Business Leaders Demand Burtonsville Crossing Construction Pause
A coalition of Burtonsville business leaders descended on the Montgomery County Council Office Building in Rockville today to demand an emergency pause to construction work at the Burtonsville Crossing shopping center. They say the development destroys Burtonsville’s unique regional business position and extinguishes opportunities for future commerce.
An alarming decline in commercial real estate vacancy rates triggered their demands, the Burtonsville Coalition for Incremental Growth said in a press release. Business sector vacancies in the 20866-zip code are currently at 36.9%, more than 15 points lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Coalition leaders say for the last 25 years, Burtonsville’s most significant business advantage over other areas of Montgomery County has been its over abundance of immediately available Class C office and retail space inconvenient to major thoroughfares and with perilous pedestrian access. The vacancies attract pharmaceutical and tech sector companies to scout Burtonsville for future expansion. Without high vacancy rates, leaders say those companies will bypass Burtonsville completely before opting for locations with at least rudimentary mass transit.
County Executive Marc Elrich met with the business leaders behind closed doors for nearly an hour. “When I heard that Spirit Halloween didn’t even scout Burtonsville this year, I knew I had to step in,” Elrich said. He emerged supporting a list of demands business leaders want Burtonsville Crossing developers to accept. They include:
Maintaining 50% or greater vacancies while anchor stores are occupied, and at least 70% vacancies when anchors are unoccupied.
Removing sidewalks and pedestrian access to create parity with the Rt. 198 retail sector.
Ensuring traffic signals at shopping center exits will remain green for a maximum of 8 seconds and red for a minimum of 6 minutes.
Making 80% of the parking lot available for car meets from 4pm Friday through 6pm Sunday.
Burtonsville business leaders say they aren’t opposed to development if it preserves Burtonsville’s unique commercial sector vacancy advantage in the county. They point to Jeffrey’s Subs & Pizza on Old Columbia Pike as a prime example of their successful “one out, one in” smart growth strategy.
According to the Burtonsville Crossing website, there are currently five confirmed tenants for the new shopping center, including the existing Burger King, and twenty-three vacant spaces. The first new stores are expected to open later this year.
