For 45 years until closing in 2023, Lakeforest Mall served as an entertainment and employment hub for the Gaithersburg community and other Montgomery County residents. Now the 100-acre mall property will be reborn as a mixed-use development featuring housing and space for businesses, retail, restaurants and entertainment.
On Sept. 26, the Gaithersburg City Council and Mayor Jud Ashman unanimously approved redevelopment plans calling for the construction of 1,600 housing units along with 1.2 million square feet of entertainment, recreation and commercial space.
“It feels great to get to a point where we may be helping [the property] once again achieve its potential,” Ashman told MoCo360 on Thursday. “I feel like a lot of my work in elected office in Gaithersburg has been leading to this moment.”
With the approved plans, the former mall now heads for demolition beginning in early 2025, according to Ashman and WRS Inc. Real Estate Investments, the mall property’s owner and developer.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Elia Griffin over at MOCO 360
