BeyondDC has some interesting thoughts about the recent interest in redeveloping parts of Gaithersburg:
The next decade, however, could be another renaissance. One way or another the Corridor Cities Transitway will redefine transportation in Gaithersburg. Watkins Mill and Aventiene will (hopefully) finally be built, and residents of Kentlands, now more than 20 years old and undergoing its first round of redevelopment, are pushing for better transit access, drastically higher density, and buildings up to 20 stories in Midtown, Kentlands’ mixed-use center (renderings). But for all that, Gaithersburg’s true center has and will remain the edge city district surrounding the intersection of Frederick and Montgomery Village Avenues, near Lakeforest Mall. It’s that part of town that has long been considered hopeless, but it’s that part of town that may soon receive a major boost.
I left the following comment in response:
Thanks for this post; you’ve identified a number of real issues that Gaithersburg needs to grapple with over the coming years. But there is additional complexity here that your readers might find useful to understand.
If you look, for example, at this view, it is pretty clear that the existing “Olde Towne” area to the east is directly comparable in size to the fairgrounds property, to the west. Further, it seems clear that, should the fairgrounds be developed, some of the existing transportation links will be instrumental: East Diamond Avenue, for example, would be a prime candidate for extension up through the fairgrounds property to Perry Parkway, forming a direct, continuous link to Olde Towne that actually doesn’t exist for MD355 (Diamond ducks under MD355 at the CSX tracks crossing, and thus you have to either go up the highly-congested Summit Ave or cut through side streets to get into Olde Towne proper). Moreover, Perry connects both to MD355 and West Diamond, and at the West Diamond end it is just a short hop from an I-270 interchange.
Olde Towne (the official designation; don’t blame me for the silly spelling) has suffered a great deal during the greenfield development boom of the last two decades. Developers love blank slates, and Olde Towne was anything but that. Disinvestment in Olde Towne has been rampant over that same period, and only a few small projects have ever gotten off the ground — the redevelopment of the Lee Street Apartments (which had been a violent, drug-ridden slum), the demolition of the Southern States and the old Pop Shop to make way for the construction of the two Danac buildings, the Cedar Court Apartments and a City parking garage, the rehabilitation of the Granary by Douglas Development, and the little Bozzuto condo project on North Summit. That really isn’t much for decades of development.
At the moment, however, development in Olde Towne is starting to gather up steam, and there is a significant opportunity to finally lift the area out of the doldrums. The Archstone Project is of course the most visible and dramatic development. But Chris’ Steakhouse has also been torn down to make way for a four-story office/retail building, plans for the Wye Site are under discussion, and there is early talk of yet more redevelopment along Diamond, within the stretch extending at least from Summit west to where Diamond passes under MD355.
Douglas Development is, as I understand it, aggressively pursuing their proposed acquisition of the Fishman Property to build a 75,000 sq foot office/retail building that would integrate with the Granary project as well as a new pedestrian plaza at Diamond & Summit, and effectively redefine the frontage to the CSX tracks along that stretch as a pedestrian-friendly destination. It may not seem like much, and it may seem crazy to build something like that along a railroad track, but the reality is that train watching is one of the few activities that consistently draws people into Olde Towne. Search You Tube for “Gaithersburg” — about a quarter of all the hits are videos of trains passing through town.
Finally, I’ll mention that the County just voted to support Gaithersburg’s application for an Enterprise Zone designation for the CBD zone, which, if approved by the State, would be one more incentive driving this redevelopment, alongside the exemption to the City’s affordable housing ordinance.
So given all this — more redevelopment talk than has existed for decades — one thing that we would want to be careful of is allowing yet another greenfield development to choke off investment in Olde Towne just as it is getting started. And in this regard, the availability of fairgrounds for development presents both a challenge and an opportunity. It is a challenge because the proximity and comparable size to Olde Towne, but with the lack of any useful structures, could draw investment out of the older area. It is an opportunity because, if it is done right, it could complement rather than compete with Olde Towne — effectively making a single development zone that is twice the size of either. This, of course, is where the charette process comes into play.
One way or another, I think it is an exciting time for Gaithersburg.