Header

Skip to main content

Rockville is readying new business and new construction – the Washington Business Journal Tour

Washington Business Journal's recent tour of Rockville highlights some of the city's new developments and business openings

Article orginally published by Washington Business Journal on October 27, 2021 – this article has been edited and condensed

The colors are changing in Rockville. But it’s not just colorful leaves and trees of the season — drab storefronts, empty for a year or more, are coming back to life, too.

As the fall weather settles in, some of the vacant spots at Rockville Town Square have begun to show signs of life as tenants fill spaces shuttered for more than a year and a half. Other businesses march onward, encouraged by hundreds of new apartments and a big Metro improvement project nearby.

It’s been hard to tally the total damage Covid-19 has done to the business community. Yelp estimates 3,100 restaurants in Greater Washington closed their doors in the first few months of the pandemic, with about 40% of those being permanent closures; those who were already struggling shut down immediately, while many others weren’t able to weather the subsequent months. But signs of life in the form of new businesses are starting appear in some of the vacant spaces.


But for Rockville, time has begun to heal some of those wounds. Rockville Town Center’s second phase, a $150 million, 18-story building rising near the center of
town, will bring 675,000 square feet of new development including 400 apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail. Master developer Duball LLC looks all but ready to wrap up ahead of an expected 2021 delivery after two years of construction, bringing with it hundreds more residents.


Nearby, the Metro station will soon reopen after renovations. Down Rockville Pike, some of the formerly car-dominated landscape has begun to change, too.
Twinborook Quarter, a 17-acre development by B.F. Saul Co., is slated to bring another 1.1 million square feet of development including 1,400 residential units,
162,000 square feet of office, a hotel and almost 1,300 parking spaces. Site work is underway there now.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2021/10/27/business-returns-to-rockville-as-changes-loom.html

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER