White Flint East will encompass 1.2 million sf of office space,1,400 apartment units, 212,000 sf of retail space as well as an80,000-sf below-grade area designated for a movie theater. RTKLAssociates is on board as architect for the retail development,Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum is designing the office element, andDorsky Hodgson and Partners is the architectural firm behind theresidential segment. Altogether, the development will consist of2.8 million sf and could take as long eight years to reach fullcompletion. The start date for construction will be partiallydetermined by the timing of county officials' decision on theproject.

"Montgomery County will conduct a public hearing in terms of therezoning of the site," WMATA manager of property planning anddevelopment Alvin McNeal explains to GlobeSt.com. The area iscurrently zoned for single-family residential use. "They will dothat in conjunction with the Montgomery County Planning Board," headds. "Once that's done, LCOR can apply for building permits andbegin construction." McNeal speculates that it could take thecounty a minimum of 18 months to two years to complete the processentailed in approving the project. When construction does begin,the plan is to build the retail portion first and then work on theresidential and office spaces. White Flint East will be WMATA'slargest joint development.