Good evening, Rockville. Today is Wednesday, April 9, 2025. This is meeting number 4-25 of the City of Rockville Planning Commission. I am Jamie Espinoza, Chair of the Planning Commission. I am joined by Commissioner Susan Pittman, Eric Fulton, Shahansala Dean, and virtually by Commissioner Monkson. Tonight's meeting is being conducted in person and virtually by WebEx. Tonight's agenda includes one review and action item, which includes waiver application WAV 2025-001013, one briefing on project plan PJT 2025-0021. And this will be by a regularly scheduled commission items. Our first agenda item, as I said, is waver application Wav 2025-0013 to permit a reduction of 44 parking spaces at 1251 West Montgomery Avenue, located in the MXE mixed use employment zone Rockville Motel Association's LLC, Carabjef Wildler Applicants over to Mr. Wasillac for any staff presentation. Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the commission. This is a parking waiver for the best western hotel on West Montgomery Avenue. For our code, you are the approving authority for such waivers and Senior planner Chris Davis is here to make the staff presentation and I will swear him in If you could identify yourself for the record Christopher Davis community planning and development services and will you provide truthful testimony this evening? I will thank you Thank you, Mr. Chair members of the Commission as Mr. Walsh like indicated this is a parkingway for application for the best Western and Hotel in restaurant at 1251 West Montgomery Avenue. As you can see outlined in red on the screen the property is located at 1251 West Montgomery Avenue. The land use designation is office commercial residential mix and the zoning for the property is mixed use employment. The site is approximately 4.8 acres and size and the specific request is a waiver to permit a reduction of 44 required parking spaces and the staff recommendation is approval of the requested waiver. So for some brief background on this property, the existing hotel and accessory restaurant use was approved by the Planning commission back in 1968 Since that time several several subsequent approvals have been completed on the property for minor improvements and updated and uses on the site Since that period since that period There have been periods where the accessory restaurant has not been in use on the site. However, that changed in 2020 in 2020 when the planning commission approved a waiver of 29 parking spaces to reestablish the accessory restaurant as part of an access as a as part of an associated minor site plan amendment. As you can see on the screen, this is the subject property with the improved hotel and the restaurant area is located in this one story edition. So the proposal by the applicant is to change the or modify the uses on the site from an accessory restaurant, which currently exists to a full service restaurant. As part of this change of use, it also requires addition and parking for the required uses, specifically, 44 additional parking spaces. applicant requests an 18.5% reduction in the required number of spaces to continue use of the hotel and new full service restaurant with the existing 194 spaces currently existing on site. As you can see from the site plan shown on the screen, the hotel building is shown in red with the surrounding parking areas in brown. Here's a proposed interior floor plan of the modifications proposed by the applicant, including in those are slight increases to the floor area from 4,700 feet to 5500 square feet. Also included as part of the adjustments are a relocation of the front entry doors. And you can see those on the plan west. So in terms of the specific request, the zoning ordinance does allow per section 251603 for the planning commission to permit reductions in the required number of parking spaces for uses in the building. When located in certain zones as shown on the screen, if meeting specific criteria. And again, the specific request is to provide 190 parking, 194 parking spaces on the site, and lieu of the required 238 associated with the change in use. So for the specific analysis in reviewing this application, staff has found that the application meets to the six criteria to grant a parking reduction. With respect to the first criteria, criteria A, this criteria has not been met, but it's not applicable because the site is located well beyond the distance of a metro station. In regards to criteria B, staff does find that this criteria has been met. Specifically, there are three right on bus routes within a quarter mile of the site, corresponding to routes 45, 54, and 63. Criteria C regarding proximity to a public parking facility. This criteria is not met as there are no public parking facilities within a thousand feet of the site. Regarding criteria D, and the size of the property, this criteria is also not met as the site is well beyond limited at approximately 4.0 acres and criteria E, dealing with the proximity of bikeways while bicycle facilities do exist near the site. Staff has not found that the uses proposed are conducive to bicycle use. But specifically for criteria F, staff has found that this criteria has been met specifically in looking at the history of this particular property, the onsite restaurant use has been existing without parking deficiencies. Additionally, the previously approved parking waiver has been in place for several years and there has been no evidence of any adverse impacts from that parking waiver. Furthermore, the applicant has indicated in their submission that they have observed the site at different times throughout the year and have noted that at no time has there been deficiencies in parking given the similar uses that are existing and are proposed. And then finally, the applicant has indicated that the changes in the market have led to less demand and hotel uses and therefore that provides additional opportunities for parking for the proposed restaurant use. So, staff's recommendation is finding that the requests meets two of the six criteria for permitting parking spaces or parking space reductions. Staff recommends approval of the waiver WAV 2025-001013 to propane the reduction of 44 parking spaces representing a 18.5% reduction at 12.51 West Montgomery Avenue and with that, that concludes staff's presentation. Thank you. Any of the commissioners have any questions of staff at this time? So just to clarify, we're not talking about reducing the existing parking that's there. We're just saying that the parking lot will remain exactly the way it is right now. We're not requiring them to increase the parking for switching from a accessory restaurant to a full service restaurant. That's correct. All right, cool. Just want to make sure. Thank you. Commissioner Sun, do you have any questions? Mr. Wasillac, I'm assuming we do not have a presentation from the applicant. Oh, they have a presentation. Oh, we do. We do. Yes, please. Good evening for the record. Vince Beosie with the law firm of Lurcherlian Brewer. Here on behalf of the applicant, Rockville Motel Associates LLC. I'm here tonight with my colleague Pat Harris, Nick Tribin of Lennhart Traffic Consulting and the applicant, Jeff Wilder. Before you proceed, I'm going to say, I'm sorry. Yes. You've identified, will you provide truthful testimony this evening? I will. Thank you. We would like to thank staff and specifically Mr. Davis for their coordination and thorough review of the parking waiver request. We agree with staff's recommendation for approval and have just a very brief presentation for the commission tonight. Mr. Davis, are you able to pull that up? So we can move to the next slide. So as Mr. Davis explained, the subject property is located at 1251 West Montgomery Avenue, surrounded by mixed use employment and commercial uses to the north. located in the MXZ zone and the OCRM land use policy area. Next slide please. As shown with the red arrow, that is the location of the current approved accessory restaurant use. and what is proposed to be transitioned into a full service restaurant as part of the hotel complex. Next slide please. As Mr. Davis explained, there's an extensive history of approvals on the site dating back to 1968. Most recently, the Commission approved a parking waiver for the accessory restaurant that exists today as well as a minor site plan amendment to allow for the change in use. Next slide, please. Shown here is the current parking requirements pursuant to the accessory restaurant requirements. There is a requirement of 193 spaces on the site and currently 194 are provided. Next slide please. The proposed minor amendment that is submitted parallel with this parking waiver application relates to the area shown with the red arrow. This is largely an interior renovation with a minor exterior modification to adjust the restaurant's main entrance and front door to where the windows are currently. Next slide, please. So the proposed parking waiver is requesting a waiver of 44 spaces. The full service restaurant use has significantly higher parking requirements than the accessory restaurant use has shown in the chart here, 73 spaces are required. So this waiver is for 44 spaces. Next slide, please. Shown here are just some Google aerial imagery of the site dating back to 2019. A lot of these photos show just the underutilization of the existing surface parking throughout the site in the areas close to the restaurant use and the areas close to the hotel use. Next slide please. And that continues post-COVID with 2021 and 2022 showing just the same under utilization of the surface parking in this area. Next slide. The applicant conducted a just a parking utilization survey in August of 2024 and showed that on average about 120 spaces are typically available during peak hours. So there is a significant amount of parking that's available with the current use. Next slide please. We also found that much of the parking that is under utilized is located next to the proposed restaurant with most of the parking spaces that are occupied being located closer to the hotel rooms to the south and the area that's shown boxed in blue with the area area closest to the restaurant in green, more available. Next slide, please. As staff presented, this application meets two of the required criteria for the commission to approve this parking waiver, notably the proximity to bus routes and ride-on on facilities as well as just the history of underutilization on the site and the sufficiency of parking currently. Next slide please. So with that, the applicant would respectfully request approval of parking waiver Wavre Wavre 2025-0013. We believe this request is consistent with the city's modernizing approach to surface parking requirements that are associated with the city's forthcoming zoning rewrite. We appreciate your consideration of this request, and our team is here to answer any questions you might have. Sure, I have a initial question. Just had a curiosity, when was the last time that the accessory restaurant had a tenant? I think that was at least two years ago that there was ten in it. Any of the commissioners in the room have a question of the applicant? Commissioner Sun, do you have any questions? Thanks, Mr. Chair. So I don't have a question, but I just feel excited to see this area will be have a new tenant for the restaurant because I'm very familiar with the area. I think this will be a new good addition for the area. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I guess we don't have any questions. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Mr. Walsh like did we have anybody sign up for public testimony on this agenda item? We do not. So barring any discussion is their emotion? I would like to make a motion that we approve waiver application WAV20250013 to permit the reduction of 44 parking spaces at 1,251 West Montgomery Avenue located in the MXE mixed use employment zone subject to anything, conditions in the staff packet though I'm not sure there were any. Is there a second second all those in favor raise your hand or say I I I'm wishing passes unanimously. Thank you. Mr. Wasillac our next agenda item is a briefing on Project Plan PJT 2025-000021 and Level 2 site plan STP 2025-00505. Application submit the planned development for Rockville Center, incorporated to permit a change of use from office to residential and or commercial with up to 550 dwelling units at 255 Rockville Pike in the PD-RCI Plan Development Rockville Center Incorporated Zone 255 Rockville Pike LLC applicants. Mr. Wasill, I go over to you for staff presentation. Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the Commission. This is a project plan application that is a plan development or PD amendment to one of our plan developments that is in the Towns Center. Actually, a subject of another PD amendment that you just heard at briefing as well. This one much more significant than that one. With meets tonight is of course the applicant, as well as principal planner Kimi Azalfa-Garri, who will make the staff presentation. Good evening, members of the commission. I'm pulling up the presentations now, so it'll just be a minute. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. Thank you. this is a planning commission for 255 Rockville Pike, a project plan amendment application for the planning commission. I'm Kimi Azul-Fegarian. I'm a principal planner with CPDs. The purpose of this planning commission briefing is to introduce the proposal to the planning commission and provide opportunity for preliminary feedback. This is an aerial image of the subject property. You will note the label 255 Rothville Pike is pointing towards the subject property, the location of the promenade park. The property is located south of the intersection of East Middle Lane and Rockville Pike and is bounded by Monroe Street to the west and truck street to the south. The project is located in planning area one of the town center master plan. The site area is 2.5 acres. The Lane use is office commercial and residential mix, OCRM. The zoning district is plan development, Rockville Center Inc. with the equivalent zoning district of MXTD. The applicant is proposing to amend the approved plan development to permit additional uses, which would include the phased redevelopment of the existing office building to construct a multi-family building with up to 550 units, with the maximum height of 217 feet. You will see the plan included with the project plan submittal on the right of the screen. They are also proposing an adapter reuse of the existing office building to allow a commercial use as an alternate proposal. The pre-application meeting for this project was filed on December 20, 2024 with the area meeting being held on October 29, 2024. The project plan amendment and level two site plan, which were being concurrently reviewed, both applications were filed on March 7, 2025. The post application area meeting was held on March 18. The applicant DRC meeting is scheduled for April 24th, and the mayor and council briefing is scheduled for May 5th 2025. The next steps for this project are a mayor and council briefing to finalize a review of project plan amendment application and level two site plan application, planning commission recommendation, marrying council decision that would include a public hearing discussion and possible adoption, as well as the planning commission may consider decision on the site plan application that is being reviewed concurrently. And that concludes the presentation. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Waslekson since this is just a briefing. Well, let me wait to see is there a presentation by the applicant? Yes, there is. I suggest we withhold any questions or comments until we get that. So please, please proceed. Good evening for the record. My name is Bob Elliott. I'm with the applicant 255 Rockfield Pike LLC. I'm joined this evening by my the next day. I'm going to be back in the next day. I'm going to be back in the next day. I'm going to be back in the next day. I'm going to be back in the next day. I'm going to be back in the next day. I'm going to do it. Okay. Kimmy was kind of to sort of introduce the project. Here you see a view from the east from Rockville Pike roughly over the Metro station looking at the existing building. Let's go to the next slide. Our firm acquired this property about one year ago, ad auction, second auction for this property, had gone into foreclosure. We acquired it because we think the opportunity to redevelop two and a half acres here at Jason the Town Center is an exciting one. The building itself, the photos you see here, you see the site, you see the first pictures of you down Montgomery Avenue at the building. The second picture is from up in the upper right is a picture of from middle lane and Monroe Street. The lower left is a picture down Rockville Pike. Again, you see that sort of aerial photo in the middle and the bottom of the building itself. And the last is a unique feature of this particular property, which is on that last lower right, is truck street. And truck street is actually a loading dock street that serves not only our building, but 51 Monroe, as well as the executive office building. The unique aspect of this is we are the last existing piece of the old original Rockville Mall. So we have a lot of the infrastructure associated with the old mall, which is used to comprise not only our block, but then the two mall. So we have a lot of the infrastructure associated with the old mall which is used to comprise that only our block but then the two blocks that are immediately to our west that are two large apartment buildings and is was referenced by Mr. Wasleck. The fact that there is a now vacant lot that used to be part of the old mall as well. It was also part of the same PD. Keep going. So when we acquired the property, as I mentioned, we were excited because this represented an opportunity, sort of as a gateway site into the city. Obviously, the Metro Bridge tunnel kind of arrives literally on our property. There is an easement extending across our property, the lower 15 and a half feet on the southern edge of the properties so that you can move through from the Metro Bridge onto our property. It's important to note there that the property widens out just beyond that connection to 45 feet, 30 feet of which is actually directly above the truck street there, so it's just public right of way, 15 feet of its hours. But our hope has always been to sort of enhance that connection through this property, down Montgomery Lane, you kind of get to this knuckle when you get past the movie theater to create ultimately some sort of urban connection back through here and then ultimately, hopefully towards the town square. Next slide. And so the challenge with this particular site, and can't really probably a little bit of the challenge with this market over the last say 90 odd days, we bought the property with the intention of trying to transform what it was keeping the existing garage. So as it stands today, it was two levels, the old mall, which ultimately became the county's office and permitting area. We originally envisioned taking down those two levels, keeping the 440-odd parking spaces below that and then coming back up with five levels of wood frame. at least as part of the initial site plan. There's also two phases to the project plan, this first phase, which would be approximately 300 units, and then possibly an extra 250 units that could be constructed as a vertical tower. The majority of the presentation I'm going to discuss tonight focuses on that opportunity. That's our primary opportunity. But given everything that's happening in this market, given the challenges that may be facing the federal government, the importance of employment to the Maryland demographic, the possible need for housing, the inability to understand exactly what construction and tariffs may imply on construction that could happen in 2026 and beyond. It's nearly impossible to forecast right now what that opportunity could become. When we first acquired the property about a year ago, we were immediately approached by a retail opportunity, an online vendor of national, you would know them, but they don't actually have physical stores. They came to us seeking an opportunity to possibly put a retail use there. We'd kind of put that to bed as we contemplated the multi-family use. More recently, given market conditions, we've begun to consider what the need may be to change that possibly going back towards a retail use altogether. As a result of that, we're modifying the project plan, and we'd like to modify that to include the commercial use across the entire space as possibly as retail. We've begun the evaluation on that from single-purpose users could be things such as furniture stores, card dealers, larger single-story users that could be sporting goods apparel, et cetera. We believe that such a use does not require a change in the transportation component because it generates less than 30 trips. We've begun to evaluate what that situation could be if we ended up doing that with smaller, more fragmented retailers, you know, perhaps half a floor, a floor, possibly even as much as a grocery store. We're still in the process of evaluating what this ultimately could become so that in the event that we need to propose a trip generation plan that we could do that. But in some in its simplest form, this is an adaptive reuse of the existing structure and its 440 space parking garage. The challenge that under our existing zoning, we have the right to build 700,000 feet of office and only 40,000 feet of retail. The building as it exists today is approximately 160, 170,000 square feet. So our request as part of this change and use is to possibly go towards or via towards use that might allow for all commercial. Not our primary hope, but it is something that could be tended more quickly, fill that vacancy and void, and ultimately be constructed much more quickly. That said, what we had really envisioned for this site is what Kimmy has just put up on the screen. And there are four diagrams here. The diagram and the upper left shows you those two levels above grade shown in red. The idea would be to remove those two levels, to end up with the lower left-hand side drawing, which would be to retain the existing 440 space parking garage. Then in a first phase, come back up with 300 units of wood frame housing over the top of that. And then potentially, as a longer-term vision, to add another 250-odd units, which is that orange tower. In the upper right-hand corner of that very diagram, you also see the original concept diagram going back to the PD that envisioned this idea that there could be a frame up there that might be approximately 400,000 feet as what they envisioned as being office space. But what we wanted to try to preserve in this opportunity is that there could be a signature tower here. In today's market conditions, and this says nothing could do with the current environment of the last 90 days, the economics of rock villains and vertical construction for this building don't necessarily make economic sense. Wood frame construction and housing is much more simple to deliver and much less costly and much more cost effective for us. Continuing to give me thanks. So this is a traditional floor plan or some typical floor plan for the building. It kind of shows this sort of three with a little wing off of it. The wing that branches office is also that piece that ultimately could become that sort of taller vertical tower. There are stronger edges here along Rockville Pike to kind of create that frame. This is effectively built almost exclusively over the footprint of the existing garage. So when you see this, part of that is to basically utilize that exact structure. And then there are two court yards that face towards Monroe Street where you would actually put on the lower side is probably more of a pool deck on the upper side is perhaps more of an open garden terrace. Not shown in this plan on the sort of level the, well, we are calling the second level kind of the amenity zone. There is a the opportunity to pass between those two courtyards basis through tenant amenities, where there might be sort of fitness center or community spaces, so that perhaps those two things are allowed, allow the tenants to sort of enjoy the opportunity to flow between the two courtyards. Next please. These are a series of different views of that initial phase of the project plan and the site plan that you will see later this year in a future, not just a briefing presentation hearing format. It's basically showing the different vignettes, sort of an aerial view from Rockville Pike, and the upper left. The lower one is obviously showing you sort of a vista looking south west at the building. The upper right is looking at the building. You kind of see the promenade there between 5th that and 51 Monroe. And then the last view in the lower right corner is a view from the metro station. Next please. And then so these are just sort of two views sort of contrasting a couple of those views showing the impact with and without that vertical tower. And so these are some of the sections through the building. This again shows you that sort of gray zone here. You see the three-story parking garage in gray. The P3 level is entirely below grade. The P2 level is exposed along 355 and along middle lane. And then the P1 level is actually the street there along Monroe slopes from the P2 level to the P1 level. You may not realize it, but that's about 11 feet of grade change from Montgomery Avenue all the way down to middle lane. And you can also see the section above through the two courtyards. These are the elevations that we were required to submit with the site plan. As these continue to develop and get refined, you would obviously see these in much more greater detail and forthcoming presentations. Next, Kimia, and then again, sort of the elevations around the various buildings, the various sides of the building. The one on the upper here is actually showing you the end of the prongs of that sort of three structures. So we've tried to create three independent structures along Monroe so that they kind of look like the same family in the language. Other places they look much more uniform. Continue, Kimia. And then from a scheduled perspective, I think Kimia ran through some of this, but in the fourth quarter, we made our submission. First quarter this year, we had our post-area application meeting where before you tonight for briefing, with you all, come May 5th, we brief, Mary and Council, then we come forward to the recommendation of the Project Planet Amendment. And then let's see action on the Project plan amendment and then the subsequent hearings on that and hopefully votes with you all again. Assuming we get through all of that through the end of the second quarter, we'll optimistic it's probably more likely into just another third quarter hopefully hopefully get you before the summer recess. Once that's all completed assuming that we're to stay on track, we anticipate if it were to be a multi-family building construction starting in 2026. And that's a function of the fact that what you see there today and ultimately see forthcoming probably requires another six and nine months of actual architectural design, several months of permitting, planning, et cetera, that all goes into that. So once you figure out that we're kind of, you know, it's called a third to fourth quarter of this year with a lot of that, at about nine months, nine to 12 months, and you're basically in a 2026. And so with that, I am done. And if you have any questions either of me, let me know. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. You guys don't like tackling easy things, huh? No, it's kind of our specialty. So let's just I think we're going to jump into questions right, Mr. Wasillek. We don't have there's no public testimony tonight because we're just doing a briefing. That's correct. So I'll just turn it over. Any questions? Does any of the commissioners in the room have a question of either the staff or applicant at this time? Thank you for the presentation. Thank you for having a plan many plans for this site. It feels like a really high stakes choose your own adventure book. And I'm excited to see kind of what comes back to us. I don't know that you have answers to some of these questions, but I do want to ask. And these are things that I think I'm at least looking at for the future use of this site. You know, a lot of folks come to this meeting and talk about how their project aligns with the ULI report. And we hear that all the time. Something that was noted in that report is what people see and experience when they come out of the metro station and its reference to the current site and how unpleashing to the eye it is. So I'm looking forward to seeing something new, pretty indifferent as people come onto Rockville. The stretch of land that is along Middle Lane from Rockville Pike to Monroe, it's very unpleasant currently to walk. This sidewalk is kind of squished with some signs and I believe it's infrastructure from the parking garage lines the wall. In a world where you retain the parking garage, are there any modifications that can be made to make that more pleasant of a pedestrian experience? Certainly. So appreciate all the comments. Also say for the record that I am also a rock villain, I live in the West End. So not only do I run a small privately held real estate company, it was exciting for me to possibly be acquiring a building that is sort of central to my family's own experience having to go into the town center very, very recently going to the theater, et cetera, and trying to transform something. Can't really try to bring a little bit of life and energy back into our town center. The sidewalk that you're referring to in Middle Lane is a challenge. Partially because several years ago they widened that added an additional lane for the right hand turn. One of the things that we have been in constant discussion with the transportation and the planning staff in D.B.W. about is whether or not there's the opportunity to widen that and possibly take a lane away to provide a little bit of relief there on that sidewalk. So it's like, but it right up against the building. Part of that is a decision and discussion that happens with us, but it's also partially a decision that happens with the city and ultimately with the state because this 355 is a state highway. And so I think the city is supportive of the idea that we might actually remove a lane there as you head eastbound towards the metro station. So instead of having three lanes there, you might actually have two, one to basically go straight through, one that would be straight through with the right hand turn. That would allow for as much as 10 additional feet there, that would be partially also inclusive of a biking lane, a protected lane admittedly, but with a little bit of an island. But the hope would be that we could provide some relief on that edge of the building. As you rightly point out, there is infrastructure. It's right behind one of the existing parking ramps for the building. So kind of an inmovable feature. That answered the question. No, absolutely. It's something that, you know, walking from the metro, taking the bridges and always the path of least resistance and people are gonna naturally walk whatever is the easiest way or quickest way for them. So, you know, whatever we can do city staff, state, whoever's listening, we can do that there. Only other real main question is, in the different variations that you're considering, storefronts along promenade park, are you considering anything like, I know that you'll be looking at improving the park itself, but where the park interfaces with the property, or is there any public use space, or anything that thinking about? So two different schemes there. So on the residential side, we actually have, and it's in discussion with the city, is that there's a 15 and a half foot easement on the property for movement through. When it was sort of a commercial use, there was the suggestion that you could put tables and cafe things and sort of, you know, movable structures in that space. Would this become a residential building? We would like to actually have balconies that perhaps face that. People who could actually have windows along that side. We'd actually would like to propose perhaps sort of a bit of a buffer with some fencing to allow a little bit of relief. Again, recognizing that there is that stretch from the end of the metro bridge onto our property, it's about, I think about 40 odd feet where there's only about a 15-foot wide space. Leave that intact, but once you get beyond that, perhaps we could offset and give the building a little relief for about five feet in a residential scheme so that there there could be balconies that could overhang slightly. There could be some terrace spaces where people who on the ground floor units could actually occupy those spaces, it becomes quasi public and private. In the event that this would be retail, we admittedly don't have knowledge of what that could be because it's just kind of an idea more of an, in its infancy. I say that on the back side of the building on the east side there is a small terrace as you come off of the Metro bridge before you actually get to the building. One group that we had talked to about this had thought that that might make and if this was a single purpose use that maybe had a cafe inside of it that that might be an interesting place to put the cafe. that you could actually ground that as an opportunity. People come off, you could experience the cafe, perhaps without going into the retail. Not this is not the example, but you know, for example, how a Starbucks is inside of a target or something else. You could imagine that something like that could actually use that terrace space. There was an old cafe when this was the office building for the permitting office, but we do envision that there could be an opportunity to connect back in. There's also an entrance today off of the promenade that allows you to go into that building. We would like to see that, well, that would never be probably a primary arrival point for a retail opportunity. We'd like to see something like that remain. Great. Thank you very much. Any other questions from in the room? This is really exciting. Thank you. And I it was interesting to hear you talk about housing versus office. I'm sure you all are thinking about what would trigger a change from housing to commercial retail space. And when you come back to us, I'm sure you'll have made that decision. We've got a timeline. So our plan at this point, so in order to get and act the change in use, it actually takes time. It takes this process. We had originally made all of this submission back in December without contemplating the the the request for commercial. It had always been to pursue the residential option. Given the sudden and dramatic changes in the market, we have been forced to look at what other opportunities may exist. Should there be a lot of uncertainty about housing in this market or how how to price that several years hence? Without having to waste a lot of time and given the fact that we are in for a change in use as part of a project plan amendment, a new project plan with two phases, and a site plan all the same time. We're not ones to waste time. This is a site that needs attention. We didn't want to do sort of the traditional heel-toe, let's do the change in use. Let's do the project plan, let's do the site plan. We asked the city from the day we bought the building, could we come in with more of a consolidated effort? As a result of that, we've come forward with the idea that we would like to address a possible change in use as part of this broader application. We'd ultimately, at some point, be forced to decide whether or not we would for lack of a better term, abandon a site plan in order to proceed with the change in use that would ultimately be all commercial under the existing building. Okay, thank you. Just kind of a complicated answer, but hopefully it gets to what you're at. That's good. Thank you for that. And you really are taking a huge, that's a big risk. That's a big risk. I really appreciate you, I think you used the word compelling in terms of how this is a gateway for the city. This is the first thing you'll see when you cross over the Metro. And I appreciate that very much. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with for that. And I do hope that there is some consideration of green roof or some other kind of environmentally friendly remediation for that site. So thank you very much. So I'll echo with everyone else that's up here. Thank you for putting pen to paper on this and giving this some some real thought that piece of property is a great location, but it's been neglected for so long. it would be really nice to see something pop up there. And I would say that it is absolutely in my estimation the right attitude to attitude to be pragmatic about this, which is exactly what you guys are doing, right? You've got multiple different plans and whatever opportunity presents best is the one that you will presumably pursue. But this building's been vacant for a while. What are your thoughts on why, what was the impediment to finding that retail use that you, the single tenant retail use that you're talking about now? What was the impediment to finding that prior? Why has that never been an option since the mall was closed. And while we're talking about that, would you contemplate, are you contemplating keeping that brutalist architecture in that sort of a use scenario or would it be raised in something new, Bill, regardless? So lots of questions. I'll try to answer them as best I can. Let's see. So we acquired the building at auction in 2024. And the building had been vacant, I believe since the county vacated in 2021 or 2022, the building had been owned by that ownership. I think for about 20 or 25 years, they had significant amount of debt on the building. It had been the loss of that office tenant that prompted them to start exploring new ideas and opportunities. They were very committed towards an office use or potentially a life science use. Their business plan, business model, to not allow them to sort of think outside the box. We take a different approach to real estate. We buy the things that people don't really know how to solve and try to figure out how to solve them. And it's because we try to remain nimble and try to see what the bright spot and the opportunity here is to be quite candid. We didn't buy the building for the, we bought it because of the location and we bought it because it had 440 parking spaces. That's why we bought this building. We like the location, we like the parking garage. We hate the two stories above it. We'd like to transform it, do something with it. That was the initial vision. The challenge with that is change in use, potentially project plan, self-inflicted two-phase project plan and a site plan. We probably could have done a single-phase project plan and a site plan and forgotten about the vertical piece, but I'm a bigger believer that we once should have vision and not come back to this at some point in the future. Let's tell you what we think the vision is out of the gate. Big bold idea met with rapidly changing market conditions. the two-story bunker that's there was largely made for office, but interestingly because it was old mall, it actually has the height necessary for potential retailers. Maybe not in the traditional like one-story flat box that you see when you go out to Target and Walmart, but for retailers that are prepared to be stacked, it's not so bad. Wasn't what we viewed as the opportunity, but as the market changes, we still don't think offices right, sadly, and that's not just us, that's downtown, that's everywhere, it's a national problem. We think a life science thing would be really cool, but there are still plenty of great places you could go to out in shady grove and just on the other other side of 270 that's kind of still in Rockville. And retail, there's a desperate need for it. You know, I'm a rock villain myself. I still think we really need to fix our town center to be quite candid. But if a large enough retail user could come in and plant themselves and create a little bit of a gateway and some energy, I'm not against it. It certainly isn't what we wanted to do out of the gate, but at the end of the day, we are a business and we wanna do something that creates some energy and some excitement, whatever that may be. With regard to whether or not this thing remains the bunker and the ugly building it is, I'd hope not. Our hope for this would ultimately be that if we were to achieve this change in use and forget about the park, the residential thing to decide for a second. If we were to go for with a commercial use, we would like to think that there may be an opportunity to open up larger windows, perhaps add some visual screenings, certainly paint it, make it look a little more attractive from the outside. I don't, and I don't think that takes a lot. I'll say it's like adding a little lipstick in places. That's certainly one piece, but I think you could certainly do things that are more dramatic. That also may depends on who's your tenant, the nature of what they want to do, but I do think there would be ways to enhance it and perhaps make it look a little nicer with a a little more curb appeal. Commissioner? But I do think there would be ways to enhance it and perhaps make it look a little nicer with a little more curb appeal. Commissioner Sun, do you have any comments or questions? Yes, thank you for the presentation and I really concur with my fellow commissioners. I'm really excited about this project. The C, this vacant set has some plans moving forward. So I have some observations and questions. I feel like as you mentioned this site sees a very critical location that not only connects to the metro but it also faces the Rockville Pike. And as I normally drive there, I feel like the facade of the building is very unpleasant and it doesn't feel inviting. And today I hear that it is actually too level of parking garage. So I wonder if you have any plans, no matter which scheme you go, to make that parking garage facade a little bit more inviting to the pedestrians and nearby traffic where the people just go through it. It just may be a fist lift or something. And also in your residential scheme. So for the building facade that is about in the permanent bridge, permanent bridge, Are there any plans that you will have some storefront, like a phase or something that can activate that space a little bit? Or as you said, it's currently only residential because I think before the building was totally vacant, I remember using some of the retailes, even though it's very small, using those retails when we walk to the street, I would like to see something public to activate that frontage a little bit. And also my third question is in the scheme, your ultimate vision that you will build a phase three that is in really taught tower, how do you realize that from the the mid-rise residential to the taught tower, just constructively how does that work? Thank you. Okay. Multiple questions I'll try to remember them all. So the first is that the building is naturally unpleasant along Rockville Pike. Don't entirely disagree. At some point you'll probably get to see some old photos of what this was when it was the mall. Believe it or not there was a ramp that lifted off of Rockville Pike northbound and actually curved directly into the building. No joke. It was basically an open-air parking garage, a top-which set two levels of mall. It was gasoline. So they ended up re-skitting this building with the pre-cast that's on it. One of the challenges is the entrance that's over there really isn't a great entrance for this building today because people don't really use it. I think the the opportunity will be to in live in that entrance. Certainly, and we've done a lot more study this admittedly on the multifamily side, then we have on the recreate the existing addition side that we've talked about whether or not the garage facade could become more of an art opportunity, could it become a bigger, stronger signage opportunity, could it be create something that is a little more dynamic on that facade? I think short answer is yes. Again, we've done it more in the context of, you know, 300 department units, how would one do that, how would one engage with that? We see that as remaining the prominent entrance, if it were to be the multifamily side, where there would be a much stronger vertical element there that calls attention to it the signage the branding. Rechanging the traffic pattern and the pedestrians for both the pedestrian and the vehicular traffic along Rockville Pike. ultimately one of the challenges that we're dealing with is that the BRT is expected both from Bethesda, North to the college and then from Viers Mill coming up as well. And our side of the road will ultimately be impacted by the BRT. It's likely that the BRT station will be on the north side of Middle Lane. Our side is ultimately at least if the county has its way to receive significant amount of storm water management to help serve them. We're not thrilled with that because it also means it's green space that can't really be occupied and has to look a particular way. We've leaned in and we're willing to be a team player with them if we can maintain strong curb cuts, create a traffic circle. And it's kind of a tripartite negotiation that's going on with us, with the city and with the county. I would expect that that change needs to come regardless because it's the BRT. I suspect whether this is a residential scheme or a retail scheme that's gonna happen. So I think that there will be significant frontage improvements there. Second piece I believe was along the promenade you're asking about how to create life around the promenade. On the promenade on our side of the building the only thing it's been there in the last 15-20 years has been a cafe. There were or perhaps were a few retail spaces along 51 Monroe Street which is the building at the south side of the promenade. I can't speak to that. That's not under our ownership. With regard to what we would like to do, again, if it remains residential, you may recall on the plan we had that kind of dog leg out for where the tower may ultimately be. There's a courtyard there, admittedly a private courtyard, but it offers some relief as you walk along the promenade. You're not just walking along one long facade, but you actually have an opening and an opportunity to see and experience a piece of the building in front of you. More than that, I think, on the multifamily side, the simple fact that you might have five stories of residents living along that facade with balconies and windows to look out onto to it Today, it's deathly. It's got, well, vacant office admittedly on our side and then on the other side, it's actually got a lot of vacant retail and the 18-story tower kind of looming over you. The simple fact that there is no life on that promenade on a regular basis makes it very uncomfortable to walk on. One would like to think that lights and people and activity, even if they're just living alongside it, would add some dynamism to that space. We've got bigger broader ideas. We'll bring those forward as we talk with the city. But we do see this as a gateway opportunity. Admittedly, we only control 15 feet of it and the city controls the other 30. Again, we're trying to lean into the city to try to bring what I'll call best to breathe thinking about how our change could impact their change. How they could actually look at the promenade park is becoming something better than it is. We're just kind of a sterile wasteland. The third piece, which was how does one develop an office tower on top of an existing building? Great question. We don't entirely know the answer to all of that. The challenge we've got is in the days market. We ultimately want to be able to deliver something in the future. So we kind of hope for the best and wait to figure out whether or not the market will ever drive that decision. And should we be so fortunate to have to drive that decision forward, that's when we'll undertake a lot of those challenges. So admittedly, it is conceptual. But our belief was that it's more important to develop a concept that lives and breathes for the future, particularly as you all were going through your town center master plan revitalization opportunity. Just again, lean into that and develop something that could last for significantly longer than just our site plan that we're coming forward with today. Thank you. I really endorse your vision or I think, I think we need some bold idea to begin with. And just for the activation of the permanent bridge, I think maybe the some commercial is not feasible in your plan, but maybe we can take some President from other cases you can put some public space like Finney centers or some like Like long or something along there so people can see other people's activities That that would be a Way to activate a space. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Boring any other questions or comments. Thank you, sir. So sure your time. Yep. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Waslik that brings us to our regularly scheduled commission items. Do we have a staff lays on report. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Looking ahead to your next meeting, which is two weeks from tonight on April 23rd. There are two items lining up for that agenda and that is the public hearing for the Shady Grove Metro annexation, which was originally scheduled for your last meeting. And then we also have a work session on these Odingordans rewrite. Similar to the work session that the Mayor and Council had held on the development or review process, we are in reaction to that. We're bringing forward some suggestions that the Mayor and Council would like some input from the commission on those options so I think that'll be a fairly robust evening. Looking beyond that on May 14th looking at bringing forward your annual report for 2024 namely because we have scheduled a presentation to the Mayor and Council in June. So I like to get review and action on that. And potentially, there's another plan development, project plan amendment that's just been filed and maybe looking at a briefing that night as well. So interesting things coming up on your agenda. And that's all I have for you this evening. Thank you. Just sure where I will be out of town next meeting, but I will chair virtually. I personally don't anticipate a lot of public testimony for the Shady girl of Metro, but I could be wrong, but I'll ensure there's somebody in the room who can help facilitate. rotate. Um, um, that br the shady girl of Metro, but I could be wrong, but I'll ensure there's somebody in the room who can help facilitate. That brings us to old business. Any old business? No. Any new business? No. Okay. As to minute approval, I did see one set of minutes. Yeah, that was for your last meeting on March 12. Did anyone I did have an opportunity to review? I had no comments. Did anyone else have any comments or changes to those minutes? One note potential edit that I noticed this is on page two paragraph two where we're talking about the refining down the type of units. It says one one bedroom unit 1, 2 bedroom unit and 11 2 bedroom units. I believe it's 1 1 bedroom, 1 3 bedroom and 11 2 bedrooms. Yes, that is correct. With that spoken edit, do you have a motion to approve the meeting minutes of 1,-Z March 12, 2025? Sorry, I have one. Oh, go ahead, Commissioner. Sorry. Sorry. Yeah, I have a wild motivation on the same paragraph. So, why is this miss? Regillin that? Does that need a verb to miss Regillin? Says that or just to complete the sentence. I'm sorry, please. I noticed that miss directly noted that the unit that had been refined tools. So there is no verb in that sentence. Yes, but in the very first sentence in the second paragraph. Yes, that's correct. Right. That's my only notes. Thank you. Yeah, it can be noted. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you. So with those two edits, is there a motion to prove the meeting minutes of March 12th? I move. We approve the meeting minutes of March 12th with those verbal edits. Yeah. Do I have a second? We'll second that. All those in favor raise your hand or say aye. Aye. Motion passes unanimously. That brings us to any FYI or correspondence this week? Mr. Wasla. Fine, please. No. Any correspondence, Mr. Wasla? No. Okay. Do I have a motion to adjourn? I move to adjourn. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor raise your hand, say aye. Aye. Mr. Pessie, I honestly thank to thank you Ruffo. Have a good night