Gaithersburg City Councilmembers approved the Lakeforest redevelopment plan at their Thursday evening meeting.
Calling it “a huge win for the city,” Councilmember Neil Harris announced that the former enclosed shopping center will one day be a site for housing, jobs, shopping and dining. “This is a multi-billion dollar investment in our city,” he wrote on X.
Demolition of the mall is scheduled for 2025.
Property owner WRS is expected to present site plans with development there taking place “over the next decades,” Harris wrote.
Plans are expected to include 1,600 housing units, 750,000 square feet of employment uses, 250,000 square feet of large format retail and 220,000 square feet of commercial uses.
“This project is a huge win for the city and will lead to a revitalization throughout the northern and eastern parts of our city including Olde Towne. I’m proud to have been part of this process from the beginning and look forward to more great news as this moves ahead,” he wrote on X.
Mayor Jud Ashman also was excited. “It’s hard to believe that the day is here, but we are gonna be voting tonight, in a special session, on the redevelopment plan for the Lakeforest property. It has been SO MANY years to get to this point,” he wrote on X.
Last night’s Mayor & City Council Special Session was truly special with the approval of the Schematic Development Plan for the new Lakeforest District!🎉
Big thanks to our Mayor, City Council, staff, & @WRS_Inc for their hard work.
View the meeting: https://t.co/YqDAnRtikV pic.twitter.com/dRc2xkSvlb
— City of Gaithersburg (@GburgMD) September 27, 2024
