Wheaton Gateway development community meeting scheduled for May 13

A required pre-submittal meeting for the Wheaton Gateway development has been scheduled for 7:00 PM on May 13, 2025. There are two ways to participate in the meeting: In-person at the Montgomery County Planning Department auditorium at 2425 Reedie Drive in Wheaton, or online by signing up in advance at WheatonGateway.com. The topic of this meeting will be an amendment to the project's sketch plan. This redevelopment of land at the corner of University Boulevard W. and Veirs Mill Road will incorporate the following properties:

11200 Veirs Mill Road

11250 Veirs Mill Road

11217 - 11227 East Avenue

2715 University Boulevard W.

"Lot 1" on Upton Drive

The properties include the former sites of the Howard Johnson/Best Western hotel (later the Ambassador Apartments) and Mattress Firm, as well as the current site of the Lindsay Ford dealership. Wheaton Gateway will include up to 800 residential units, 40% of which will be affordable Moderately-Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs). By increasing the percentage of affordable units, the development team has earned additional height and density for the project. The development will also include up to 55,000-square-feet of retail and restaurant space on the the ground levels of the buildings. Artistic renderings of the actual architecture proposed will be shown during the site plan phase of approval; the view above is intended simply to show the massing of the structures.

Image courtesy Wheaton Gateway, LLC

Wheaton Gateway meeting postponed

The public meeting on the latest plans for the Wheaton Gateway development scheduled for June 18, 2024 has been postponed, an attorney for the applicants said. A new date has not yet been set, but will be announced in advance. The meeting had been scheduled to review and obtain feedback on the project's Preliminary and Site Plans, as well as an amendment to its Sketch Plan. No reason for the postponement was given.

Public meeting scheduled for Wheaton Gateway project

Developer PS Ventures, LLC is holding a required pre-submission public meeting for its Wheaton Gateway project, which is located on the former site of The Ambassador apartments at the corner of University Boulevard and Veirs Mill Road. If the name sounds familiar, the project has been in the works for about five years under that name. The Lindsay Ford dealership site is also part of the assembled property, as well as property along East Avenue, allowing for up to 800 apartments to be constructed on the resulting 5.16 acres of land.

The meeting will cover the project's Preliminary Plan and Site Plan, as well as an amendment to its Sketch Plan. A key difference with the latest iteration of Wheaton Gateway is the boosting of the number of affordable Moderately-Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs) from 30% to 40%. By my math, that would allow for up to 320 MPDUs. This, along with the redevelopment of Privacy World in Glenmont, are the only projects I can think of where the new developments are actually providing a net gain in affordable units.

Building heights would be allowed to increase along the University and Veirs Mill sides of the property, as a result of the developer providing those additional homes. However, PS Ventures says it will not ask for a height increase on the East Avenue side of the development. That is the side that faces a residential neighborhood of single-family homes. PS Ventures is part of a team developing the Wheaton Gateway project, which also includes The Duffie Companies, Willco, and the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County.

Attendees can participate in-person, or virtually, at the meeting. It will be held on June 18, 2024 at 7:00 PM in the auditorium of the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission headquarters at 2425 Reedie Drive (near the Wheaton Metro station). Those who wish to participate online can go to WheatonGateway.com, where log-in instructions will be posted. I recommend going to the website at least a few minutes before 7:00 to allow extra time to follow the instructions.

Ruins of the Wheaton Howard Johnson Motor Lodge garage, pool deck (Photos)

The former Howard Johnson Motor Lodge (later a Best Western and the Ambassador Apartments) and restaurant structures at the corner of University Boulevard W. and Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton were demolished last year. But a few architectural relics remain on the site. Here are some photos of the motel's parking garage and pool deck, which remain standing. 

According to historical promotional materials for this Howard Johnson, it was free to park in this garage. Besides the pool, other amenities included air conditioning, "ice," TV, radio, "direct dial phone," roller and ice skating(!), sauna baths. Swanky transportation was also at hand, as "limousines stop from all major airports." Definitely a Thursday Throwback to the golden age of Wheaton and Montgomery County! Now, the property is the future site of the Wheaton Gateway development.

Wheaton Gateway sketch plan submitted to Montgomery County

The Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission, Willco and the Duffie Companies have submitted the sketch plan for their Wheaton Gateway development proposal to Montgomery County. A tentative public hearing date for the sketch plan before the County Planning Board has been scheduled for June 3, 2021.

Howard Johnson's Wheaton restaurant and hotel now completely demolished

Only the memories of chicken croquettes, fried clams and orange sherbet remain at the corner of Veirs Mill Road and University Boulevard in Wheaton. The former, and many would argue historic, Howard Johnson's hotel and world-famous roadside restaurant building have now both been completely razed.

The property will become part of the future Wheaton Gateway mixed-use development. In later years, the hotel structure had become a Best Western and Ambassador Apartments, and the restaurant building a mattress store. These were among a handful of extant Howard Johnson's buildings remaining in the state of Maryland.

Demolition of former Howard Johnson restaurant in Wheaton set to begin this week

Demolition of a building most recently home to Mattress Firm, but best remembered as a Howard Johnson restaurant, is set to begin later this week at the corner of University Boulevard and Veirs Mill Road. The Howard Johnson/Best Western hotel building behind it has already been razed. Both are being removed to make way for the Wheaton Gateway mixed-use project, which will include residential and ground floor retail uses.

Wheaton Gateway project details come to light

Mixed-income, mixed-use complex's

ground floor retail plan

includes a food hall

The current redevelopment of the Ambassador Apartments property in Wheaton, formerly a Howard Johnson hotel and restaurant, is currently underway with the demolition of the existing structures on the site. A later phase of the same Wheaton Gateway project will replace the Lindsay Ford dealership right next door. Now I've learned more details about the project, and have some of the first renderings of its visual impact on the gateway to the Wheaton business district, and nearby homes.

View from Veirs Mill Road looking
toward Rockville

Developers of the project say Wheaton Gateway will be a "prime example" of the type of development favored in the Wheaton sector plan, which was approved by the Montgomery County Council in 2012. The development team emphasizes that each developer is a longstanding member of the county business community, not an out-of-state or fly-by-night firm. Those partners are the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission, the Duffie family (The Duffie Companies, headquartered in Silver Spring), and members of the Cohen family (Willco).

Helicopter view from Fenimore Road
looking toward Wheaton Plaza

While Lindsay Ford's plan to move to Aspen Hill was canceled, the development team says that the HOC recently acquired the Ford dealership's property. The HOC is now leasing that property short-term to Lindsay. Interestingly, Willco has owned the former Howard Johnson restaurant structure (a mattress store of late) since 1963.

Wheaton Gateway will feature 30% affordable housing units, more than twice the standard 12.5% requirement, and twice the 15% the Council has required in recent sector plans. Ground floor retail is planned in the development, and it will be designed with the additional of the future Veirs Mill bus rapid transit line in mind.

View from Kensington Boulevard across Veirs Mill
still looking toward Wheaton Plaza

After meeting with nearby residents, developers used their feedback to modify some of the proposal. They heard that Wheaton's burgeoning status as an arts and entertainment area should be incorporated. More broadly, residents said they wanted more dining options, but restaurants that would be local and unique, as opposed to national chains. To facilitate the latter vision, the developers have fit a food hall space into the design of the complex.

If the food hall ends up happening, it will provide spaces to several eateries at a more affordable leasing rate than a full-size restaurant space. This concept has already found great success down Veirs Mill Road in Rockville at Pike Kitchen and The Spot. Outdoor patio seating is also anticipated for the dining area, which is designed to be shielded from the traffic noise and fumes from Veirs Mill.

Internal street would provide through-block access
between East Avenue and Veirs Mill Road

An internal street will provide access from Veirs Mill and from East Avenue for vehicles, and also break up the "superblock" created by the assembled properties. The plan also addresses a frequent complaint about developments in recent years, which rarely have pull-off driveways or drop-off zones, forcing delivery trucks and other vehicles to stop in traffic lanes. Wheaton Gateway will provide several such drop-off areas on the property for this reason, and with the future growth of meal deliveries and autonomous vehicles in mind.

There will be both underground garage parking, and above-grade structured parking. The precise number of total parking spaces has not yet been determined. Several electric vehicle charging spaces will be set aside. A flat plate design structure will be employed that will allow parts of the parking structures to be repurposed for other uses if parking demand drops in the future.

Helicopter view from University Boulevard,
facing northeast

Loading docks will be fully off street under the building structure. They will be accessed from University Boulevard. This is where tenants will move in and move out their belongings.

Right-of-way dedications

There will be three pedestrian routes through or around the property. A bicycle stairway is being proposed for the Kensington Boulevard right-of-way at the north end of the property, to help cyclists tackle the significant grade drop there (yellow area in the above rendering). The developers would like the Maryland State Highway Administration to add a traffic signal at Veirs Mill and Galt Avenue, to facilitate safer crossing of Veirs Mill at that location.

Phasing for Wheaton Gateway

The Phase 1 building that is replacing the Howard Johnson hotel and restaurant at the corner of Veirs Mill and University will be set back 55' from the curb to allow a larger public use space. Buildings will step down from the highest height of 154' (higher than the 130' allowable height there due to the bonus density earned by the 30% affordable units being provided) at the corner Phase 1 building to 124' at the front Phase 2 area of the Lindsay property, to 69' along East Avenue (where, without the 30% affordable, they would have been limited to 45'). A small, orphaned block of Kensington Boulevard is the closest residential development to the Wheaton Gateway property. The Planning Board has the option to cap height at lower than 45' if it determines 45 is incompatible with adjacent properties.

How many total units will be in the complex, and of which sizes, have yet to be determined. Architectural design is also still in the works - the renderings here are mainly for massing reference. But one promising sign is that Torti Gallas + Partners is on the design team.

The development partners are aiming not only for LEED certification for Wheaton Gateway, but also hope to achieve the even more stringent Passive House Certification.

All eight trees on the property will be cut down. The 15% net forestation requirement will be met not by planting more trees on this site, but by acquiring off-site forested land for preservation, or by paying a fee to Montgomery County in lieu of the other options.

The plans indicate that there will be little space left on the site for stormwater management. Therefore, all available open spaces will be employed as much as possible for stormwater management purposes. An access drive from Wheaton Gateway to East Avenue will be lined with stair-stepping bioretention areas.

Stormwater management planters will be placed wherever feasible along the Veirs Mill frontage of the development, and within the interior outdoor common areas. The developers plan to employ both green roofs and rooftop photovoltaic systems.

In conclusion, while not all details of the Wheaton Gateway project are finalized, it's clear this will be a dramatic transformation of a landmark intersection in Wheaton.

Images courtesy Wheaton Gateway partners
All rights reserved

Wheaton Gateway project to open sidewalk on weekends

Developers of the Wheaton Gateway project at the corner of Veirs Mill Road and University Boulevard East have, as promised, announced some changes to improve pedestrian safety around the property that is home to the former Howard Johnson hotel and restaurant (more recently known as The Ambassador apartments). Through the end of February, they say the sidewalk will only be closed to pedestrians on weekdays between 7:00 AM and 4:00 PM.

This should help some during the heaviest commuting times, and especially in the evening rush hours, when the sun sets early at this time of year. The developers also say that, as a result, demolition work will pause on weekends this month.

A second change, which they alluded to in an announcement last week, is that flaggers will now be present during sidewalk closures. As I reported last week, many pedestrians were walking into (or worse, with their back to) oncoming traffic to avoid the long pedestrian detour around the site.

Wheaton Gateway developers warn jaywalkers about safety, potential tickets at site

The developers of the Wheaton Gateway project on the site of the former Howard Johnson/Ambassador Apartments are asking pedestrians to obey the current detour in place around the property at the corner of Veirs Mill Road and University Boulevard West. They say that flaggers will be added at the site to assist in directing vehicles and pedestrians before the end of the month, as well as other "safety enhancements." But they also warn that police may ticket pedestrians who enter the roadway to get around the closed sidewalk.

Ambassador pedestrian detour

This has been an ongoing issue when sidewalks have closed in downtown Bethesda, and no pedestrian walkway is provided. Despite the dangers, some people will inevitably walk into oncoming traffic to avoid a long detour. Pedestrian safety advocates have asked Montgomery County officials to either bar sidewalks from being closed, or mandate pedestrian walkways on the side of the closure, to address this problem.

Photo/map via Wheaton Gateway

External demolition of The Ambassador to begin today in Wheaton

Crews have been demolishing the interior of The Ambassador at 2715 University Boulevard West in Wheaton since September. This morning, lane and sidewalk closures will go into effect alongside the property on University and Veirs Mill Road, as exterior demolition begins. The former Howard Johnson/Best Western hotel structure will take four or five months to bring down, according to the contractors.

Pedestrian detour around the Ambassador-related
closures along University and Veirs Mill

Here's what to watch out for starting today, weather permitting: The sidewalk will be closed around the property on both University and Veirs Mill. The far right lane of westbound University will be closed alongside the building. One potential choke point to prepare for is if you are turning right from Veirs Mill onto University, you're going to have to go one additional lane to the left in a short distance than you regularly would.

There will be signage warning of the sidewalk and lane closures on both roads. All of the closures will continue through the end of the demolition next spring.

Demolition underway inside The Ambassador in Wheaton

Interior demolition has commenced at The Ambassador, located at the intersection of University Boulevard and Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton. The former Howard Johnson hotel is being torn down as part of the Wheaton Gateway redevelopment of this site, and the adjoining properties currently home to Lindsay Ford and Mattress Firm.

The development partnership behind the Wheaton Gateway project - The Duffie Companies, Willco and the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County - says demolition of the exterior should begin by late October. It would be great if one of the buildings, or new interior streets, at the new development could be named to remind people of the history of this site as a Howard Johnson, hotels and restaurants that were once landmarks across America.

All that is known about the new development at this stage is that it will be mixed-use, with retail and restaurant space on the ground floor. Units will be 1, 2 and 3-bedrooms, with 70% being market-rate and 30% being MPDUs. Parking will be underground. The approval process is still ahead, and the developers' latest estimate for breaking ground is 2023. They add that Wheaton Gateway will be built in phases over time.

Demolition of The Ambassador to begin this month in Wheaton

Two long-stalled Wheaton development projects have become one big project, which is being branded as "Wheaton Gateway." Montgomery County's Housing Opportunities Commission had delayed an earlier plan to redevelop the site of The Ambassador apartments (formerly a Best Western hotel) at 2715 University Boulevard West for several years. Lindsay Ford, located adjacent to The Ambassador site on Veirs Mill Road had indicated about two years ago that it was seeking to relocate, freeing up its even-larger property for redevelopment. Now the two sites are being assembled for one project by developers Ralph J. Duffie, Willco and the HOC.

To clear the way, demolition of the vacant Ambassador will begin this month, according to the development team. Interior demolition will begin first. Next month, the building's exterior will start to come down.

The news indicates the ice-cold Wheaton development market may at least be reaching a tepid temperature. However, this is one of only two projects to be proposed since the Council passed the Wheaton sector plan earlier this decade, and both have required a government entity partner, in this case the HOC (the Lot 13 project is being built by Montgomery County itself as a government office building).  But no private developer has proposed a truly-new project despite acres upon acres of available land.

It's certainly positive that a larger lot is being assembled here, which should allow for a much-more successful project scale. I'm sorry to see the venerable hotel go, but its curtain call allowed it to perform a final public service, by exposing that the County's affordable housing "crisis" may have been overstated. It turns out that the HOC not only didn't need the 162 apartments in the Ambassador, but had so many vacant units in its other properties, that it was able to relocate the entire population of the Ambassador to other sites very quickly.

Combined with the affordable Halpine View declaring it has many vacant units for which there is - according to the owners - no demand, this should give pause to the County Council's radical plan to destroy existing single-family home neighborhoods by allowing multifamily development within them. Turns out, at this former Best Western, there really was "room at the inn."