Kimco receives approval to redevelop Kentlands Market Square
The City of Gaithersburg Planning Commission this month approved a final site plan to redevelop the Persiano Gallery space at Kentlands Market Square to add a pedestrian walkway through the building, according to The Town Courier.
After splitting the building in half, the developer, Kimco Realty, plans to add six or seven new tenants along the new outdoor walkway. The tenants are expected to be retailers and restaurants. The plan calls for significant new outdoor dining space.
The renovations also will make way for the new Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas, which plans to open at the location in late 2018.
The new “paseo”, or promenade, is part of Kimco’s effort to comprehensively renovate Kentlands Market Square. The paseo will connect Commerce Square Place and Market Street.
The work also includes façade updates and new landscaping. Kimco plans to begin construction in January 2018, with most tenants opening by mid-2019.
A color site plan for the project. Via Gaithersburg Planning documents
Chevy Chase Pavilion owner is selling Embassy Suites hotel
Chevy Chase Pavilion via Embassy Suites website
Clarion Partners, the owner of Chevy Chase Pavilion and the Embassy Suites Chevy Chase Hotel that’s inside the retail center, is selling the hotel, according to The Washington Business Journal. Clarion has a contract in place to sell the 198-room hotel to Philadelphia-based Arden Group, according to the report.
The planned sale comes after Clarion spent about $10.5 million renovating the hotel in 2014, as part of a larger $32 million overhaul of the pavilion. The retail portion of the property—which includes tenants such as Range by Bryan Voltaggio, J. Crew, Old Navy and World Market—will remain under Clarion control, the Business Journal reported.
Lockheed Martin partners with Aerion to develop supersonic business jet
A rendering of the Aerion AS2 business jet. Photo via Aerion and Lockheed Martin
Bethesda-based military contractor and manufacturer Lockheed Martin agreed to a memorandum of understanding this month with Nevada-based aircraft manufacturer Aerion to develop the world’s first supersonic business jet.
The two companies plan to work together over the next year to develop the business jet program and try to bring it to production. Lockheed Martin, through its high-tech Skunk Works program, has developed supersonic military jets such as the F-16, F-35 and F-22.
For the past two and a half years, Aerion has developed, with Airbus, the Aerion AS2 business jet that developed the preliminary wing and airframe designs for the new business jet, according to Lockheed Martin. In May, General Electric agreed to develop the supersonic engine for the plane.
“We are excited to work with Aerion on their development of the next-generation, efficient supersonic jet that will potentially serve as a platform for pioneering future supersonic aircraft,” Orlando Carvalho, the executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said in a statement.
Aerion hopes to begin test flying the AS2 in 2023 and possibly have it certified for public use by 2025.
Supersonic aircraft fly faster than the speed of sound (768 mph). The Concorde jet was the last passenger aircraft that flew at supersonic speed when it was retired from service in 2003.