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Planning Commission hears briefing on proposal to convert ground‑floor retail to 13 loft units at 198 E. Montgomery Ave.
Summary
At a March 12 briefing the City of Rockville Planning Commission reviewed a project plan amendment from Comstock to convert 13,011 square feet of vacant street‑level retail into 13 residential loft units at Boulevard Lofts, 198 East Montgomery Avenue. The item was informational only; the project will return for public hearing and recommendation.
The City of Rockville Planning Commission on March 12 received a briefing on Project Plan Amendment PJT2025‑00000 (Boulevard Lofts) proposing to convert 13,011 square feet of previously approved street‑level commercial space into 13 residential loft units at 198 East Montgomery Avenue.
Christopher Davis, Community Planning and Development Services, said the briefing is an early step in the planned development amendment process and that the item will return to the commission for a public hearing and recommendation after additional review and revisions. The applicant will also brief the Mayor and Council on April 7, 2025.
Nancy Reglin, land‑use counsel at Schulman Rogers representing the applicant, said the project would retain about 6,500 square feet of commercial space fronting East Montgomery Avenue while converting the vacant, boarded retail on three other frontages to residential use. "This is a simple request to convert the first‑floor commercial space on three sides of the building to residential," Reglin said. She described the proposal as preserving the building footprint and reconfiguring ground‑floor frontage to residential entries rather than storefronts.
Reglin and the applicant said market conditions and vacancy driven by the 2022 delivery timing and COVID disruptions made it difficult to attract typical ground‑floor retail tenants. Reglin referenced a 2019 Urban Land Institute technical assistance panel and the city’s 2025 Town Center plan as supporting the idea of consolidating retail into a core area of the town center; she said the project retains commercial frontage along East Montgomery Avenue to align with that guidance.
Under the current proposal the 13 units would include 11 two‑bedroom units, one one‑bedroom unit and one three‑bedroom unit. Reglin said the building currently has 603 existing parking spaces that will be reallocated among residential, remaining commercial demand and the 200 public garage spaces that serve adjacent uses; she did not provide a change to the overall parking supply. The applicant said it hopes for occupancy about one year after final approvals.
Commissioners asked several design and livability questions. Commissioner Meng Sun asked about interior sound standards and possible privacy buffers between residences and sidewalks. Reglin replied that interior noise levels would need to meet county interior noise standards and that detailed discussions about buffers and planting would occur at the site‑plan stage. Several commissioners emphasized interest in elements such as stoops, landscaping and other transitions that make ground‑floor units read as homes rather than storefronts.
The commission did not take public testimony because the item was a briefing and no formal action was requested or taken. Staff outlined the next steps: additional applicant revisions, a return to the Planning Commission for a public hearing and recommendation, and subsequent Mayor and Council public hearing and possible adoption. The applicant noted prior meetings in the review sequence, including a pre‑application meeting in November 2021, an area meeting on Dec. 9, 2021, and a post‑application area meeting and DRC meetings in February 2025.
