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.”


Beyond MoCo

Per Howard County:

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – County Executive Calvin Ball today signed an Executive Order immediately lifting the mask mandate in Howard County. Howard County public buildings and facilities, and public transit, including the RTA, will still require masks. Businesses and organizations may still require masking at their own discretion.


Beyond MoCo

Montgomery County Native Sofia Harrison will be playing in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the Philippines in the semifinal against South Korea on Thursday, February 3rd.

The Philippine women’s football team on Monday booked a ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup by defeating Chinese Taipei in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinal round of the Women’s Asian Cup in India to make it to the semifinals and qualify for the World Cup. No Philippine football team, men or women, has ever qualified for the World Cup until now.


Beyond MoCo

Raising Cane’s, a Louisiana based restaurant chain specializing in chicken fingers, is planning on opening its first D.C. region restaurant in March with the upcoming opening of its Sterling location at 45545 Dulles Eastern Plaza.Per Biz Journals, Raising Cane’s aims to open 14 stores in the all this year stretching from suburban Baltimore to the Richmond area, with more to on tap for 2023 including Bowie, Dumfries, Manassas and Springfield.

Founded by Todd Graves in 1996 in Baton Rouge, La., Raising Cane’s has more than 460 restaurants in 27 states, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with multiple new restaurants under construction. The international expansion began in 2015. The menu is simple and focuses on chicken finger combos , chicken finger sandwiches, crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast, sweet/iced tea, and Cane’s sauce.


Beyond MoCo

Lil’ Cakes & Creamery at 488 N. Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg will be opening up a second location in Urbana, MD.

The new store will be located at 3272 Bennett Creek Avenue, Unit A, part of the brand new shopping center that is already home to Chipotle, Dominos, and Jersey Mike’s.


Beyond MoCo

Per UM Capital Region Health (UM Capital):

UM Capital Region Health is committed to supporting our workforce and caring for our communities, and we are proud to serve the people of Prince George’s County. During the last month, UM Capital has seen a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, substantial boarding in our Emergency Departments and significant staffing shortages.


Beyond MoCo

Frederick County, our neighbor to the north, held a Board of Health meeting last night at 7pm that lasted over 5 hours.

County Executive Jan Gardner declared a State of Emergency for Frederick County earlier in the day and the Board of Health voted to put an indoor mask mandate in place starting 5pm today.


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