The mixed-use office, residential and entertainment center long planned for an empty tract of land in the Rock Spring section of Bethesda might have new life.
Officials from Arlington-based DRI Development Services said Wednesday night they expect to have new investors on board soon, which would allow construction to start on the already approved Rock Spring Centre project.
DRI and attorney Steve Robins made the announcement at a Montgomery County Planning Department meeting on the update to the Rock Spring Sector Plan. Other property owners and developers in the area near Old Georgetown Road and I-270, including EYA and Westfield Montgomery mall, also presented development updates.
The Planning Board gave final approval to the Rock Spring Centre project in 2011. It’s slated to bring almost 550,000 square feet of office space, a 200-room hotel, 210,000 square feet of retail space, a 161-unit apartment building and 90,000 square feet of below-ground entertainment space to the site across Rock Spring Drive from Walter Johnson High School.
The site is bordered by Old Georgetown Road to the east, Rock Spring Drive to the south and Rockledge Drive to the west.
Progress has been slow since the 2011 approval. In 2012, Developer Peterson Cos. pulled out of a partnership with DRI to develop the property.
“There have been a lot of starts and stops with equity investors and partners and we think we’re on the right track now to hopefully start in very short order and with the retail first,” Robins told Bethesda Beat Thursday.
Robins said that while DRI hopes to bring on new partners and start construction soon, the company still doesn’t know exactly when groundbreaking might be.
