston Properties’ The Preserve at Tower Oaks in Rockville and the Washington Science Center Campus in North Bethesda.

JBG signed a 10-year lease with the GSA Tuesday and plans to get LEED Gold certification for the project.

It plans to break ground in the third quarter of 2010 and said the NCI will be able to occupy the space in the first quarter of 2013.

“There is definitely synergy between [National Institutes of Health], NCI and Hopkins on this campus. We fit in well with our ability to deliver GSA space, so we are a good partner for Hopkins,” said Rod Lawrence, principal of JBG.

[BibsTor]

Now that the Shady Grove area has been selected for the NCI campus, does anyone know what the other 2 sites that made the shortlist (1 Preserve Pkwy. in Rockville, and 6000 Montrose Parkway in North Bethesda) might be planned for?

Thanks!

[sovman]

Originally Posted by BibsTor

Now that the Shady Grove area has been selected for the NCI campus, does anyone know what the other 2 sites that made the shortlist (1 Preserve Pkwy. in Rockville, and 6000 Montrose Parkway in North Bethesda) might be planned for?

Thanks!

Hmmmm... not sure. If I see something I'll post it here.

[sovman]

North Bethesda Market's First Residential Units Will Be Ready by Summer

[sovman]

Montgomery council approves White Flint Sector Plan

[hpal3]

The new plan for White Flint will allow for 30-story buildings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...032302134.html