Cabin John Q&A, True Food Kitchen spinoff for Wildwood & Travilah, new food & fun at Pike & Rose

The new owners of Cabin John Village held a public meeting at Churchill High School this week to talk about their plans for redevelopment. After presenting renderings for the first phase of a potentially decade-long project, reps from Edens and EYA answered questions about what the next three years will bring. Here are the most important takeaways.

What’s going to happen with parking? This was the number one question of the evening, with many expressing concern that the center’s new restaurants — not to mention pop-up tenants like the new plant nursery — will attract more traffic while taking away places to park. Developers say the existing parking areas will be largely reconfigured, with a net loss of about 115 spaces from the current total of 1,030. They eventually may add some kind of parking garage, but that won’t happen in the next few years.

How will the strip center be renovated? Plans call for an improved roofline, wider sidewalks, more outdoor dining areas and a new pedestrian walkway between CVS and Giant. A section of the strip mall will be removed to create that walkway, improving pedestrian traffic flow and allowing easier access between the front and back of the center.

What about the mini-mall? It will remain standing with a mix of mostly local tenants. National chains are more likely to move into the strip center.

What’s happening with the four new restaurants? Shake Shack, Le Pain Quotidien, CAVA and Sisters Thai are all scheduled to open in late fall. Developers promise that the view from the corner of Seven Locks and Tuckerman will eventually become an attractive “front door” to Cabin John.

What’s the plan for housing? Local home builder EYA (Park Potomac, Grosvenor Heights et al.) will construct 48 multi-story townhouses in the area behind Lahinch Tavern and Grill. Pricing has not been determined, but an EYA rep says the homes would likely cost between $900,000 and $1.2 million in today’s dollars.

What about green space? The pedestrian-friendly plan includes multiple grassy and tree-lined areas, walkable paths between the buildings, plenty of outdoor seating and a large courtyard for community events.

When can I view these plans? They should be posted online this summer. We’ll let you know when a link is available.

Coming soon to Wildwood Shopping Center in Bethesda and Travilah Square Shopping Center in Rockville: Flower Child, a new restaurant chain from the founders of True Food Kitchen. The menu is quite similar to True Food’s, focusing on healthy but flavorful dishes that cater to specialty diets like sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free and paleo. At Wildwood, Flower Child will be taking the space that was recently vacated by the Red Door Spa & Salon (more on that in our March 15th issue.) At Travilah Square, it will be part of a new wave of tenants lured by the upcoming Trader Joe’s grocery store (more on that in our Feb. 22nd issue). Opening dates for Flower Child are TBD, but you can check out the menu here.

This is a busy month at Pike & Rose, where the long-delayed sandwich shop Taylor Gourmet finally opened its doors and The Baked Bear dessert shop arrives this weekend. (Click here for details in our April 19th issue). Also arriving on Memorial Day weekend: The Beach, a simulated shoreline near L.L. Bean complete with real sand and umbrellas, faux cabanas and seaside cocktails. The Beach is a seasonal installation that will be around all summer. Click here for more renderings on our Facebook page.