The Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel (ULI TAP) will present recommendations on opportunities to retain, attract, and grow the life sciences industry in Montgomery County’s Life Sciences Center
WHEATON, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, pursued a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) through ULI Washington to inform the Great Seneca Plan: Connecting Life and Science. The TAP will present its recommendations in person to Montgomery Planning and the public at 4:30 p.m. on September 21 at the Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Building at the Universities at Shady Grove (9631 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD 20850). Registration is not required.
Montgomery Planning pursued a TAP to explore opportunities to transform the Life Sciences Center (LSC) into a more connected, walkable, and cohesive community for residents, employees, and students. The TAP, comprised of multidisciplinary panelists from the Washington Region with expertise in design, planning, architecture, engineering, and real estate will focus on:
- Creating a sense of place among campuses in the LSC
- Retaining and attracting residents and employees
- Imagining services and amenities that will create a complete community
View more information about the Great Seneca Plan ULI TAP.
Panelists are selected from the more than 2200 ULI members in the ULI Washington District Council based on the specific nature of each assignment. The multidisciplinary nature of the panelists’ expertise results in an innovative set of recommendations that can inform the Great Seneca Plan: Connecting Life and Science. The TAP is a one-and-a-half-day exercise in which the panelists hear from Montgomery Planning, tour the Life Sciences Center, interview local stakeholders, and present recommendations to address issues identified by Montgomery Planning.
The TAP recommendations will be a part of the ongoing planning effort for the Great Seneca Plan and will be used with data, community feedback, and visioning to reimagine this important center in the county.
About the Great Seneca Plan: Connecting Life and Science
The Great Seneca Plan: Connecting Life and Science is an effort to examine the Great Seneca community, to identify strengths and needs and to create vision for the future.
Working with community members and other stakeholders, Montgomery Planning will evaluate how the area has grown over the past decade, consider current trends, and create recommendations for sustainability, housing, economic resiliency, and transportation and community connections to equitably guide future growth.
The Great Seneca Plan is a comprehensive update to the 2010 Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan and a follow up to the 2021 Great Seneca Science Corridor Minor Master Plan Amendment.
Great Seneca Plan Boundary
The planning area is in the heart of the I-270 Corridor and is completely or nearly surrounded by the City of Gaithersburg, the City of Rockville and the Town of Washington Grove. It includes Adventist Medical Center at Shady Grove, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Universities at Shady Grove, the Life Sciences Center. In addition to the life sciences industry hub, the plan area is home to residential communities and neighborhoods such as Quince Orchard and Rosemont areas, and Camden Shady Grove, the Axis at Shady Grove, Mallory Square, Londonderry, Decoverly and Traville Apartments.
How to get involved
Residents are invited to sign up to receive the latest news and information on the plan by signing up for its eletter. Planners are also asking the community to complete a short questionnaire to help guide planning efforts, or use the MCReactMap to help identify what they like about the area, what is missing, and what needs to be improved. For questions or comments, contact lead planner Maren Hill via email or at 301-650-5613.