Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The Montgomery County executive has the power to choose the developer.
Update, March 7, 2:30 p.m. The Wheaton redevelopment discussion tentatively scheduled for March 12 will be a closed session. The Montgomery County Council and the executive administration will be discussing real estate issues "that could impact negotiations if the session were public," according to Rob Klein of the Department of General Services. The county has yet to announce a developer for the Park and Planning headquarters building coming to Wheaton's downtown area. The redevelopment plan approved by the council in 2012 envisions a town square and an office building on Lot 13 with ground-floor retail. The Montgomery Planning Department would share the space with county agencies. Update, March 1, 3:45 p.m. The planned discussion about …
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The Montgomery County Council had allocated money for the study in the FY2013 budget.
Montgomery County government is not going to proceed with a feasibility study for redeveloping the bus bay area in Wheaton, in the triangle between Reedie Drive, Georgia Avenue and Veirs Mill Road. That's what Steve Silverman, director of the Department of Economic Development, told members of the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee at their January meeting. "We've made a determination at this point to move on," Silverman said. Last year, the Montgomery County Council approved $650,000 for various studies as part of the Wheaton redevelopment package, including the bus bay feasibility study. The study's inclusion in the budget came after the council rejected a proposal for private developer B.F. Saul to build a platform over the bus …
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Montgomery County Council will meet April 10 to consider the three visions proposed by the county executive, the PHED committee, and the council staff.
Tuesday night, as the polls around Montgomery County closed after a day of dismal voter turnout, about 25 people met to discuss the future of Wheaton redevelopment, which the Montgomery County Council will take up again April 10. They were all there to talk with Jacob Sesker, the senior legislative analyst whose alternate proposal in March for Wheaton redevelopment has caused quite a stir recently, and who today released a third proposal. Around the table that night at Crossway Community in Kensington sat representatives from community groups, the county's executive branch, councilmembers’ offices, and county executive-backed advisory committees. Marian Fryer, the leader of the Wheaton Citizen's Coalition, said she had convened the meeting…
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Thumbs up or thumbs down? Join the discussion.
The Washington Post took a big picture view of Wheaton last week in its Real Estate section -- metaphorically speaking, but also artistically, with a panoramic photograph of the corner of Reedie Drive and Georgia Avenue. The Post interviewed an executive with B.F. Saul, the private developer involved in plans for Wheaton's new downtown. Here's the above quote in more context: “Wheaton is kind of this mini version of Silver Spring,” said Bob Wulff, an executive with the project’s development company, B.F. Saul. Wulff said his company was attracted to Wheaton for many of the same reasons its residents are: its uniqueness and diversity. “It started out as sort of a bedroom community for sort of mid-range government workers, and that’s still a…
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton says the Montgomery County executive's proposed $40 millon in public money for the Wheaton Redevelopment should come with a clear idea of the benefits to the community.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Wheaton coalition wants a community benefits agreement as a precondition for the general development agreement.
The Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton has suggested that B.F. Saul, a major developer in the downtown area, negotiate a community benefits agreement, or CBA. A CBA is a legally binding document where the developer agrees to certain requests by community organizations in exchange for the community's support. CBA's have been a contentious topic in Montgomery County recently, as the county council deliberates a bill that would require big-box retailers to sit down with three civic associations and try to produce a CBA. At the Nov. 16 Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee meeting, the Coalition said it wants a CBA as a precondition of the General Development Agreement with B.F. Saul. A WRAC subcommittee has endorsed the …
A week's worth of stories on Wheaton Patch.
The news happens fast. If you missed anything this week on the Wheaton Patch, you can get caught up here. A culinary walking tour around Wheaton last Saturday stopped in on local businesses for samples and shopping opportunities in the Central Business District. The Montgomery County Council unanimously supported the Wheaton Sector Plan in a straw vote on during Tuesday's worksession. The council has decided to keep the Ennalls Avenue realignment in the Sector Plan, despite complaints from a property owner in the Wheaton Triangle. The Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board and the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee held their monthly meetings this week. The MCCAB discussed whether it should support the Sandy Spring Civic Association's …
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee has not officially endorsed the potential move, but securing a government tenant for office space in downtown Wheaton would further WRAC aims.
The Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee does not yet have an official position about the Montgomery County Planning Board’s recent decision to approve $200,000 for a feasibility study on moving the headquarters of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to downtown Wheaton from Silver Spring. However, there does not seem to be anyone on the advisory body speaking out against it. “I haven’t heard any opposition to it from the committee,” WRAC vice chair Susan Petersen said. “I think people are generally excited about it and hopeful.” Rob Klein, who presented the redevelopment report to WRAC at its Oct. 19 meeting, called the funding approval “a major step.” “It’s an opportunity to make an office complex,” said Klein…
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Councilmember Marc Elrich stops by to discuss BRT, Wheaton redevelopment.
On Wednesday evening, the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee held its July meeting with guest Councilmember Marc Elrich. It was the last meeting for five WRAC members who are terming out of their positions. There will be no meeting of WRAC in August and new members will be sworn in in September. Here's what was discussed:
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
While official negotiations continue between B.F. Saul and the county, a larger survey is planned to deal with the development's impacts on the downtown area.
B.F. Saul currently waits on pro-forma negotiations between the company, Montgomery County and WMATA before it can officially start its redevelopment plan for downtown Wheaton. In the meantime, a big question is how construction - not to mention a major new office building, as well as retail and residential buildings - will affect the many small businesses in the area. “I don’t want to raise expectations; there will be an impact,” David Dise, director of Department of General Services, said at the June meeting of the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee (WRAC). “There will be an impact if we’re digging a 30-foot hole where Parking Lot 13 is.” But local groups are wondering how exactly the county plans to minimize the impact of this …
Randall Spadoni
10:29 am on Friday, March 8, 2013
Well, that was an anticlimax. Glass half full: Perhaps it is good for the executive and council to work things out privately before a deal is announced. We don't want more time and effort wasted on another BF Saul. But why did it take an additional two months before the executive could even discuss the deal with the council? From Councilmember Valerie Ervin when the BF Saul deal was announced in … more ›