Rockville Approves Metro Center Bids

The Rockville City Council has pre-approved four bids for 255 Rockville Pike, also known as The Rockville Metro Center, a 2.5-acre parcel steps away from the Metro in the heart of downtown Rockville. The site includes the 145,491 square foot remaining portion of the Rockville Mall (1972-78), Commons at Courthouse Mall (1978-82), Rockville Metro Center Mall (1983-95), Rockville City Mall (1995-2008), and City Place Rockville Mall (2008-18). 

After a half century of doomed retail spaces, bankrupt developers and uninspiring food courts, the Council mandated bid proposals exclude retail customer or patient-based businesses from site plans.

Council member Linus Tapasgud said the approved bid proposals would bring significant economic activity and job creation, enhance the lives and well-being of nearby neighbors, and leverage public transportation resources.

"255 Rockville Pike has been an inexplicable blight on downtown Rockville for more than 50 years. We won't repeat the mistakes of the past," Tapasgud told The Montgonion.

The four pre-qualified bidders and projects include:

Pumphrey Funeral Homes
Metro Memorial Gardens and Crematorium

Pumphrey's proposal includes a 2,000-plot cemetery, 3,000 sq ft crematorium facility, and a 4,200 sq ft interfaith mausoleum capable of housing up to 19,800 standard size urns. Pumphrey says their proposal maintains the site's dead space tradition while ensuring use 365 days a year, and will be a boon to local restaurants with liquor licenses and open on Sundays.

CoreCivic Inc.
Rockville Penitentiary

CoreCivic says their proposal to consolidate the Clarksburg and Seven Locks jails into a 6,000 cell, 37 story county supermax will bring 500 jobs to Rockville, streamline inmate transfer to the county courthouses, and includes enough extra capacity to house inmates from the overcrowded Maryland Correctional Institution in Jessup. CoreCivic says the Rockville Penitentiary will increase downtown density 27.5% with no strain on existing transportation or housing capacity.

MCPS
Central County Bus Depot

The MCPS proposal for a multi-story school bus depot capable of housing 1,000 buses - more than two-thirds of the county's fleet of 1,400 - would allow it to close the Bethesda and Shady Grove MCPS bus depots and repurpose the land for four-story townhomes with elevators starting in the low 1.3 millions. The downtown Rockville location with easy access to I-270, Rt. 355 and Viers Mill Rd allows MCPS to service schools from Takoma to Germantown. Up to 3,500 MCPS drivers and maintenance staff who can't afford to live in the county are expected to utilize Metro transportation, local shops, and restaurants.

Waste Management
Rockville Resource Recovery Facility

WM's proposal includes a waste-to-energy facility, or WTE, that feeds power — from a turbine spun by steam heated through garbage burning — to the electric grid. The facility is expected to burn 900,000 tons of waste each year. WM says the WTE is the perfect solution to the county's limited waste disposal options and growing energy needs.

The Rockville Metro Center online auction for pre-approved bidders opens February 3rd with the starting bid set at 2.5 million.