Rockville

The mayor and council of the City of Rockville will discuss the potential annexation of three different areas into the city- Shady Grove Metro Station, Shady Grove Hospital, and properties along E Gude Dr – during the city council meeting on Monday, February 7th.

A possible timeline from introduction of a resolution for annexation to its effective date, is estimated to be about nine to twelve months, depending on the size of the property. Larger properties have additional requirements with respect to public notice, which can extend the time frame by 1-2 months.


Bethesda

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) honored National Medal of Honor recipient, Retired U.S. Army Capt. Florent “Flo” Groberg, at January’s Royal Rumble. Groberg was born in Poissy, France, May 8, 1983 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, Feb. 27, 2001. He graduated from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, MD, in June of the same year.

Groberg attended the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) and competed in varsity track and cross country. In May 2006, Groberg graduated from UMD with a bachelor’s degree in criminology and criminal justice.


Bethesda

Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC (BWE), the commercial and multifamily mortgage banking subsidiary of Enterprise Community Investment Inc. (Enterprise), announced in January that it acquired Bethesda-based, Phillips Realty Capital (Phillips).

Based in Bethesda, with offices in Alexandria, Charlottesville and Richmond, VA, Phillips has been a fixture in the Washington, D.C. real estate community for 85 years. Led by C. Stephen Shaw, Jr., now executive vice president, the team of experienced commercial real estate finance professionals will now be part of a national, privately-owned platform that will provide expanded financing solutions for its clients.


Beyond MoCo

PREIT, a real estate investment trust, announced that nearby Springfield Town Center has executed an agreement with Merlin Entertainments, the world’s second-largest visitor attractions operator, to launch the next generation of LEGO(R) Discovery Center in 2023. The 32,000 square foot indoor attraction has been co-created by Merlin & the LEGO Group and will be accessible on one level right off the main entrance to the property. Springfield Town Center is in Springfield, Virginia in Fairfax County, at the intersection of I-95, 395, 495, and Fairfax Parkway. There are currently 14 Legoland Discovery Centers in the United States and 13 overseas, with the closest being in Philadelphia.

“We are delighted to be opening an indoor LEGO attraction in Washington DC at Springfield Town Center. Our LEGO themed attractions have been a huge success across the globe, providing an opportunity for adults and children to spend fun and quality time together in an awesome LEGO world. We look forward to revealing more special details over the coming months ahead of welcoming our first visitors in 2023,” said Meike Lippert, Senior Divisional Director Midway Europe and Global New Openings, Merlin Entertainments. “This new attraction helps PREIT achieve its goal of creating high quality purposeful places that serve as one-stop destinations for customers at a key property in a growing market,” said Joseph F. Coradino, Chairman and CEO of PREIT. “Experiential tenants have proven to be great catalysts throughout our portfolio and we expect that, upon opening, our trade area will expand by a two hour drive time, driving traffic and sales.”


Event

Beautiful venue; great art, gifts and hand-crafted items; refreshments; and meet the award-winning painters, photographers, mixed media artists, ceramicists, fiber artists, and more – some 40 artists in all. It’s an extraordinary array of framed wall works, 3-d media including sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, and fiber pieces, and unframed prints.

Among them, you’ll see:


Downtown Silver Spring

2pm Update: Firefighters have extinguished the vehicle fire, 5 cars damaged by fire.

There are approximately 50 firefighters on the scene at a Downtown Silver Spring parking garage at 801 Ellsworth Drive near Fenton Street and Roeder Rd due to several cars being on fire in the garage.