County officials announced an agreement with WRS Inc. Real Estate Investments Monday to purchase close to two acres of the old Lakeforest Mall site in Gaithersburg for a new transit center.
It was the end of an era when Lakeforest Mall closed in 2023 after 45 years in business. The old mall site will be re-developed into a community with housing, shopping, entertainment, in addition to the new transit center.
The current transit center on Lost Knife Road will move to the other side of the mall on Russell Avenue and become part of the 355 Bus Rapid Transit service, Montgomery County Transportation Director Chris Conklin explained.
“It doesn’t work where it is now,” he said. “It’s way too far for Maryland 355.”
The current transit center location will still have a bus stop even after the new center opens, Conklin explained.
The old mall is expected to be demolished next month, said County Executive Marc Elrich. After it’s demolished, the site will be prepared for redevelopment and then construction will begin for the new transit center, said Conklin.
“We’re probably at about two years from now before that new transit center is open and ready for use,” Conklin told MCM.
“We were looking at alternate sites for the transit center,” Elrich said, but nothing else was comparable.
The new transit center will have space for 10 different bus bays, which is about three times as many as currently exist. It allows “seamless circulation … so you won’t see the buses driving around big loops like they are here today,” said Conklin.
“Lakeforest was never just a mall,” said Councilmember Sidney Katz. “Today we are showing that its next chapter can be just as meaningful.”
Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman, who is a board member at Montgomery Community Media, called it “a pivotal moment in the Lakeforest Mall redevelopment journey.”
As for the entire site’s redevelopment, the plan is to create more than 1,600 residential units like apartments, condos and townhouses, as well as about half a million square feet of retail, restaurants and entertainment, explained Kevin Rogers of WRS Inc. Real Estate Investments. He said the developer could soon be ready to announce some new business tenants.
