WHITE OAK, MD—The Food and Drug Administration will underpin an expected wave of developed under Montgomery Country's recently-approved White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan. The county aims to transform the some 3,000 acres around the Route 29 corridor into a series of communities consisting of mixed uses.

The Council's Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee approved the plan last week by a vote of 8-0, with one abstention. The White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan area is bounded by the Capital Beltway on the south, Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park on the west, US Route 29 and Cherry Hill Road on the north and Prince George's County on the east

The plan recommends rezoning commercial areas to allow a broad range of commercial uses, including general offices, technology and biotechnology, research and development, hospitals, educational institutions, some manufacturing and production.

The development of a new bus rapid transit system and improved local bus service figured into the new plan, with land use recommendations based on these increased transit options.

Also key to the plan is the FDA campus, which brings in thousands of employees to the area every day. Montgomery County is pursuing development of a major life sciences center on its 115-acre property known as Site 2. To that end it has partnered with Percontee, owners of the adjacent 185-acre site, to create the potential for a 300-acre mixed-use development. Adjacent to both these parcels is a nearly 50-acre property for the planned relocation of Washington Adventist Hospital.

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FDA Will Be Catalyst for Development Under White Oak Plan

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