Plans to create a new transit and life sciences hub in Montgomery County materialized into a signed agreement between Metro and the Maryland county, bringing millions of federal dollars to the table.
“The county has put $36.6 million in state, local and federal funding into this project,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said during a news conference inside the North Bethesda Metro station.
Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen added a mock check for $5 million to the pot.
As a Metro train rolled into the station, Van Hollen said to the gathered officials, “Here comes the train, let’s give this to you today, right now!”
The plans include a new north entrance for the Red Line stop at North Bethesda and a request for developers to bring the vision of a new life sciences center to reality by 2029. The vision includes creating jobs, adding housing and making the nearly 14-acre parcel more walkable.
Cardin told the audience at the event the project will do more than just overhaul a Metro stop. He said the development would create jobs in the fields of AI and life sciences.
“That’s exciting, that’s jobs, that’s our future!” he said, adding that the project would be a magnet for future growth.
“That’s exciting! No wonder you’re excited, Marc,” he said, referring to Elrich. As he gestured excitedly, he nearly knocked the microphone off the podium and joked that he “almost broke the podium!”
Elrich, who had long pushed for the development in the area previously known as White Flint — now dubbed North Bethesda — said the plans would rival North Carolina’s famous Research Triangle.
Referring to university and federal government research centers in Montgomery County, Elrich said, “You’ve got Shady Grove in the north, you’ve got NIH in the south and you’ve got FDA in the east. So Raleigh’s got nothing on us — we’ve got a triangle!”
Metro General Manager Randy Clarke told the crowd, “We are very excited, we know there’s lots of developers, lots of partners who’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”
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