Gov. Ehrlich, Co. Executive Duncan, Congressman Van Hollen Among 350 Attending Today’s Ceremony
ROCKVILLE, Md., June 15, 2004—Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan and Congressman Chris Van Hollen were among the more than 350 people who gathered together today as the City of Rockville broke ground for the new Town Square Development that will be the focal point of the City’s new redeveloped downtown.
The event was hosted by Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo and Councilmembers Bob Dorsey, John Hall, Jr., Susan Hoffmann and Anne Robbins; and developers RD Rockville, LLC, and Federal Realty Investment Trust. Construction is expected to begin this summer and the first buildings of the new Town Square development in Town Center are expected to open in 2006.
“This is the most significant day in Rockville in more than three decades,” said Mayor Larry Giammo, who mentioned how the old Rockville Mall opened in downtown in 1972 and struggled financially from the start. Most of the mall was demolished in 1995.
Phase I of Town Center, which has an estimated public-private cost of about $352 million, will be developed by RD Rockville, LLC. It will include about 630 condominium and apartment homes and approximately 170,000 square feet of retail space that will be owned by retail developer Federal Realty.
Town Square will encompass 12.5 of the 15-acre focal point of Phase I. Eventually, other phases of revitalization will expand Town Center to more than 60 acres.
Rockville Town Square will include a mix of uses for retail, restaurant, cultural, entertainment, condominium and apartment homes and office space. It also will include the new Rockville Regional Library and a public square that will host special events, concerts and the Rockville Farmers’ Market. Three public parking garages, one private garage and on-street parking will create about 2,000 spaces to support the development.
"It's an exciting day in the history of Rockville. Rockville does it right. Rockville is an exciting place," said Governor Ehrlich. "The bottom line is we're going to create a community gathering space for this great community. And I find that terrific.”
County Executive Duncan, who was mayor of Rockville from 1987-93, congratulated the Mayor and Council for reaching a point in Town Center development that has pre-occupied many of their predecessors.
“The downtown area of Rockville consumed Mayors and Councils for over 40 years,” said County Executive Duncan. “It consumed them because they knew that if we didn't have a vibrant Town Center, something was missing from our community. … This Town Center is going to transform the City. It's going to bring people together, to unite the City, and make people prouder of where we live and where we work. That's hard to do when Rockville is already the finest place in the U.S.A. to raise a family. … It's the Town Center that those of us who have served the people of Rockville over the years have dreamed about."
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