On Tuesday, September 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Montgomery Planning will host a meeting to offer residents the opportunity to provide feedback on what they love about working or living in the Great Seneca corridor area, discuss and share ideas that will help create a shared vision for the area, and inform the recommendations for the Great Seneca plan. Online registration is required. Residents can also provide feedback through an online questionnaire.

The Great Seneca area consists of the area that surrounds Shady Grove Adventist Hospital & the Universities at Shady Grove, as well as the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) and the Londonderry, western Quince Orchard, Rosemont & Oakmont neighborhoods. Gaithersburg occupies 10 square miles in the center of the Plan area.


Update: Opening date has been pushed back to Monday, August 15th, according to a new sign on the door.

The first announced Hangry Joe’s in MoCo (Wheaton already opened, but was announced later) will open in the Travilah Square shopping center on Saturday, August 13th, according to a sign placed on the front door.


Back in May, Trammell Crow Company (TCC), a global commercial real estate developer, unveiled plans to develop The Labs at Belward, a world-class life science campus, in the “Shady Grove area of Montgomery County, Md” (Muddy Branch Rd/Great Seneca Hwy/Darnestown Rd). The Labs at Belward, located at the Belward Campus of The Johns Hopkins University, will initially include 757,000 square feet of trophy lab and research and discovery space across three buildings. The project has the potential to grow to approximately 1.6 million square feet across seven buildings. Construction of the initial 757,000 square feet will begin June 2023 and is slated to be completed in early 2025.

A Belward Campus Concept Plan application was submitted to the Montgomery County Planning Board by Lerch Early Brewer, on behalf of the Trammell Crow Company, on March 7, 2022. It included a few renderings of what the completed project could look like if the previously mentioned potential of 1.6 million square feet across seven buildings is reached. The project, which is designed to achieve LEED Gold standard, will be supported by secured structured parking and will also feature an expansive six-acre public park that will include an amphitheater, recreational fields, and two retail pavilions totaling approximately 6,000 square feet. The plan also includes activating large wooded buffer areas, installing several miles of bike and walking trails, and preserving the site’s significant natural elements. Renderings, courtesy of Montgomery Planning, can be seen below.


Signs are up, and have been for a couple months, at the future site of the ‘Shops at Travilah’ development on the south side of Travilah Road, approximately 250 feet west of its intersection with Piney Meetinghouse Rd. Montgomery Planning Staff recommended approval with conditions earlier this year.

Shops at Travilah, Preliminary Plan No. 120210090 was submitted on February 24, 2021 by the Applicant, Travilah-WHM, LP (“Applicant”) to create one (1) lot on 1.96 acres of land in the NR Zone (Attachment A). The Preliminary Plan anticipates future standard method development totaling 18,443 square feet of non- residential uses, which will require a subsequent site plan approval. The development is proposed within two buildings: Building A will be a 5,681- square-foot building with approximately four units/bays will be erected on the northern half of the Property and contain a mix of neighborhood serving retail uses and/or a restaurant. Building B will be a 12,762 square foot day care building will be located on the southern half of the Subject Property. Approximately 9,468 square feet of outdoor space behind the daycare will be fenced to enclose a playground/recreation area.


The 3,200 SF building that was formerly home to Capital One bank at 9761 Traville Gateway Drive is being marketed as a potential site for a standalone restaurant, according to the brochure for leasing at the shopping center. The bank opened in February of 2003 and closed a few years back. The building has remained vacant ever since. According to renderings (seen below) for what the building would look like after a restaurant moves in, there is space for a patio with plenty of outdoor seating and the bank columns would remain.

Anyone interested in opening a restaurant at a slightly bigger location, that previously housed a restaurant and wouldn’t require as much work, could look a few feet away at 9755 Traville Gateway Drive- the 4,840 SF building that was previously home to Nantucket’s Reef.  Potential tenants would be able to join longer tenured restaurant tenants like Bageltowne Deli, Cava Mezze, and Potomac Pizza, or restaurants that are newer to the neighborhood like BB.Q Chicken and Klay Healthy Indian Eats.


Back in December 2021, we let you know that Hangry Joe’s would be coming to the 1,600 sf location that was previously home to El Mexicano at 10050 Darnestown Road, between Pholuscious and Tropical Smoothie Cafe in the Travilah Square Shopping Center. Since then, a Wheaton location was announced and has already opened. Construction began at the Travilah location this past spring and signage was recently erected at the upcoming Nashville-style fried chicken restaurant. Construction inside is also progressing (photos below), and we wouldn’t be surprised to see an opening later this summer.

About Hangry Joe’s: In collaboration with partner, Mike Kim, the pair visited many successful Nashville-style chicken restaurants in LA, Nashville, and San Francisco, that inspired them develop their “secret chicken recipe to have the most juicy and crispy sandwich.”


The Labs at Belward, located at the Belward Campus of The Johns Hopkins University, will Initially Provide 757,000 SF of Trophy Lab and R&D Facilities and Community Serving Amenities

Trammell Crow Company (TCC), a global commercial real estate developer, today unveiled plans to develop The Labs at Belward, a world-class life science campus, in the Shady Grove area of Montgomery County, Md. The Labs at Belward, located at the Belward Campus of The Johns Hopkins University, will initially include 757,000 square feet of trophy lab and research and discovery space across three buildings. The project has the potential to grow to approximately 1.6 million square feet across seven buildings. Construction of the initial 757,000 square feet will begin June 2023 and is slated to be completed in early 2025 (rendering below).


Quickway will be opening its 7th Montgomery County location right next to Trader Joe’s in the Travilah Square Shopping Center. The regional chain recently opened its 6th location in Olney and its 5th MoCo location in Stone Mill Square (Korean Korner shopping center). Quickway, which can now be found in 10 different counties across the DMV since opening its first location in 2012, will be joining Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken– another new fast casual restaurant coming soon to the shopping center.

Per the Quickway website, “we bring the Teppanyaki (teppan, Japanese for griddle: yaki, grill, broiled) cooking technique to a quick service restaurant setting. The proteins are prepared fresh on the open grill in your full view, a true cooked to order signature dish. We offer choices of salads, sides, and sushi, all prepared from All Day Fresh ingredients and homemade sauces. Plus, we really care if you have a cool place to eat. We build our space to be clean, convenient and modern. Of course, our food is healthy, with reduced salt, no trans fat, and no MSG.


A nearly 200,000-square foot building with a five-level parking garage containing up to 562 spaces is currently being constructed for Research and Development use off at 9810 Darnestown Rd next to the Travilah Square shopping center. The first tenant has been announced and update photos and a rendering of the completed building can be seen below.

Building A will be the first of three buildings planned for Parcel N (shown in the images below). Together, these buildings will form a research and development campus that coordinates effectively with the current life sciences campus.


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