The Gaithersburg City Council has unanimously approved the preliminary redevelopment plan for the Lakeforest Mall site, paving the way for changes leaders hope will make the area in the Maryland suburb bustling once again.
The plan, approved during a special session Thursday night, calls for 250,000 square feet of what it’s calling “large-format retail space,” and another 220,000 square feet of space dedicated for commercial and entertainment or amusement use.
It also features 750,000 square feet for employment uses, according to city documents, and 1,600 housing units, some of which will be made affordable in accordance with Montgomery County policies.
That will create about 240 affordable housing units that weren’t there before, Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman said.
“The council and I will have one chance in our political lives, and our staff will have one chance in their professional lives, to redevelop the Lakeforest property,” Ashman said. “We cannot settle for a C-level project or even a B-level project. This needs to be a grade-A project or an A-plus project.”
Approval of the plan comes over a year after the Lakeforest Mall, once a busy county hub, shut its doors. In March 2023, the mall’s owner, WRS Inc., detailed its plans to close it and redevelop the space.
Ashman touted the redevelopment project as a chance to “fundamentally rejuvenate a part of our city that has needed it for decades.”
The exact timeline for the project is unclear, but the developer still has to submit its final plan for approval.
Council member Lisa Henderson said she was 11 years old when the mall opened, and it was where she learned to ice skate.
Many residents who were initially skeptical of possible redevelopment plans “saw what it was going to become, and we see this new sense of community, and the frowns turned into smiles,” Henderson said.
The redevelopment plan for the mall site drew more public input than any other topic in the city’s recent history, Ashman said.
The mall opened in 1978 and faced a wave of crime before it closed.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
