On July 13, the Montgomery County planning board approved plans to redevelop the west side of the Federal Plaza shopping center in North Bethesda, transforming the surface parking lot and commercial area into a multi-family building and a mixed-use building with a structured parking garage. Federal Realty Investment Trust, the current owner of the shopping center strip, is behind this ambitious project.
The development, named Federal Plaza West, will occupy 583,016 square feet and be constructed in three phases. It will introduce 500 residential units, with 15% designated as Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs), and include 108,965 square feet of retail space. Among the establishments present in the current site are Planet Fitness, Micro Center, Plaza Artist, Panera Bread, Colonial Opticians, the New Wave Salon & Spa, Phenix Salon Suites, and TJ Maxx.
As part of the development plan, East Jefferson Street will undergo a “road diet,” incorporating a 10-foot-wide separated bike lane along the block and an eight-foot-wide sidewalk. Additionally, an urban green space will be created to act as a buffer between the residential development and East Jefferson Street.
In another significant development, the Montgomery County Council unanimously voted on July 11 to designate the former Edward U. Taylor Elementary School property in Boyds as a historic landmark in the county’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation. Built in 1952 as a segregated school for Black students, the Taylor school was one of the last to be desegregated in 1961. It holds historical significance as the only segregated Black elementary school in the county that retained its original use as a school building after integration.
Tanya Stern, the acting planning director at the Montgomery County Planning Department, emphasized the importance of adding the school to the Master Plan for Historic Preservation to honor the efforts of individuals like Edward U. Taylor and various Black organizations, parents, and teachers who fought for quality educational facilities for Black children in the mid-20th century. The school, currently functioning as the Taylor Science Center, is located at 19501 White Ground Road in Boyds.
Meanwhile, a vacant bank at the Rock Creek Village Shopping Center near Rockville is set to be converted into a 2,470-square-foot restaurant, likely to be a Chipotle, according to planning documents. The transformed restaurant will offer a drive-thru service with pre-order meal pick-up and dine-in options for patrons. Most of the changes to the building will be internal, along with a 45-square-foot addition for the drive-thru service window. The site, formerly a SunTrust bank, is situated on Norbeck Road, and the shopping center features various businesses and restaurants, including Creek Lodge Bar & Grill, Norby’s, Villa Maya, CVS Pharmacy, Thrive Veterinary Clinic, and Safeway. Details on the construction start date have not been disclosed in the planning documents.
