This project provides for the planning, studies, design, and construction of an office building, public parking garage, and a town square on the site of Parking Lot 13 and the Mid-County Regional Services Center (RSC) in Wheaton. The project components include 1) an approximately 308,100 square feet (s.f.) office building to be owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC); 2) an approximately 400 space underground public parking garage to be delivered to the Wheaton Parking Lot District (PLD); and 3) a town square located on Lot 13 and the current RSC site. The new headquarters for M-NCPPC will occupy approximately 132,000 s.f. of the building, including space for a child care facility. The remainder of the building space will be used by the County for office and retail under a long-term lease agreement. The County intends to use its space for nearly 12,000 s.f. of street front retail space and move offices of the RSC, Wheaton Urban District, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Department of Permitting Services (DPS), Department of Recreation, the Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF), and Environmental Health Regulatory Services in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to this building. The building will have a geothermal heating and cooling system which is likely to result in LEED Platinum certification for the office building. After the building is delivered to M-NCPPC, the Commission will transfer the ownership of the parcels at 8787 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring and 11200 Amherst Avenue in Wheaton to the County. The County will then transfer 8787 Georgia Avenue to the developer who will develop a privately financed mixed-use project on the site. The delivery will include air rights above the land over the parking garage for the space comprising the office building and over that portion of the land located between the building and Reedie Drive. The Town Square will be maintained and programmed by the RSC for community benefit. Publicly available Wi-Fi will be among those community benefits. The obligations and relationship between County Government and M-NCPPC for the project are reflected in a Memorandum of Understanding dated May 31, 2013, and will be explicitly set forth in the Binding Agreements between the parties. This project also includes $650,000 for consulting services to provide 1) a comprehensive parking study to identify potential redevelopment disruptions to the public parking supply and any related impacts of existing businesses and to identify potential mitigation options; 2) planning studies to review potential models and approaches to creating local jobs and job training opportunities prior to and during redevelopment, including relevant case examples in Montgomery County as well as innovative models from other local and national jurisdictions; and 3) a business assessment study to determine the number of businesses and the magnitude of the impact. The business assessment study is needed to support Section 20-76B for the establishment of service provision and technical assistance to those small businesses adversely impacted by a County redevelopment project.

The project design started in July 2014 and construction began in June 2017. The demolition of the RSC site began in February 2018. The Town Square and the substantial completion of the office building were completed in August 2020. We continue to work on the close-out activities of the project.

The Wheaton Redevelopment Program was established in 2000 with the goal of encouraging private reinvestment through targeted, complementary public investment. The complementary public investment that Wheaton most needs is investment in creating a centrally located public space and a daytime population that together will contribute to an 18-hour economy in downtown Wheaton. It is expected that this public investment will leverage private investment, some of which is already occurring in Wheaton. Plans & Studies: Wheaton CBD and Vicinity Sector Plan (2011), State of Maryland designation as a Smart Growth and TOD site (2010), Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel (2009), the International Downtown Association Advisory report (2008), Wheaton's Public Safety Audit (2004), the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee visioning process for the Wheaton core; National Mainstreet Center Planning Study (2000), and WRAC activities since established in 2000.

Minor project funding includes: 1) $418,000 FY09 Federal grant, funded through the SAFETEA-LU transportation act; 2) A developer contribution of $861,940 from M-NCPPC Public Use Space and Amenity Fund (November 5, 2010, Planning Board Resolution, 10-149, Site Plan 820110010); and 3) $350,000 FY14 and FY15 State aid to support facade improvements and a pilot solar-powered trash compactor program. State aid reflects actual spending and reimbursements. Non-tax supported long-term financing and PAYGO will be used to finance the costs for DEP, DPS and CUPF facility space. Per County Code §11B-45(f), $4 million, or 25 percent, of the land sale proceeds from the sale of the M-NCPPC Headquarters property in Silver Spring must be transferred to the Housing Initiative Fund. The remaining proceeds after taxes are used to finance the project costs. Total project costs include $8,930,000 for streetscape and facade work funded through FY12. The residential development on Lot 13 will not be funded in this project. Expenditure and funding schedules are adjusted to align with construction of the office building and to reflect updated space allocations. The original terms of the development agreement with the private development partner assumed the private developer would build a residential development in Lot 13. The developer subsequently notified the County that they do not intend to move forward with the Lot 13 project. FY24 funding switch of $161,000 from G.O. Bonds to Impact Tax to reflect prior year actuals.

A pedestrian impact analysis has been completed for this project. The County Executive asserts that this project conforms to the requirement of relevant local plans, as required by the Maryland Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Act.