Update: In a statement provided to The MoCoShow following the publication of this article, EYA said it is negotiating with another homebuilder to complete the residential portion of The Village at Rockshire. EYA will remain the developer of the site improvements and retail component, and the new builder would use the same floorplans and architectural designs developed by EYA. A separate article with the full update is available here.
EYA has indefinitely suspended plans for the residential portion of its Rockshire Village redevelopment in Rockville, according to Rockville Councilmember Adam Van Grack.
Van Grack announced the decision on social media, saying EYA informed the City of Rockville that interest in the project had declined following the Montgomery County Board of Education’s March 26 vote involving Thomas S. Wootton High School. According to Van Grack, the development’s sales trailer and signs have been removed, although EYA plans to complete the land-development work currently underway at the site. We reached out to EYA for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
Van Grack has characterized the Board of Education’s decision as the “closure” of Wootton. MCPS, however, describes it as a relocation because the school’s name, identity, students and staff will move to the new Crown facility in Gaithersburg.
On March 26, 2026, the Board of Education voted 7-1 to approve Modified Option H, a major restructuring and boundary plan that will relocate Wootton High School to the newly constructed Crown campus beginning with the 2027-2028 school year. The new facility will retain the Thomas S. Wootton High School name and branding rather than opening as Crown High School.
The existing Wootton building on Wootton Parkway in Rockville will remain standing and be repurposed as a holding school for other MCPS campuses undergoing future renovations. District leaders cited significant budget constraints, stating that MCPS could not afford the approximately $300 million cost of rebuilding Wootton at its current location while also opening Crown as a separate comprehensive high school. The move is connected to a broader transition toward regional magnet and specialized programming.
“This is a serious setback for Rockville and the surrounding community,” Van Grack wrote. “The Mayor and Council approved Rockshire in 2024 to replace a long-vacant shopping center with 60 new homes, including affordable housing, retail space, and a park.”
The 7.3-acre property, located directly across from the existing Wootton campus, was previously home to the Rockshire Village Center. The shopping center’s longtime Giant grocery store closed in 2012, and the property remained largely vacant for years before demolition began in 2025.
Plans for the mixed-use redevelopment called for 60 residences, including 31 single-family detached homes and 29 townhomes. Fifteen percent of the homes were expected to be designated as Moderately Priced Dwelling Units.
The approved project also included 5,200 SF of retail space, with Dunkin’ previously announced as a tenant, along with a neighborhood park, playground, recreation areas and a pedestrian connection to the Rockshire Community Pool and nearby trails.
Van Grack argued that the project’s suspension illustrates how decisions involving schools, housing and economic development can affect one another. “MCPS has repeatedly pointed to its recent, limited enrollment decline when justifying certain decisions, such as the closure of Wootton,” Van Grack wrote. “Yet, as evident by EYA’s suspension here, school decisions themselves can influence whether families move here, whether housing gets built, and whether new students ultimately enter our schools.”
He also said the loss of the proposed homes would mean Rockville and Montgomery County would not receive the additional property and income tax revenue that future residents could have generated.
Van Grack reiterated his support for the new Crown facility but said its construction should not require the permanent loss of a comprehensive high school at the Wootton Parkway property. “I will continue advocating for a funded path to rebuild or renovate Wootton as a permanent community high school in Rockville,” Van Grack wrote. “Montgomery County needs Crown High School, and our County also needs Wootton High School on Wootton Parkway.”
