ROCKVILLE, Md. — Plans are in motion to redevelop a major section of Montgomery County.
Maryland officials want the section of land around the North Bethesda Metro Stop to become a hub for science innovation.
It can be shocking to see 14 acres of undeveloped, vacant land next to a Metro Stop in the DMV, like the North Bethesda-White Flint one. But, that is the case for one parcel of land, that now has a big future.
“Some people say it’s Rockville, some people say it’s Bethesda – some people say it’s White Flint,” Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin said. “All I know is it’s a great location.”
Monday afternoon, Cardin joined Metro officials, and Maryland state and local officials to talk about the future of the land: set aside to create a Life Sciences research center.
“We have NIH, we have a dedicated workforce, we have the University of Maryland – we have the federal government close by,” Cardin raved. “This is the ideal location for the future of this industry.”
After the remarks officials signed a memorandum of understanding. The site will be put out for development bids to work with the University of Maryland to create the research center.
As to who will pick what will go at the site: “As I understand it, it’s a consortium led by the University of Maryland that will make those types of decisions,” Sen. Cardin said.
While the press conference went on, commuters like Brandon Solomon passed by. He said he makes the trip daily and wondered what was happening.
“So it’ll be government funding to help revitalize the area?” he asked.
After finding out what the officials planned for the region, Solomon said he is intrigued by the future of the White Flint area.
“There’s shopping here, this areas kinda been revitalized already, and add [the new center], I would move here,” he said.
We asked Cardin about the development of the White Flint mall site. He said several plans are in the works, but nothing to share yet.
It looks like this is the beginning of the rebirth of the White Flint area.