Below are excerpts from the Belward Campus Concept Plan application submitted to the Montgomery County Planning Board by Lerch Early Brewer on March 7, 2022, on behalf of the Trammell Crow Company. Johns Hopkins University (“JHU”) is the owner of the Overall Site. The Applicant is entering into a long-term ground lease for a portion of the Overall Site and, thus, has been provided authorization by JHU to submit this Concept Plan Application. The concept plan is a mechanism for the developer to get feedback from Planning Staff and identify any red flags. It does not receive an approval or denial. There will not be an opportunity to comment to the Planning Board until TC submits a plan that requires planning board approval. Further information can be found on the following website:
You can submit comments on the design to both Trammel Crow (wbrewer@trammelcrow.com) and to Montgomery Planning (Tamika.Graham@montgomeryplanning.org and Maren.hill@montgomeryplanning.org)
“This Concept Plan application is for the proposed development of the next phases of the approximately 107 acre Belward Campus property located in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Muddy Branch Road and Darnestown Road in Rockville, Maryland… Specifically, the Concept Plan is limited to future Parcel A, Block C of the Johns Hopkins University Belward Campus subdivision… and proposes the following for review by staff of the Montgomery County Planning Department (the “Planning Department”) and other development review agencies:
(1) The near term development of the portion of the Overall Site north of future Belward Campus Drive with multiple buildings for biotechnology offices and related uses (± 755,000 square feet of gross floor area), along with associated structured parking garages, infrastructure including access roadways, open space improvements and related amenities (the “TCC Phase I”); and
(2) The potential future build out of the remainder of the Overall Site north of future Belward Campus Drive with an additional 805,000 square feet of floor area, for a total of 1,560,000 square feet in this area of the Overall Site (the “TCC Phase II”) (collectively, with the “TCC Phase I,” the “TCC Project”).
“The TCC Project will advance the County’s goals of developing the Belward Campus into a hub for life sciences research and development in Montgomery County, and will further the implementation of the June 2010 Approved and Adopted Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan (the “Master Plan”). The Applicant anticipates that a Site Plan application for the TCC Phase I will be filed with the Planning Department in the near future, following Concept Plan review (the “TCC Phase I Site Plan”). The TCC Phase I Site Plan will be submitted for review under the applicable standards and procedures of the former LSC Zone in effect at the time of the approval of Preliminary Plan No. 11996110A (generally, the “Prior Zoning Ordinance”), as well as the applicable provisions of the Zoning Ordinance currently in effect (generally, the “Zoning Ordinance”) regarding parking.
“Please note that the information provided with this Concept Plan application is preliminary in nature and represents the Applicant’s current intentions with respect to the development of the Overall Site. More specific information about the proposed development and its respective phases will be presented and confirmed at the time of Site Plan application review, after the Applicant has had more time to study the Overall Site and to consider comments received on the Concept Plan from the Planning Department and related reviewing agencies.
. . .
“VIII. Conclusion
“The Applicant believes that the development proposed with this Concept Plan will be an important milestone in the ongoing evolution of the Belward Campus, as well as for the implementation of the Master Plan and the County’s goals of creating a premier location for biotechnology, life sciences, and research and development for the region in the Great Seneca Science Corridor. The Concept Plan will build upon JHU’s recently approved health care and surgery building to advance Belward Campus as a compact, campus-like hub for scientific innovation, one that encourages and delivers opportunities for corporate collaboration while simultaneously generating local jobs. At the same time, the Concept Plan will utilize context-sensitive building and infrastructure design, resulting in new public and private spaces, amenities, and pedestrian-focused connections that will preserve and enhance the historic Belward farmstead, as the Master Plan requires.”