Disappointing news for the Pike District; terrific news for MoCo

As you’ve no doubt heard, Marriott has chosen to locate its new headquarters in downtown Bethesda.  While we’re delighted this major international corporation will live right down the road from the Pike District, we’re sad they didn’t select the White Flint area for their shiny, modern headquarters.

The new corporate headquarters complex will house more than 3,500 employees in approximately 700,000 square feet of leased office space. Marriott also plans to build a Marriott-branded 200+ room hotel in the new complex and is considering several sites in downtown Bethesda. The company is expected to select a final site in the first half of 2017.

County Executive Ike Leggett said, “I am pleased by Marriott’s decision to keep its headquarters operations and employees in Montgomery County. The County, working closely with Marriott’s team and with Governor Larry Hogan, has partnered on an agreement that benefits the company, the state, and Montgomery County. Marriott has long been a mainstay here and has been an excellent corporate citizen, giving back again and again to help strengthen our community. The Marriott brand, now the largest in the lodging world, will shine ever more brightly from right here in the county.”

We’ve always said while bringing the Marriott state-of-the-art headquarters to the White Flint area would make the Pike District, not doing so will certainly not break the Pike District. We stand by that statement. Gables Residential, East Village, Saul Centers West, Pike and Rose Phase 2, the new conference center garage, the Western Workaround — they all continue to make significant progress forward. As does the Pike District.