Wegmans one step closer to reality
The City of Frederick’s Board of Aldermen have approved two annexations into the city of Frederick after almost a seven year moratorium on expanding the city’s borders. One involes expanding Homewood at Crumland Farms, a retirement community, and the other is to bring in Wegmans grocery store and a Lowe’s. You can read the whole article in the Gazette here.
Senior citizens on the wait list for a Frederick retirement community may be able to move in sooner than expected in light of a decision Thursday by the city’s Board of Aldermen.
That’s when the board unanimously approved the annexation of 73 acres at the intersection of Willow Road and U.S. Route 15, allowing the community, Homewood at Crumland Farms, to expand by 345 units.
The board also unanimously approved the annexation of 43 acres at the intersection of Md. Route 26 and Wormans Mill Road that would allow the construction of a Wegmans grocery and Lowe’s hardware stores.
The developers now have to go to the Board of County Commissioners to deal with zoning so it may take a few more years but hopefully for those of us who are eager for Wegmans to arrive, it will be sooner rather than later.
WAAAAHOOOOO!!!!!!
Wegman’s is AWESOME. You will all love this store.
A few more years?
Yep, according to the article, zoning changes may force construction to wait for up to 5 years.
Yehaw! Another step to the Montgomeryification of Frederick!
I wish it could be sooner than 5 years! Does anyone know the status of Market Square, across the street from where the Wegmans will go? These shopping centers can’t come soon enough for me!!!
Good news, although I too hope it’s not a 5 year wait!! I love Wegmans.
The Frederick County/Frederick City zoning process is just ridiculous. There is no way it should take 5 years to change the zoning.
Do we know that Wegmans still actually wants to come?
YAY and YES Wegmans still has it on their agenda. Wegmans rocks!!
Another bit on Montgomery County transplants here. I don’t mind anybody moving to Frederick, hey it’s a great place to live. But what really gets under my skin is those who move here and bemoan the fact that there are no good grocery stores, the mall is terrible (even if it’s true), and that there aren’t enough Starbucks, no Trader Joe’s…etc. If all of these things are so important why did you leave where you were (which more times than not is Montgomery County) for a place that has according to you nothing?
@Anonymous (if that is really your name), according to the Wegman’s site there is only one Wegman’s in MD and it’s located in Baltimore County NOT in that evil county to the south from where Frederick is being invaded and destroyed. It looks like the new Wegman’s isn’t part of the plot for MoCo to destroy Frederick. Maybe you would be interested in a Cheesecake Factory for your plot? Or perhaps a Fudruckers? Either one is filthy with Montgomery County and should be heading our way in the next 2 to 50 years. Mwhahahahahaha!
@everyone else the comment above was just a little sarcasm.
Frederick County doesn’t need anything else. If it’s not here already, then we don’t need it. Development has already destoryed the southern part of the county, now its spreading like a disease. Unfortunately the idiots from MontCo bring their “I’m entitled to everything” attitudes with them.
@Anonymous, I’m kind of on the fence about development. I like to see Frederick Grow, but I hate to see farm land and other natural places mowed over to do it. That’s why it’s great to see a place like the shopping center on 40 re-vamped. Where I don’t agree is blaming people from Montgomery County ofr any of frederick’s woes. Why don’t you blame the government that approves the projects and changes the zoning, etc.
Blaming development on people from Montgomery County is ridiculous! It’s our local elected officials who are approving the zoning changes and development.
It’s circular. Zoning officials respond to population pressures largely from Montgomery County. Montgomery residents are attracted by our lower real estate costs and high quality of life. And our free enterprise system allows corporations and small businesspeople to open most any business pretty much wherever they like.
I welcome them all. Fuddrucker’s…Wegmans….H&M a new mall..the outlets!!!!! WOO HOO!!!
Though I don’t want to see Frederick lose it charm, as it is what brought me to live here when I moved to Maryland, economic growth is necessary to survive. With growth comes increase in population. There are many things that I would love to have nearer, but I also would like to see preserved what drew me to Frederick County. I think this can be accomplished with the right people in office and the citizens who care. Farmland may become less but we can’t always blame it on the developer. There are reason why some of farmers find themselves forced to sell and that is “Survival”.
I agree with Diana on this one. I like FredCo’s charm and European-style city, but not the lack of a good network of shopping (remodeling FSK mall would help a lot) and restaurants. Frederick County is now part of the Washington community . . . it can be a win-win situation if the planning is done right.
A friend mentioned a Wegman’s will be added in Leesburg VA. I checked on line and found a discussion board where it’s mentioned for 2009 at The Village of Leesburg. Also read Ashburn and Leesburg will have Trader Joes. I’d like to see a TJ here in Frederick!
Well, if we can’t get Wegman’s or Trader Joe’s in Frederick, I’m willing to drive to Leesburg occassionally. It’s only a 1/2 hour from Frederick on a good day.
I am sure Frederick will get a Wegmans and I am sure Trader Joe’s is gonna come soon afterwards.
Wegmans. I can understand that. Their supermarkets are really good. Having come from Rochester, I have seen their stores. I just hope it will be similar to the one in Sterling, Virginia. There are some Wegmans that do not have gourmet delis for people wishing to eat in the store, etc. If that is the plan, then it doesn’t pay to open one up. But, my guess is that they will include various gourmet delis, such as pizza, japanese, chinese, sub sandwiches, etc. And a coffee bar, I suppose too.
Lowe’s? That really puzzles me. What for? We already have a Lowe’s on Buckeystown Road. It would be an additional 5-10 minutes drive for those coming from Pennsylvania or West Virginia. That, I really do not understand at all.
Now, Homewood is another story. Mayor Holzinger is really a piece of work. If I recall correctly, his platform was for limited growth in Frederick. Yet, he is going ahead with the approval to construct more retirement homes. More traffic. More difficulties in existing Route 15 onto Willow Road, coming from the South.
I can not tell you how many accidents we have had on Route 15 between Willow Road and Hayward Road. That to me is more important than adding more homes to appease the older folks on waiting list wanting to move to the retirement community. Yes, more tax dollars will come from the new homes being added. But, at what cost to others who live in Frederick for many years and have to deal with this nonsense of stores popping up. More traffic. Etc. Jeez.
I saw some new plans for the chopping center:
http://www.klnb.com/search/detail.aspx?id=848&propType=&PropName=&County=Frederick%20County&BrokerID=
Hmmm, Marshall’s. I don’t know much about that store. Is anyone excited about it coming to Frederick?
http://www.marshallsonline.com/
Thanks for the info Darrell.
I like it! You can find some cool stuff in there. It is not as good as TJ Maxx/Home Goods…however I beleive they are owned by the same company.
I wasn’t too excited at the news about Marshalls joining Wegman’s and Lowe’s. I’ve only been to the Marshalls in Gaithersburg a few times, but the store was in disarray and struck me as even a bit trashy when I was there. I persisted in going through the messy racks and did manage to find a girl’s coat that was a good buy, but I’ve never felt like going back.
It sounds like how Value City used to be…search forever to find that one treasure. I detest shopping so I doubt I will be a Marshalls shopper either.
Will the economy affect the building of these shopping centers?
KP,
I’ve been waiting for the shopping center to open on Rte 85. Mamma Lucia’s is supposed to have the corner spot. A couple of months ago, I was talking to one of the waiters at the current ML location and was told the completion of the shopping center has been put on hold because of the current economy. I was also told the builder wants to charge the new tennants the same square footage price they usually get in Bethesda! So far, no one is budging since Montgomery county has higher costs. Doesn’t seem fair.
Monica–Your comments on Mamma Lucia’s and how the shopping center has been held up by the developer’s insistence on such high rents echoes what Mark said earlier in the “Westview Promenade is Blowing Up” string.
Not only doesn’t it seem fair, I just don’t understand why the developer would rather stop work on the center than relent a bit on the steep rents he wants to charge the tenants. Even if the economy improves, it doesn’t sound realistic to expect small businesses here to pay the price per square foot that developers apparently get away with charging in Bethesda.
One thing to note about the new center off of 85 is that the new wing place is open and firehouse sub is opening soon. Not sure what that says about the rent of the place.
Also I have seen construction equipment in the area where the wegman’s field and the sign for leasing was recently put up.
Mama Lucias pulled out of the 85 center..just FYI
I wonder if this Wegmans will actually every open.
We have now sampled both the Wingery and Firehouse Subs off 85 in the past two weeks. Both, unfortunately, get a thumbs down.
The Wingery: Quality of Food was OK. The wings were decent, but nowhere near the quality of Capone’s, and the “World Famous” CheeseFries are a joke. Not sure what they may be famous for, other than their outstandingly average quality, and all of two ounces of actual cheese. The overall rating of thumbs down, however, is related to their disproportionately HIGH prices for what you actually get. The service was also painstakingly slow.
FireHouse Subs: One word; CHAOS. Wanna wait 15 minutes for an average sub? Then FireHouse is your place. Never before have I seen a restaurant staffed with so many workers producing such a small amnount of food. Their walk it around the counter and to your table food delivery is somewhat charming, however, ultimately counter-productive. Their prices were half-way decent.
I couldnt beleive how many workers there were behind the counter. There must have been 10 people making the subs but for some reason it took longer than it would at a Subway.
What is so special about Wegmans ? Don’t we already have two grociery stores right there ? I guess Frederick County is the new Montgomery County. I know I probably won’t go there. A grociery is just a grociery store. I’m sure it will do well. I’ll stick to Safeway, weis, and Giant Eagle. Sorry It’s just not my thing. I’d rather see an Einsteins Bagles or an Caribou Coffee.