GAITHERSBURG, MD. — WRS has broken ground on the 102-acre redevelopment of Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg. The mall opened in 1978 and closed in 2023. WRS’ plans call for replacing the mall’s footprint with a walkable “mini-city.” Through a multi-phase construction project, WRS will replace the 1.1 million square feet of the mall building and its surrounding parking lots with 1,600 housing units, which include approximately 850 rental units and 750 for-sale units including stacked duplexes, townhomes and for sale condominiums. National homebuilder NVR has been tapped to develop approximately 600 new for-sale residential units ranging across a variety of housing types. A to-be-announced partner will build 600 apartment units. Additionally, Potomac Housing Development has been named to build 250 workforce units. Rent restrictions were not disclosed.
The project also will include more than 470,000 square feet of new retail and commercial space, including initial major tenants, The Home Depot, Sprouts Farmers Market and Landmark Theatres. Residents will have access to more than 35 acres of green space, including a boardwalk around the site’s rejuvenated ponds, public gathering plazas and improved pedestrian and bike networks connecting to surrounding neighborhoods. Construction on Phase I infrastructure, including demolition, road networks and storm drain systems, is currently underway, with vertical construction of the first residential and retail blocks expected to follow a date to-be announced.