2026-09-09 - Planning Commission

00:06.88] Good evening, Rockville. Today is Wednesday, September 9, 2026. This is meeting number [00:17.17] 10-26 of the City of Rockville Planning Commission. I am Meng Sun, Chair of the Planning

Commission. [00:23.81] Tonight's meeting is being conducted virtually only by WebEx. I am joined online by Commissioners [00:30.75] [commissioner], [commissioner], and [commissioner]. Commissioner

Suzan Pitman and Shayan Salahuddin [00:37.59] cannot join up tonight. Tonight's agenda includes one consent agenda, one review and [00:44.23] recommendation to the Mayor and Council, and then will be

followed by our regular scheduled [00:48.87] Commission items. Before we proceed, does any Commissioners have any questions or thoughts? [00:54.87] Okay, here are none. Let's proceed. Today's first

agenda item is the consent agenda, [01:02.72] requests for private any name assignment associated with approved redevelopment at Halpine Road. [01:10.78] So a consent agenda doesn't have a discussion.

Prior to this meeting after the agenda is posted, [01:18.08] the applicant has suggested an alternative name as a second option. Therefore, the Commission [01:24.17] needs to discuss and make a

decision. Based on the rules and procedure, one member of the [01:29.30] Commission needs to make a request to remove this item from consent agenda so we can proceed [01:35.14] as a regular agenda.

Can any fellow Commissioners make this request? I request it being removed [01:43.87] from the regular agenda. Okay, I think now this agenda is regular agenda number one. [01:51.97] So, Mr. Wasilak,

can we proceed as a regular agenda now? Yes, thanks, Madam Chair and members [01:58.25] of the Commission. We do have Principal Planner [planner] to make a very brief presentation [02:05.03] to you

regarding this item. Thank you. Good evening, Madam Chair and members of the Commission. [02:29.31] Just want to verify, is everyone able to see my screen? Yes. Okay, great. All right. As Mr.

02:40.67] Westlake indicated, this is a little bit of a unique agenda item. This is an alley name [02:48.11] assignment associated with the project located at Halpine Road. And for some brief

background, [02:57.36] the Commission may recall that this site went through a number of various approvals associated [03:04.06] with redevelopment, dating back to the fall of 2024 where the Mayor and

Council rezoned the [03:12.29] property and approved preliminary approval of the development, followed immediately by the [03:20.38] Planning Commission in October of 2024, which allowed demolition of

the existing church on [03:28.62] the subject property and residential redevelopment, including 36 condo units. The project has [03:39.30] since proceeded and is preparing to go through final

permitting before completing construction. [03:48.34] So as we have gotten to this point, staff has coordinated with the applicant for [03:56.20] kind of our final procedures, including addressing for

the site. Through that process, [04:03.96] staff has found that addressing through the kind of more conventionally methods of [04:13.84] addressing to the adjacent streets is not feasible. So staff

has considered naming [04:21.42] the private alley associated with this development to facilitate addressing for the site. [04:29.25] As you can see, the new development will include residential units

bisected by this private alley, [04:36.25] which will give vehicular access to Halpine Road. Again, through our research and procedures, [04:45.41] we found that addressing this private alley will be

the most beneficial in terms of functionality [04:53.31] and operations for services like emergency responders and normal services like postal and [05:02.23] delivery services. As Mr. Wasilak

indicated, we previously recommended a name for this alley as [05:11.68] [alley name] Drive that was determined through coordination with the applicant. But through [05:19.51] further coordination

with our public agencies, including Montgomery County, staff now suggest [05:27.77] and recommend to the planning commission that the private alley be named Valor Lane. This will [05:33.63] eliminate

any sources of confusion with similar sounding names that may occur in the county, [05:40.51] as well as provide clear direction for emergency services. So with that, that concludes staff's [05:47.72]

presentation. Happy to answer any questions the commission may have. Thank you. So commissioners, [05:55.28] now we have staff recommended name Valor Lane and there is an alternative method drive. So

do [06:02.24] you have a reference for any discussion on this item? I have no problem with Valor Drive as long [06:13.58] as it was cleared with regular other county agencies and parking planning.

Okay, how about [06:21.47] other commissioners? I similarly have no problem with Valor. Yeah, no issues for me. Okay, then [06:35.52] let's have a motion. I move to prove that the name of the private

alley on this. I don't know [06:49.14] the subject subdivision to Valor Lane. I second the motion. Okay, so we have a second. Okay, [07:06.39] okay. And all your favor, please raise your hand or say

aye. Okay, the motion is approved. Thank [07:14.82] you. Okay, let's move to our next agenda review and action recommendation to the Mayor and Council [07:23.15] on the allocation of 143 multifamily

residential units to the existing Sheraton hotel at 920 [07:30.75] King Farm Boulevard and transfer of 16 multifamily units to the Irvington center office area [07:38.27] within the King Farm plant

development. Mr. Wasilak, is there a presentation from staff? [07:45.18] Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. One of our newest staff members, [planner], is here to [07:52.08] make the staff presentation.

Just by way of introduction, I would note that this is one in [07:58.18] a series of residential allocations that have occurred in the King Farm. None of them have [08:03.50] occurred since 2018. But

[planner] can go into the details of how this came about and how it was [08:09.63] incorporated into the development approvals. Ultimately, this will be approved by the Mayor [08:16.41] and Council,

as was established by those approvals. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to [08:21.96] [planner], who has come to the city from the city of Alexandria and a number of other places and

08:28.33] brings a lot of good experience to the development review team. So we're glad to have him before. [08:33.31] You're muted. [08:41.12] Not hearing you, [planner]. [08:49.76] We still cannot

hear you, [planner]. [09:58.56] Hello, can you hear me? [10:13.98] Yes. [10:15.01] Yes, we hear you now. [10:16.27] Yes. [10:16.93] You can hear me now? [10:18.59] Yeah. [10:19.50] Okay, sorry for the

technical difficulties. All right, let's get this back up. All right, [10:41.04] you can see and hear the presentation, correct? Can you hear me? [10:46.30] Yes, we can. [10:47.34] Okay, great. All

right, I'm just confirming. Good evening, Madam Chair and members of the-- [10:51.66] Sorry, sorry, [planner]. Before, I don't see the presentation. [10:55.60] Does anyone else can see? [10:57.89] No,

not seeing the presentation. There we go. [11:03.13] Okay, okay. We'll see now. Thank you. [11:05.05] Great. Sorry for the confusion. The headset was given complications. [11:11.63] Good evening,

Madam Chair and members of the Planning Commission. As Mr. Wasilak mentioned, [11:16.91] my name is [planner]. I'm a principal planner with CPDS. [11:19.95] Tonight, I'll present a request concerning

the existing Sheraton hotel at King Farm Boulevard, [11:25.31] which is within the King Farm Plan development. The request involves the allocation of residential [11:31.23] units, as well as a density

shift necessary to facilitate the proposed adaptive reuse of [11:36.99] the extended-state hotel. I'll begin the presentation with a brief overview of the site. [11:44.03] The subject property is the

existing Sheraton hotel, located at King Farm Boulevard [11:49.37] within the Irvington Center portion of King Farm. The property is approximately 2.19 acres. [11:55.54] It's currently designated

commercial zoned PDKF and is currently developed with a hotel use. [12:02.69] As shown in the aerial, the site is located at the end of King Farm Boulevard, [12:08.57] which abuts Redmond Boulevard

near I-270 and is adjacent to existing residential [12:13.77] developments within the King Farm. The existing building is a 155-room, [12:21.33] five-story hotel at approximately 76,725 square feet.

The hotel use was approved [12:28.41] through the King Farm development process in 2004, and construction was completed in 2006, [12:34.25] and it's been operating as a hotel use since that time. The

applicant is [applicant] [12:39.61] in partnership with [company], and this brings us to the [12:44.81] specific request before the commission this evening for consideration. The applicant ultimately

12:51.37] proposes to adaptively reuse the existing hotel by converting 143 of the 155 hotel rooms into [12:59.53] residential apartments while retaining 12 rooms for hotel and hospitality use. To

facilitate that [13:05.53] conversion, there are two actions associated with tonight's request. First is the allocation [13:15.90] of 143 multifamily residential dwelling units to the property. Second

is a density shift of 16 [13:22.88] residential units into the Irvington Center office-designated area, which is consistent [13:27.72] with the density shifting provisions of the approved King Farm

concept plan. [13:32.27] Importantly, I just wanted to make note that tonight's action does not itself [13:38.02] approve the conversion or a site plan. The applicant would still be required to submit

13:43.78] a subsequent site plan application as well as other approvals. One important distinction is [13:53.05] that this request does not increase the maximum residential unit capacity, which is

already [13:57.85] authorized for the King Farm plan development. Rather, the request utilizes residential capacity [14:03.56] already contemplated by the PD approvals and shifts a portion of that

capacity to accommodate [14:08.76] the proposed request. Again, detailed issues associated with the actual redevelopment or [14:15.84] conversion of the site would be addressed through the subsequent

site plan review. [14:21.60] On the next slide, I'll describe a series of numbers that necessitate the 16-unit [14:27.55] density shift. The King Farm concept plan originally authorized 3200

residential units [14:34.41] with the ability to increase the total to 3600 units subject to mayor and council approval [14:40.25] in coordination with the annexation agreement with the King Farm plan

development. Of that [14:46.04] additional capacity, up to 300 residential units could be located within the Irvington Center [14:51.08] office-designated area. Through resolution number 1096, it

provides a mechanism for [14:57.85] density shifting among sites within the plan development. To date, 3373 dwelling units have [15:05.57] been approved and constructed across the entire PD. More

specifically, the concept plan establishes [15:12.10] a maximum of 2030 multifamily units of which 1,887 of those have been constructed leaving [15:19.94] exactly 143 multifamily units available

within the PD. Within Irvington Center, 173 of the 300 [15:31.12] units have been constructed leaving 127 units of capacity within Irvington Center. The proposed [15:38.08] 16-unit density shift

bridges the difference between the 127 units within Irvington Center [15:44.46] specifically and the 143 units requested by the applicant. So if we're just coming to the simple [15:51.87] math, 127

units within Irvington Center plus the 16 density shifted units would equal the 143 units [16:00.19] requested by the applicant. Just taking a step back and looking at applicable resolution approvals

16:09.77] as there's been quite a few approvals within the King Farm PD, we want to maybe take a step back [16:15.61] beginning with resolution 2503 which amended the approved concept plan to allow

for hotel [16:22.03] uses within the PD and essentially on the subject property. Specifically as it relates to unit [16:29.29] allocation, as Mr. Wasilak mentioned, we've seen this occur in a few

occasions in the more recent [16:35.05] past. This type of unit allocation requested this evening has precedent within King Farm [16:41.53] in 2013 through resolution number 0913. Mayor Council

approved 144 townhomes on parcel [16:50.72] F5 and F6 within Irvington Center. In 2017, resolution number 0817 approved 162 multifamily [17:00.63] units on parcels F7 and F8. That approval was

subsequently amended in 2018 which then reduced [17:08.21] the total amount of units for those sites to 65 units. These prior actions also establish the [17:16.76] review pathway which is applicable

this evening. Therefore, planning commission reviewing and [17:22.17] providing our recommendation and then followed by mayor and council action on the unit allocation. [17:27.90] Based on staff's

review, the requested unit allocation and the density shift are consistent [17:35.30] with the approved concept plan as well as in compliance with the applicable plan development [17:40.74] governing

documents as well as the annexation agreement. The requested 143 units remain within [17:47.42] the established multifamily capacity and the 16 unit shift is permitted under the concept [17:53.52]

plan's density shift in provisions. I also want to reiterate that subsequent site plan review [18:02.17] would be required post any approval of the applicant's request. So the commission has two

18:10.32] related roles tonight as it relates to the request. One, the recommendation to mayor and [18:14.88] council concerning the allocation and the commission's review of the density shift

18:19.84] for compliance with the approved concept plan. Within the governing document, the concept plan [18:25.49] specifically provides for planning commission to review of density shifting and so

the proposed [18:32.13] motion specifically addresses the density shift while the recommendation addresses the overall [18:38.00] unit allocation. With that, therefore, staff recommends that the

planning commission recommend [18:43.89] approval to mayor and council on the allocation of the 143 residential units within the King [18:49.41] Farm plan development, which includes the 16 unit

density shift into the Irvington Center office [18:55.18] area. Staff also recommends that the commission approve the density shift as it's in compliance [19:01.94] with the approved concept plan. At

this time, staff concludes my presentation and I'm happy [19:08.42] to answer any questions that the commission may have. Thank you, [planner]. And first, [19:13.96] welcome to Rockville. And as a set

of commissioners, do you have any questions to staff at this time? [19:22.26] Yes. Mr. Lawrence, how would you respond to the testimony that we got that essentially [19:30.72] questions the adequacy

of public facilities given the shift from a hotel to residential units? [19:39.98] Different traffic, different school needs, all that stuff. Sure. And in my response to the [19:49.64] request, which

came in, I believe this morning or late last evening, when the [19:57.56] overall PD was approved in addition to the annexation agreement, which authorized the [20:02.36] increase of residential units

up to 3,600 units, all the related infrastructure and capacity [20:11.25] studies were done utilizing that maximum capacity of 3,600 units. And so, based off of those [20:19.31] findings, and if this

were to approve, I believe there would be about 3,516 units maximum, which [20:29.18] would kind of cap out the multifamily capacity for the PD, which falls under the 3,600 that [20:36.14] was part of

those initial analyses. In addition to that, as I mentioned throughout the presentation, [20:42.86] what's tonight approval does is authorize the allocation. The applicant would still be [20:48.13]

required to file a subsequent site plan application as well as a change of use application [20:56.68] to facilitate the conversion of which additional kind of impact studies for those areas that were

21:05.89] raised would be conducted at that time to adequately test impacts to those required [21:14.11] infrastructure. Any other questions? What has been the utilization of the hotel? Is it acting

21:29.48] at capacity, under capacity? Is this going to be a change when you go to multifamily? [21:39.26] The applicant is also on tonight's meeting and can speak directly to the capacity.

Currently, [21:47.10] it's operating as an extended state hotel, but the applicant is available to answer that directly [21:53.16] to speak to the kind of operational capacity of the existing use, as

well as how they envision [21:59.94] this operating, should it be approved by planning commission and American council. [22:07.75] Thank you. So Mr. Wasilak, is there a presentation from the

applicant? [22:13.39] Yes, there is. I am on here and I defer to you, Madam Chair, if I should go ahead and share my [22:19.86] screen and start presenting or you want to conclude this portion of the

staff presentation. [22:24.26] Let me ask any other questions at this moment to staff. Okay, here now let's proceed to the [22:31.15] applicant's presentation. Thank you. Very good. Can everyone hear

me and can everyone see the [22:40.17] screen? Yes. Very good. Yes. Well, good evening, Madam Chair and members of the commission. My [22:47.26] name is [applicant] and I'm the president of

[applicant]. As [planner] so thoroughly and [22:52.18] comprehensively just laid out, I'm here today to seek your support and recommendation for the [22:56.58] allocation of 143 residential units and

the density shifting of 16 units within the King [23:02.46] Farm plan development. Before I begin though, I want to thank the city staff. I've been working [23:07.07] with cities and municipalities

across the country and it's very refreshing to work with a team [23:11.03] that's so thoughtful, responsive, professional, and solutions oriented. And so I really appreciate [23:15.60] the

collaborative approach the city staff has taken throughout this process. And so I'm excited [23:19.79] to share a project and proposal with you tonight, but first I'd like to give you a little

background [23:23.83] in [company] and what we do before we go into this specific project. At its simplest [company] takes [23:31.54] underperforming hotels and converts them into high quality

housing. What you see here is how [23:36.53] a typical hotel room can be transformed into a highly functional studio apartment using [company]'s [23:41.86] robotic furniture technology. The key to

making this work is [company]'s technology and systems, [23:48.00] which allows a smaller apartment to live larger and therefore rent for less. [company] started out of [23:54.13] MIT in 2015 with a

simple idea. How do you make housing more affordable by making smaller spaces [24:00.92] more livable? Because no one wants to live in a shoebox. Our founder developed a system around [24:07.04]

movable beds and movable walls. When the bed is down you have a bedroom. When it's up you have [24:12.53] a full living room with a built-in integrated couch underneath and the movable wall opens to

24:17.65] reveal a full walk-in closet. And so you might look at this and say that's great it looks cool [24:23.20] but these are renderings. Well this is an experimental technology. [company]'s been

operating [24:27.73] for more than a decade with nearly 2,000 apartments across 75 buildings in 50 cities. [24:33.11] You'll find [company] apartments across the country from DC to Atlanta, Tampa to

Chicago, [24:38.82] and Boston to San Francisco. [company]'s been used by some of the largest developers in the country, [24:43.31] including [company], [company] related, as well as a wide range of

regional developers. [24:48.03] And this large image isn't a rendering either. It's actually from a building I'm sitting in today. [24:52.74] And so this background behind me, it's not a virtual

background. It's an actual [company] apartment [24:56.81] here in Atlanta. It's a fully proven system with institutional level design, installation, [25:02.98] execution, and ongoing service. We've

also collected extensive data validating the reliability [25:08.02] and durability of the system, which we're happy to provide separately. And so historically, most [25:13.47] of those 2,000 units

came from selling [company] systems to developers for new apartments. Today we're [25:18.74] taking that decade of experience and applying it directly to what we think is an even stronger [25:22.82]

opportunity, converting underperforming hotels into housing, which is why I joined [company] a year [25:28.62] and a half ago to lead that transition to be a real estate company. And so hotel rooms,

25:33.72] typically around 300 to 350 square feet, are exactly where [company] adds the most value, [25:38.46] allowing us to deliver lower rents to residents while generating higher rent per square

foot [25:43.12] for owners. For hotel conversion, it really comes down to three components. The bed disappears to [25:48.56] create a living room, the movable wall that I discussed creates storage and

workspace, [25:52.16] and then we add the efficient kitchen. And so to take in together these three elements [25:56.63] transform a 300 to 350 square foot hotel room into a highly functional studio

apartment. [26:01.82] And this is what that transformation looks like in practice. When the bed is up, it's your living [26:07.25] room, and that same 300 square feet space becomes your bedroom when

the bed is down. [26:12.35] And that brings us to Rockville and the opportunity I'm here to present to you today. [26:17.34] This property was built in 2006, it was very well constructed, but it's now

20 years old [26:23.32] and long overdue for a significant Marriott required renovation. Given the current hotel [26:28.29] market in Rockville, however, the economics simply don't support making that

investment and [26:32.57] continue to operate it as a hotel. So we're under contract to acquire the property and convert it [26:37.81] to an [company] branded apartment community. So what are we

proposing? We're taking those existing 155 [26:44.19] rooms and transforming them into 155 apartments, 143 multifamily units, plus 12 hospitality units [26:52.16] that we operate as short-term rentals

for corporate relocations and others. These will [26:56.59] be attainable middle income homes targeted to Rockville's workforce with 100% of the units at [27:01.77] or below 80% AMI, including the

required NPDUs. And importantly, we're reusing the existing [27:08.05] building rather than tearing it down and starting over. And so that means less construction, less [27:12.66] risk, and a much

faster path to delivery new housing, approximately nine to 12 months from [27:17.89] closing. And so the vision is simple. It comes down to four things. Add housing, serve Rockville's [27:23.86]

workforce, reuse what's already here, and make smaller units live larger. And from the outside, [27:31.11] the building will remain fundamentally as it is today with targeted cosmetic improvements,

27:35.77] primarily new paint and a few thoughtful upgrades to the entrance. As [planner] laid out, [27:40.57] we still have work to do after we get past this step. We'll coordinate closely with the

27:44.23] King Forum architect and city staff to ensure those improvements are consistent with the [27:47.83] community's design standards. But inside is where the real transformation happens. And

what you see [27:53.36] here is the rendering of the actual unit and how it would transform and look once we convert it [27:58.04] to that [company] unit. And this is what that transformation looks

like in plan. We keep [28:05.49] the existing bathroom and much of the existing room intact, add a full kitchen, and then [28:10.09] integrate the two [company] systems you saw earlier. The bed

disappears to create a full living room, [28:15.18] and the movable wall provides a walk-in closet, storage, and workspace. So within the same roughly [28:20.36] 350 square foot footprint, we're able

to create a highly functional studio apartment. And this is [28:26.46] the opposite view. Again, a rendering we've created from an actual image inside the hotel, [28:31.10] looking back towards the

kitchen. You can see how we take this existing hotel room, [28:35.13] add a full kitchen, and create a finished apartment that looks and feels like a high [28:39.15] quality residential unit. And

we'll also refresh the common areas to create a residential experience [28:45.16] rather than a hotel experience. We want these spaces, the meeting space of the hotel, the [28:49.78] breakfast area,

we want them to be flexible and adaptable, just like our apartments. Places where [28:54.29] residents can use for co-working during the day, but also hang out, gather as a community, or host

28:58.68] events in the evenings or weekends. And you might look at this at these images and think this looks [29:03.68] like high-end housing. And that's intentional. We believe attainable housing

should still be [29:08.52] thoughtfully designed and feel like a great place to live. But 100% of these units will be priced [29:13.61] at or below 80% AMI, including the 22 MPDUs at 60% AMI. So what

does that actually mean in terms [29:20.68] of who can afford to live here? It means teachers, nurses, healthcare workers, life science [29:25.64] researchers, lab technicians, city and federal

employees, graduate students, and staff, and early [29:30.23] career professionals. These are the people who work in Rockville and Montgomery County today, [29:34.99] but increasingly struggle to find

high quality housing where they can afford nearby. That's [29:40.16] really who we're designing this housing for. And the location is particularly well suited for that [29:44.75] workforce. We're in

the heart of the 270 life science corridor, close to major employers within [29:49.73] the King Farm shuttle providing direct access to the Shady Grove Metro, but the impact goes beyond [29:55.01] the

residents themselves. We're taking an underutilized hotel and adding 143 new households to King [30:00.19] Farm, people who support the shops, restaurants, and other amenities already there. And we're

30:05.09] doing it through adaptive reuse without materially changing the physical character of the neighborhood. [30:09.31] And importantly, this is housing we can deliver quickly. Assuming

approvals and the closing [30:14.71] remains on schedule, we expect to begin renovations in early 27th and have our first residents moving [30:19.91] in during Q1 of 2028. So this isn't housing it's

three or four years away, like new construction. [30:25.81] We can deliver it in less than 18 months from today. And finally, we have a very experienced [30:30.73] team behind the project. I've spent

more than 20 years investing in and developing multifamily [30:35.05] housing. Our local partner, [partner], leads [company]'s multifamily platform in the DC region. [30:41.96] And [founder] founded

[company] and has led the technology platform for more than a decade. Together, [30:47.20] we bring real estate, local market and technology experience necessary to execute this project [30:52.82]

successfully. So with that, we're excited about the opportunity to bring new housing to King Farm. [30:57.89] We appreciate your consideration and support. And I thank you for your time this evening.

31:01.74] And I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. I'm very excited to look at [31:09.68] the presentation and see this coming to Rockville. So commissioners, any questions to

the applicant? [31:23.33] I can start with my question. So being a trained architect, I'm really excited to see this [31:30.37] once we see in the concept stage and become a really established product

in the market. [31:35.77] And so I wonder, like you said, the typical room is like 300 to 350 units. So all your [31:44.63] units are studio units. Are there any larger units that combine two hotel

rooms into one [31:50.95] for higher capacity? Yep, great question. And so we're really asking around the size of units. [31:57.86] And most hotels are largely studios. And this this project is no

exception. It's 100% studios. [32:04.51] And so over the past year and a half, I've spoken to dozens of hotel converters across the country [32:09.50] to learn the best practices, what works, what

doesn't. Where did developers and converters [32:14.48] fall into traps and have issues with their projects? And without a doubt, the number one [32:19.24] most common reason is because they would

combine units to try to make larger units. [32:23.81] Their costs would start to escalate. Once you get behind walls, you find new things. [32:28.41] And then the revenue goes down. And the reason

they did that is because a 300 square foot unit, [32:34.11] in most cases, is not very livable. You may know this, but hotel conversions have actually become [32:38.95] the number one form of adaptive

reuse in our country. It's overtaken office conversions, [32:43.55] but the super majority of them have been very entry level, Class C low end housing. And the [32:49.39] reason for that is, again,

the 300 square feet. And this is where the [company] system technology [32:53.90] differentiates because it lives much more like a one bedroom. Because you get that studio or you [32:59.20] get the

living room and you get the bedroom, you just don't get them at the same time. [33:03.07] And so that's why for us, we don't need to combine units. And we don't need to fall in [33:07.15] that trap

where the projects can fail because of those costs, escalations. And because then the [33:12.19] revenue substantially decreases, we can deliver that very high quality experience in the studio

33:17.95] experience. Great. Thank you. That makes sense. And do you have any already operating hotels or [33:26.91] products in the DMV area? We do. I will actually have a couple of my colleagues on

the call here. [33:35.10] [colleague] is from [company] and has been there for six years and can go more detail. The one I will [33:40.86] say is one of our top projects is the Commodore. It was a

[company] project, but it was a massive [33:45.98] success and they built 340 square foot units. They were the fastest to lease in the building. [33:51.52] They had zero concessions. And the reason

was they were the value play. They were cheaper than [33:56.19] the rest of the units in the building. And [company] actually exited that building last [34:00.70] month with a very, very strong

success. But David, go ahead. Yeah. And just to, [34:07.21] hi, everyone. Just answer that question directly. They're the nearest hotel conversion that has [34:13.85] used [company] is in South

Carolina. That was a hotel conversion that was actually not run by the [company] [34:20.25] team. But yeah, to answer your question directly, there are [company] apartments in buildings throughout

34:26.89] the greater DMV area in DC and Virginia and elsewhere in Maryland. But the nearest hotel [34:33.96] conversion is in South Carolina. And one thing I should actually add, I mentioned

[company] just [34:40.02] sold their asset. What was really interesting, the buyers couldn't actually tour the [company] units [34:45.50] because every single one was occupied. They were a hundred

percent occupied. And that's how strong [34:50.14] the demand was and how attracted they were to the residents. And [partner], our partner, [34:55.51] [company] is on the call as well. [partner], I'm

not sure if you have anything you want to add here. [34:59.10] Yeah, no, thanks. We actually installed the [company] systems in L Street, which is called Balsa. [35:06.88] It's a high rise luxury

conversion, office to resi conversion that we completed right after [35:13.23] COVID. And honestly, the goal there is sort of the opposite here, it was to try to drive, [35:20.11] you know, the best

bang for your buck, but really, you know, to push rents, [35:23.94] if you could, to be able to cover the cost because cost went up pretty significantly during COVID. [35:29.88] And so here, I think

you're really getting the best value because the whole team is looking for [35:34.98] that exact studio type to install the whole system, you know, the cloud bed, the wall system, [35:41.64] etc. And

at the same time, create attainable, you know, relatively affordable housing, [35:47.04] which we're really excited about. Thank you. And Federal Commissioners, [35:53.33] do you have other questions?

I did ask about current occupancy and whether this would be [36:03.91] an intensification of use. Yes, great question. Thank you for reminding me [36:10.64] that question there. So the current hotels

performance is substantially down from prior [36:17.25] to COVID. Prior to COVID, it was a very well performing hotel, along with most of the hotels [36:22.64] in the Rockville market. And what you

saw is a fundamental demand change, where people could do [36:27.91] zoom calls like this, as opposed to go meet in person nearly as frequently. And so many of the [36:33.03] hotels have suffered

substantially, the rental rates have dropped precipitously, and their [36:37.93] occupancy is severely down. I don't have the exact occupancy. But back when it used to be at 80% [36:43.61] plus, as

you would expect from most hotels, occupancy has been down around 50%. And so for [36:49.67] their ability to operate and maintain, it's very difficult, much less to be able to justify [36:54.58]

reinvesting the hotel to maintain the brand standards that a Marriott brand would typically [36:59.98] require. And so one thing I will say, your question is really getting into the utilization

37:04.20] and optimization of will it be a strain on the roads, traffic or otherwise. This hotel operated [37:09.32] very well for 12, 14 plus years, utilizing that. And so we are not going to be

going anything [37:16.23] beyond what operated. And to your point, yes, it has been down the past five years. But we're [37:21.03] just not going to be going past where it was before. Just add that.

Sorry, go ahead. What [37:27.07] do you think about parking demand? Yep, great question. So there is a lot that is part of the [37:33.37] same ownership. It wasn't highlighted in the map. It is a

surface lot and that is part of the [37:38.09] property. And so there's 1.1 parking ratio between those two parcels. And that we believe [37:43.92] it'll fully meet the demand. I was just going to

add, just as it relates to your question as well, [37:50.97] think about the studios at 330 to 350 square feet. They're really unfortunately in no room [37:58.60] for families here. But that also

should answer the question that you won't really have any school [38:03.89] capacity issues. Thank you. Thank you. And other commissioners? Yeah, I have a question. I think [38:14.36] you had

mentioned the existing hotel uses extended stay. Are there currently kitchen [38:21.88] facilities in the unit? There are not. And so to be clear, it's not marketed and advertised as [38:28.50]

extended stay. I do believe there are residents that are staying longer term because the hotel's [38:33.38] performance has been declining because there are no kitchens in place. And that is the key

major [38:41.19] upgrades that we're doing are adding the kitchens and then increasing the electrical capacity to [38:45.27] ensure that we can support those appliances in the kitchens. Yeah, it's

probably more appropriate [38:50.50] at later stages when you come in front of us. But I'm very curious about adding that infrastructure [38:55.38] to put full kitchens in hotel rooms that were not

designed for them. So yeah, I'll be looking [39:01.83] forward to seeing those details when you come back in front of us. Absolutely. We look forward [39:05.45] to it as well. I have another question.

So you currently have 143 residential units and 12 [39:15.76] extended stay. So how about even the future of the market shift? How easy can you shift between [39:22.74] those two products? Great

question. And so really many multifamily operators in the industry have [39:31.13] started to include a component of the short term rentals and then operate it in this gray area, [39:36.54] because

when you go between, call it a one month lease and six month lease, you have corporate [39:42.19] relocations. You might have a consultant that's on assignment or someone that's just moved to the

39:46.03] Rockville area because of a new job. And they don't know where they want to live yet. And they [39:49.85] say, let me test this out. I'm not ready to make a commitment for 12 months, but

let me do something [39:54.35] in between. And so you have this hybrid that goes from one day to three or six months. That's kind [39:59.66] of this gray area in between. And so we feel fully

comfortable with 12 units, absolutely same [40:04.98] within that. To your point of there may be demand for more and we would still operate them as [40:10.41] multifamily and most multifamily

buildings have some small component of those, but it's not a [40:15.69] significant component, but we don't want it to become nightly where then the building goes back [40:19.82] to the hotel use. And

so it's this hybrid of in between. Okay. Thank you. That sounds really [40:25.62] totally makes sense. So any other questions from commissioners? All right. If not, is there a [40:33.83] motion? I

think today is a recommendation, right? Is recommendation also needs a motion? Yes. Okay. [40:44.38] Then then please. If staff would put up the recommendation again on the screen. So I say [40:51.60]

this right. And Madam Chair, could you ask if there's anyone who would like to address the [40:57.60] commission? I don't think there is anyone just to cover that base from the public that's online.

41:04.38] Oh yes. Is there any, any public from the public would like to provide testimony? Okay. Here and [41:16.18] then. And I think we can now move to the motion. If I may, I move that the

planning commission [41:24.28] approved the density shift in compliance with the approved concept plan. I second. All right. [41:33.97] Yeah. All you favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye.

Aye. Okay. And the motion passed. [41:41.95] Thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Looking forward to next step. [41:49.57] Very quick. Madam Chair. Yes. I think we set the

motion up to be two part in two parts. Is that [41:57.75] correct? Correct. There's the motion for the density shift. And I, I believe they still have [42:03.40] to recommend planning commission do

the allocation, man council do the allocation of the 143. [42:09.69] Right. Okay. So can you show us the presentation, the slide? Sure. I will get that back up. [42:18.50] Here. I thought it was being

good. [42:26.14] Proposed motion. So we have to say the first, first one at the motion as well. [42:31.61] That's the actual recommendation to the mayor council. [42:38.27] Okay. So I'm confused.

Which motion? [42:45.26] So, so can I, so can I jump in here? I propose we just do two motions and because we've already [42:52.66] passed the second part of the motion, which was, uh, to approve the

density shift. So I'll make [42:58.47] the motion to recommend to Mayor and Council, the allocation of 143 residential units within the [43:06.09] King farm plan development to include the density

shift, the 16 units to the Irvington Center office [43:11.21] designated area. All right. All in favor, please say aye and raise your hand. [43:19.55] I pay this motion passed. So that's good. Thank

you very much. [43:29.26] Thank you all again. Okay. So now let's move to our commission items. So, uh, do we have, uh, [43:39.90] staff liaison report, Mr. Wasilak? Oh, yes. Thank you, Madam chair.

Uh, [43:45.06] just very briefly, um, the next meeting will be September 23rd, uh, two weeks from this [43:51.68] evening. I expect that we will be in the council chamber since there's a council

meeting in [43:56.32] between there, um, a couple of items lining up for that meeting. Uh, one is tentative and that is, [44:04.46] uh, uh, regate park manager referral. I believe that more likely

would show up in one of your [44:11.13] October meetings. Um, but there's also a couple of waivers, uh, for a project that's coming forward, [44:17.67] uh, on research board. And there's also a

potential historic district map amendment. [44:23.60] Uh, but we won't know whether, whether you will see that, uh, until the HTC kind of is [44:29.27] going to reconsider that recommendation and they

will be doing that, uh, next week. So that may [44:35.73] or may not be on your agenda, uh, as a sexual map amendment. Looking ahead to October, uh, we have [44:43.39] the, uh, annexation plan for the

W I N X property, uh, which is [unclear] [44:49.85] uh, that is coming forward. And then there's also [44:55.73] a site plan, uh, for a bank addition to the Fallsgrove village center. Um, so I have a

number of, uh, [45:02.82] interesting items coming up. Um, so another thing I would add, uh, as you know, the, uh, [45:10.16] the zoning ordinance and zoning map became effective, uh, during, uh,

actually on August 1st [45:16.05] during your break. And so we are, uh, using the new ordinance and, uh, actually, uh, they helped [45:23.48] some processes, uh, already, uh, just in the, in a little

over a month that we have been using it. [45:29.72] We're also identifying, uh, as we do utilize the document, things that may need to be tweaked or [45:35.25] changed, uh, that could bring back in a,

in an omnibus, uh, zoning text amendment at some point [45:41.12] in the near term. Uh, but we're very pleased to, uh, to be able to, uh, to use the code. And with [45:49.71] that, I don't have

anything to add unless there are questions. Thank you. Any questions? Uh, how [45:58.07] did the, that historic preservation designation go with mayor and council or is that still coming [46:04.80]

up? That is coming up on the 14th on Monday. Thank you. Okay. So any old business or new business? [46:16.80] New business. Please. Um, after, uh, reviewing the name change proposed by staff

originally, [46:30.37] uh, it struck me as odd that we didn't have, uh, uh, street naming guidelines. Uh, it is something [46:42.61] that the county has, uh, the city has to follow them at least for

safety reasons. The particular [46:51.30] issue with this last item that we had was the designation of, uh, of a living person who may or [47:02.49] may not have committed crimes, may or not have

committed, uh, civil actions. And if living can [47:10.49] commit those after we designate the name. Uh, so I would propose that we have a more formalized [47:18.63] guidelines for street. Okay. Thank

you, commissioner. So Mr. Wasilak, uh, can you provide some [47:29.88] background on this? Well, I did do a little bit of research, um, for street naming, uh, as, uh, [47:39.36] this process went

forward. And, um, I found something from the nineties that we actually [47:44.62] adopted the, as policy, uh, the commission adopted the county's, um, policies as they [47:52.23] existed. Then, uh, it

was my understanding that the, the street naming policies were revised [47:58.01] maybe 10 and 12 years ago. So those have been up, the counties have been updated since then. Um, [48:05.41] I think it

probably is a good idea to have at least some guidance, uh, as commissioners, uh, [48:10.87] when these items come up. So be happy to put something together for you. If you'd like to [48:15.82]

consider, uh, as a commission, uh, adopting some street naming policy. Any other comments from [48:25.23] commissioners? I, I, uh, I signed myself in agreement with my fellow commissioner. Um,

48:31.74] I have oddly specific opinions on naming things after people. Uh, so we share that, uh, in [48:38.14] common commissioners ions. Um, so I would be interested in, uh, seeing some guidance or

48:44.17] guidelines. Um, and I'd be also curious, isn't the right word. I believe that I live on a street [48:51.91] that, uh, is named for family to inflate. So there's a Pandora's box that might

be opened up [48:55.91] with this. So we should be ready for that. Commissioner [commissioner], any thoughts? I don't [49:05.05] really have anything to add to the discussion at this point. We'll see

if things develop. Yeah. I [49:11.86] have no problem doing this research. And so do we know that, uh, these, this policy is established [49:18.98] by the commission or the mayor and council. The, the

document that I saw was adopted by the [49:26.72] commission. Okay. I'm sorry. I would add that there was a naming effort that the council [49:35.83] undertook, um, probably 10 years ago, looking at

public parks, bridges, uh, other things besides [49:45.06] streets, not including streets. So that's another kind of avenue that we can look at to be, uh, [49:51.63] consistent with, with those naming

guidelines. Okay. I'm interested to see, to, to see the, [50:02.52] maybe do some research on, on that part as well and how that influenced the naming of the street. [50:09.00] So my question is, so

those guidelines, uh, will impact the future streets naming. Are we going to [50:15.95] change the street naming as well? Follow this guideline? Changing the naming of actual streets? [50:25.12] No.

No. Okay. It's guiding the future naming. Okay. Okay. [50:34.03] Somebody streets, it's like they moved without moving. I have to change all of their documentation. [50:41.03] The post office has to

be notified. It's a disaster. So you do it only upon disaster. [50:49.93] Okay. So let, let's say that good policy for the future roads. All right. Thank you for the [50:58.50] suggestion. And, uh, so

I see that we don't have any minutes to approve today, right? And I don't [51:07.01] see any correspondence or, uh, so we're ready to adjourn. Is there a motion to adjourn? [51:14.67] Real quick on

the correspondence thing. I just want to give my fellow commissioners a heads up. [51:18.11] I found a couple of items in my spam folder, including one related to the presentation today. [51:25.30]

Um, I don't usually check it. I don't know what comes through and what doesn't, uh, [51:29.45] that filter. So, um, just a note or a recommendation to check your spam filter every once in a while.

51:36.03] I think I found three in there from the past week related to coming into the planning commission [51:41.34] email address. Hmm. You, you mean coming from, uh, uh, Mr. Wasilak's email or

commission email? [51:51.15] No, that looks like they came direct to the planning commission. One was, let's see. [51:57.27] I know you received one this afternoon, uh, related to the King form that

came in to the [52:05.10] planning commission email. Yeah. I've got one from today. I've got one from Friday [52:14.39] and then one from September 1st that all look like they came to the planning

commission email [52:21.07] planning commission. So I don't, I don't know. Usually I, my filter is set up so that only [52:27.65] commissioners science's emails go to my junk. Um, so I don't know. I

think I have to look at it. [52:33.45] Same thing happens when I send it to my wife. [52:39.09] Okay. Thank you. I don't think I even received the commission email. Maybe I need to check my [52:45.17]

spam as well. I'll forward these to Mr. Wasilak and, you know, he can, I don't know, maybe he got them [52:52.11] and maybe not. He can circulate them if he needs to. That would be great. Thank you.

52:57.66] Okay. Thank you for the suggestions. So now we're ready to adjourn. Is there a motion to adjourn? [53:05.50] I moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded. Oh, in favor say aye. [53:12.70] All

right, I'm a meteor dirt tonight, Raphael. Thank you, everybody. Thank you.