White Oak Town Center construction update

 

White Oak Town Center is a new strip mall / shopping center going in on the corner of Prosperity Drive and Industrial Parkway just off US 29 (Colombia Pike / Colesville Road) at the border of White Oak and Calverton in our fair state of Maryland.  I last posted about the White Oak Town Center development in March and a lot has changed since then.

If you are driving north on Columbia Pike, this is your first view. It is the corner of Industrial Parkway and Prosperity Drive (which is the access road that runs parallel to US-29). The tower in the center will be the shopping center sign and will have a clock at the top and the base will hide dumpsters for the development.

 

This space is for a grocery store. I don't know if one has signed up yet.  Originally it was going to be Trader Joes, then Amazon Fresh, but both have backed out.

 

On the side of the grocery store building is a large mural and a sign with the shopping center name.  The strip mall is arguably in Calverton, depending on where you put the fluid boarders of White Oak and Calverton, White Oak isn't a town, it is unincorporated, and in any case it is no where near the center of White Oak, so, every single word in the name of this strip mall could be considered wrong.

Here's a view of the parking lot and an access road. You can see that all the curbs are in, most of the decorative trees have been planted, and everything is ready to be paved.  This is close to being done.

 

 

White Oak Town Center construction

White Oak Town Center (staff report here, it has the best overview) is a new strip mall being built on the site of a former industrial building at the corner of Industrial Parkway and Prosperity Drive in the White Oak / Calverton area of the half of the county called Silver Spring.
 

 The full development, with the one-story building in the background that is reported to be the future location of an Amazon Grocery store. in the center you can see the steel skeleton of what will become a monumental sign/clocktower/dumpster at the southwest corner of the development.  Next to it is a plaza with seating area where visitors to the shopping center can have a variety of experiences and enjoy the sights and sounds of Columbia Pike / U.S. Route 29. Closer to the camera where there is currently just a pile of dirt, there will be an accent wall.

 

White Oak Town Center as seen from Industrial Parkway

The view of the new construction from across Industrial Parkway near U.s. 29. The intersection with Prosperity Drive is immediately to the left and is very close to the intersection of Industrial Pkwy and Columbia Pike. This isn't an issue now since Prosperity Dr near the site is lightly used, however, with additional traffic this is likely to become a point of contention between users of the two roads both trying to enter Columbia Pike.

Future Grocery store

This is the northwestern end of the site, Prosperity drive is in the foreground and in the distance on the left you can see the sign for the Westech Corner strip mall at Tech Road. The building under construction will house a grocery store.

I'm not sure we need another strip mall when Westech Corner is within sight and has over half a dozen restaurants, and Orchard Center is only a mile away with Giant, Aldi, Target, and Kohl's. But, I'm not the planning board, and if they think we need another shopping center with a big parking lot instead of affordable housing a short walk away from a Flash bus stop, who am I to disagree.

development from the "spine" road

This is the low, one-story building that will have space for 3 retail stores. The road in the foreground is the "spine" road that will connect Industrial Parkway to Tech Road.

The view of the new construction from across Industrial Parkway near U.s. 29. The intersection with Prosperity Drive is immediately to the left and is very close to the intersection of Industrial Pkwy and Columbia Pike. This isn't an issue now since Prosperity Dr near the site is lightly used, however, with additional traffic this is likely to become a point of contention between users of the two roads both trying to enter Columbia Pike.

 

Coming soon, More Beer and Wine.

I just noticed that the little brick building (that looks like a house) on the corner of Fenwick Ln and 1st Ave in Silver Spring, MD is soon to be a new beer and wine store. There is a big banner on the wheelchair ramp that says "Coming Soon, Fenwick Beer and Wine, Coming Soon"

Update Jan 7: It is now open.