Montgomery County Development News

[Infoman]

I told you guy's I was going to have the name changed for the "Washington, D.C. Regional Thread" and have the Montgomery County Development News thread sticky(ed)!!! Ill get Prince George County sticky tooo...

[Infoman]

North Bethesda Urban Area (White Flint)

* create thriving, diverse mixed use center with highest intensity closest to Metro and along Rockville Pike
* create new parks and open spaces
* transform Rockville Pike into a boulevard with a landscape median, street trees and improved crosswalks
* develop a transportation network that includes a grid of new public streets
* improve the pedestrian and bicycling environment
* promote sustainable development
* create new public facilities
* provide affordable housing
* promote innovative ways to finance and manage new infrastructure

Old info, but I wanted to post it anyway.

[hpal3]

http://www.gazette.net/stories/04292...51_32521.shtml

Suburban Hospital's proposed expansion in Bethesda will not be affected by Johns Hopkins Health System's recently-announced purchase of the hospital, according to officials from both organizations.

The $230 million expansion that would include upgraded surgical suites and more single-patient rooms is fully supported by Johns Hopkins, according to an April 26 letter from Dr. Edward Miller, dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, to Brian Gragnolati, president and CEO of Suburban Hospital Healthcare System.

"The integration of Suburban Hospital and JHHS will not cause any modification to the campus enhancement plans as they have been presented in the application for special exception modification and the testimony presented in the pending case before the Board of Appeals," reads part of Miller's letter.

The expansion plan, which is being fought by residents of the surrounding Huntington Terrace neighborhood over the proposed closure of one block of Lincoln Street and the loss of 23 hospital-owned homes, is being considered by a Montgomery County hearing examiner.

The partnership means that Suburban will join a $4.5 billion medical research and health care network operated by Johns Hopkins Medicine. Gragnolati said the long-term goal is to find ways for Johns Hopkins to help the hospital deliver higher quality health care, especially given possible reforms at the federal level.

"You're not going to see immediate changes," Gragnolati said.

Ron Peterson, president of Johns Hopkins Health System, said bringing Suburban under the umbrella of Johns Hopkins Medicine could lead to a "direct pipeline" that would bring Suburban patients to Johns Hopkins medical specialists.

Peterson also said the partnership could allow new medical programs to begin at the hospital, similar to Suburban's current cardiac treatment program that is run in conjunction with Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health.

The hospital could also take advantage of cost savings on equipment and supplies through Johns Hopkins, Peterson said, who added that the partnership represented a move to deal with what he called the "unsustainable cost curve" of current health care treatment.

"This is the wave of the future, for academically-oriented organizations to partner appropriately with community-based organizations," Peterson said.

Suburban spokeswoman Ronna Borenstein-Levy said the acquisition of the hospital by Johns Hopkins does not require regulatory approval.

Asked about any bureaucratic difficulties that could arise by bringing Suburban into Johns Hopkins Health System, Gragnolati said Suburban's priority was making sure it could remain focused on community needs.

Peterson said in addition to creating lines of communication between officials such as himself and Gragnolati, Suburban would join a coordinating council of various Johns Hopkins affiliates that would focus on "clinical program opportunities." He also stressed the need for Suburban to remain independent on community matters.

"We have talked a great deal about trying to address ways of not causing the local institution to get bogged down in decision-making processes," Peterson said.

Gragnolati said the discussions between Suburban and Johns Hopkins about the new arrangement had been underway for some months.

"Both organizations didn't need to do this right now. This is something that wasn't done because of an event or activity or a condition," Gragnolati said. "These are two organizations that have had a great history of working together."

[hpal3]

http://www.gazette.net/stories/04292...53_32524.shtml

A Montgomery County councilman believes adding additional stations along the Metro Red Line should be considered to ease traffic along Rockville Pike.

Councilman Roger Berliner, in a Monday letter to the State Highway Administration, asked it to investigate the "economic feasibility" of adding one or more Metro stations in the White Flint area, which currently has one Metro station. Berliner said his proposal would include the area from the Grosvenor-Strathmore station to the White Flint station, which he said was "poorly named" because it did not serve White Flint well.

Berliner said he is interested in the idea as a way to manage transportation in White Flint, where county planners are in the process of drafting a sector plan to shape the long-term development in North Bethesda, as well as the Base Realignment and Closure project at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda further south on Rockville Pike. The project would relocate the Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Washington, D.C. to Navy Med.

"To the extent to which we have an existing infrastructure that we could advance that would be of the highest quality, I think that's worth a good look," said Berliner (D-Dist.1) of Potomac in an April 22 interview.

Berliner said his idea was very preliminary and that a cost-benefit analysis was needed. He said it was his understanding was that a new station in the White Flint area could cost $70 million, although that this was only a "ballpark" figure. Compared to the maximum $215 million required to improve four intersections around Navy Med to handle BRAC, Berliner said, $70 million per station would begin to "look more reasonable."

Proposed improvements at the four intersections from the State Highway Administration primarily focus on adding through and turn lanes at Jones Bridge Road and Connecticut Avenue, Jones Bridge Road and Rockville Pike, Rockville Pike and Cedar Lane, and West Cedar Lane and Old Georgetown Road.

Angela Gates, a spokeswoman for the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority that oversees the Red Line, said that no study has been done by WMATA to contemplate new stations at White Flint. She said it was difficult to put a cost figure on new stations, but noted that the new Metro station being contemplated in Alexandria, Va. on the Blue and Yellow lines had a preliminary cost estimate of $140 million to $200 million as an above-ground station. Cost comparisons between stations were difficult, Gates noted.

Gates also said she wasn't sure where Berliner got the $70 million estimate for a new station. Asked if a $140 million to $200 million price tag for each new station would change his mind, Berliner said such figures would "impact his thinking."

"It's really up to local jurisdictions to come up with the money to build a new station," Gates said. "They do the planning studies and analysis."

Dan Hardy, transportation planning chief for the Planning Department, said the department had not considered adding new Metro stations on the Red Line at White Flint.

"It's not something we're working on," Hardy said.

Berliner said he did not have specific locations in mind for new stations in the White Flint area, and he wasn't sure of the exact distances there should be between the stations. But he also said he envisioned a station pattern that resembled some of the Red Line's stops in Washington, D.C., with the stations relatively close together.

Andy Scott, special assistant for economic development to State Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari who has dealt with the BRAC intersection projects, said the idea could benefit the higher-density development of White Flint, but could also cause congestion and capacity issues on the Red Line.

"That's something that would have to be studied," Scott said.

[ImBoredNow]

Originally Posted by Infoman

North Bethesda Urban Area (White Flint)

* create thriving, diverse mixed use center with highest intensity closest to Metro and along Rockville Pike
* create new parks and open spaces
* transform Rockville Pike into a boulevard with a landscape median, street trees and improved crosswalks
* develop a transportation network that includes a grid of new public streets
* improve the pedestrian and bicycling environment
* promote sustainable development
* create new public facilities
* provide affordable housing
* promote innovative ways to finance and manage new infrastructure

Old info, but I wanted to post it anyway.

Wow! Little Utopia right There

[hpal3]

http://www.corridorinc.com/content/view/551/125/

[Infoman]

A MUST READ, THAT A MOST WTF!!! I haven't read the article yet but whatever that is it's a beautiful site...

http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/05/sch...hisSpeed=15000

I'm proud of my little MoCo...

[Infoman]

I read part of the article so far, and you know this is going through right???

[Infoman]

"Construction should trigger $1.3 billion in local sales and create more than 5,500 jobs, a federal analysis of the hospital project concludes. Many of those jobs, however, will be short-term construction positions."

“It’s easy to get lost in all the day-to-day trials and tribulations,” said Oliveria, adding the task force is spending almost $1 million a day on the Walter Reed project." (that's a lot of money)

"County officials insist Bethesda will need $70 million in short-term projects, including intersection improvements and a pedestrian tunnel linking the Navy base to the Medical Center Metro station, to cope with traffic. The region, they add, might need another $140 million in the long term to ease traffic through such ventures as a ramp linking I-495 to the Navy base."

"a mega hospital capable of treating more than 900,000 patients a year, including the nation’s most severely wounded warriors."

"The nearly $900 million construction project will create about 1.2 million square feet of new medical facilities on the Bethesda base, renovate 508,000 square feet of existing space and add 1,800 parking spaces."

“This is the largest infrastructure investment in a medical facility ever made within the military health system,” said Mateczun, commander of the joint task force that oversees all military medical facilities in the national capital region."

GREAT FIND....

[hpal3]

Originally Posted by Infoman

I read part of the article so far, and you know this is going through right???

the tall building is already built. the rest of this campus will be built due to brac.

[sovman]

Originally Posted by hpal3

the tall building is already built. the rest of this campus will be built due to brac.

Yeah. In fact, I think the majority of those buildings are already there.

[bamboo stick]

Originally Posted by hpal3

the tall building is already built. the rest of this campus will be built due to brac.

Lol that "tall building" is the National Naval Medical Center which was finished in the early 1940's. Most of the campus is already established and has been there for many years. The only new buildings are those two large bright white buildings closest to the front near the tower.

[bamboo stick]

Originally Posted by Infoman

A MUST READ, THAT A MOST WTF!!! I haven't read the article yet but whatever that is it's a beautiful site...

http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/05/sch...hisSpeed=15000

I'm proud of my little MoCo...

This is from 2007?

[bamboo stick]

Originally Posted by Infoman

I read part of the article so far, and you know this is going through right???

It's been under construction for a while now, actually.

[hpal3]

Originally Posted by bamboo stick

This is from 2007?

the must read was from corridor inc.

[Silver Springer]

I'm really disappointed with the height limits and set backs in North Bethesda, they should be at least 400ft, from what I've read it doesn't look good but I hope I'm wrong.They should have just left TS-M alone.


On the Boards

Montrose Development
Rockville, MD

ARCHITECT: HICKOK COLE ARCHITECTS

Client: Washington Real Estate Investment Trust

Project Size: 850,000 gsf; 750 residential units

Project Type: Mixed-use residential and retail

Completion Date: 2012

[Infoman]

Nice renderings, and a beautiful find...

[ImBoredNow]

I like the green lawn on the roof top.
So is this supposed to be near the Super Giant, old navy, Marshalls, Mikasa, Sticks n' stuff shopping center?

[Dank City]

That's right next to where the new MARC station is supposed to be right?

[bamboo stick]

Originally Posted by hpal3

the must read was from corridor inc.

I know, but I was quoting Infoman's link. If I were referring to corridor inc. I probably would have quoted that link instead.