Medical Weight Loss Near Gaithersburg, MD

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The Lakeforest Mall was open in Gaithersburg, Maryland, for more than 40 years but has sat vacant since 2023. Redevelopment of the site is about to get underway.

Once a mecca of shopping, a place for teens to hang out and somewhere for people to get their steps in, it’s a ghost town now. But that’s about to change.

A small transit center will be moved and tripled in size because of a partnership with Montgomery County, the city of Gaithersburg and the state of Maryland.

“We’re going to grow in population and jobs. How we grow really matters. Our roads cannot continue to handle massive additions of travel. We need other ways to move people,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said.

The expansion of the transit center will kick off development of the 100-acre site.

The wrecking ball is expected to hit the deserted mall in the next couple of months to make way for a mixed-use development with housing, retail, entertainment and open space.

Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman described what’s planned.

“While my family and I and our neighbors have had wonderful experiences over the years at Lakeforest, it was time to build something new and better and get more potential out of this wonderful spot,” he said.

As the transit center announcement, a woman held a sign asking “Why did you cut down our forest?” She said she was upset that trees were leveled to make way for the project.

“The people wanted it to be restored. The developer should have restored it. We gave them ideas. It was less than two acres out of 103,” she said.

Officials said that while the trees were removed, 16 acres of trees will be part of a new development, as well as green space, which supporters called a win for the environment.

Some residents said they support the development but wish more amenities were planned to make it special.

“We wanted to have a community garden, a makers’ space, we wanted to have, definitely, a park,” a resident said.

The developer said there will be 1,600 residential units, including apartments and condos, with a range of price points. They’re planning 500,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space.

“We looked for opportunities where there is an incredible mix of raw ingredients, which this has, that needs to be reworked,” Kevin Rogers of WRC real estate said.

The mall opened in 1978 and was an important part of the community for decades. Some described the expected demolition as bittersweet. But they’re excited to breathe new life into the deserted space.

Montgomery County Public Schools is set to hold a School Board meeting Thursday night. A peak at the public comments submitted shows a majority of testimony is on the future of Crown High School, which has become a point of contention for many parents in the Gaithersburg area.

What we know:

The MCPS Boundary Study affects every corner of Maryland’s largest school district. Multiple options have been provided to parents for the redrawing of neighborhood attendance zones. The goal is to address overcrowding and other plans for the county that include, expanding Damascus High School, reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School and opening a brand new Crown High School (which is still under construction).

MCPS has been holding engagement sessions for affected community clusters. The school board also continues to hold meetings discussing the study's progress.

Parents and students have packed different meetings, voicing concerns about the proposals. As previously reported, a serious frustration with Crown High School is the more recent proposal to instead use the brand-new high school as a holding school as other high schools in the area undergo much-needed renovations.

In one public comment testimony submitted for Thursday night, a Woodfield Elementary student urged the board to use Crown as a temporary home for students emphasizing the importance of student safety as construction is being done.

Several other testimonies appear to side with Erin Ulloa, PTA vice president at Fields Road Elementary, who is advocating for Fields Road to be added to "Option H" and for Crown to open as its own standalone high school.

What's next:

On Thursday, public comments begin around 4 p.m. The school board agenda says board members will hold an informational summary on the November facilities and boundaries work session at around 7:35 p.m.

MCPS Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor is expected to release his recommendation for the boundary study in January. The board is expected to vote in March.

The Source: Information in this article comes from Montgomery County Public Schools and previous FOX 5 reporting.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. - A growing fight is unfolding in Montgomery County over newly released school boundary options tied to the long-awaited Crown High School project. Parents in Gaithersburg say the latest proposal from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is "unfair," leaving their neighborhood at a disadvantage while shifting the new school’s benefits elsewhere.

The concerns intensified after MCPS presented four revised boundary scenarios during a virtual meeting Monday night. Parents say each option pushes Gaithersburg students into already overcrowded schools—or allocates the brand-new Crown High School primarily to more affluent communities.

Parents say new options sideline Gaithersburg students

Parents who spoke with FOX 5 say they were shocked by how drastically the new draft options differ from earlier expectations.

Parent Monica Bassi argued that Gaithersburg families helped fund Crown through development impact taxes but may not see the benefits.

Another in-person public meeting on the issue was scheduled for Tuesday evening at Gaithersburg High School, where parents say they plan to confront district officials directly.

MCPS: Crown should serve as a temporary holding school

MCPS confirms it is formally recommending that Crown High School open not as a comprehensive high school, but as a temporary holding school. Under the plan, the Crown campus would house students displaced during major renovations at three aging high schools: Magruder, Damascus, and Wootton.

One option presented Monday would assign Crown High School primarily to Wootton High School students during their renovation.

District leaders say this strategy would save an estimated $273.8 million, shorten construction timelines by about seven years, and help address long-standing challenges in the Capital Improvements Program (CIP), which faces a multibillion-dollar backlog.

Community pushback: "We paid for this school"

Families in Gaithersburg argue that their community’s rapid growth and tax contributions justify opening Crown as a neighborhood high school - particularly since many of the proposed scenarios redirect their children to overcrowded campuses farther away.

"I want my two daughters to go to the high school that's in walking distance from them that we've paid for that they deserve," said parent Dana Riddell.

"Crown is the closest high school to my kids, so it's going to take them over 270. So, my concern is also the options - put them in a school that's going to be overcrowded," said Bassi said.

Others worry the district is making promises it cannot guarantee.

"My big fear ultimately is they're going to promise using this as a holding school for ten to fifteen years to go fix three separate high schools that they don't have funding for," said parent Tyler Hammock.

Questions over enrollment data

While MCPS cites county-wide declining enrollment as a major driver behind the holding-school proposal, Gaithersburg leaders say the district is ignoring strong population growth in their city.

Parents point to data presented by Gaithersburg’s mayor, including major employers—such as AstraZeneca—expanding in the area and bringing thousands of jobs.

"AstraZeneca is investing over two billion here. We have the Lake Forest development that's coming. People are going to be moving in here. Jobs are being created here. Growth is concentrated up county in Gaithersburg. And that data is being blatantly ignored," Bassi said.

Some parents say MCPS should go back to the drawing board.

What happens next

The district will hear questions and public comments Tuesday night at Gaithersburg High School. MCPS emphasizes that this is only a recommendation—not a final decision.

The proposal now heads to the County Executive and County Council for review, triggering one of the most significant phases for public input.

Upcoming Boundary Study Engagement Sessions

More information can be found online.

The Source: Information in this article comes from Montgomery County Public Schools and previous FOX 5 reporting.

Starvin Marvin’s Pizzeria & Grille has announced that it will close after 38 years in business, bringing a close to a well-known local brand with deep roots in Gaithersburg and Frederick. The owners shared the news in an emotional social media message titled “The End of Our Era,” saying they are ready to step away from the pizza business after nearly four decades.

The original Starvin Marvin’s opened in Gaithersburg in 1982. The Foundas family purchased it in 1987 and quickly expanded, opening a Wheaton location in 1990. That restaurant operated for a few years before closing, but the Gaithersburg shop remained a neighborhood favorite for decades. In 2009, the family opened a second location in Frederick, which later became their sole restaurant when the Gaithersburg store was sold in 2012 to two longtime employees who wanted to take ownership of the place where they built their careers. A representative from the Gaithersburg store shared that it will remain open.

In their announcement, the owners reflected on the generations of families who dined with them and the many regulars who became like family. They shared memories of team meals inside the restaurant, school and corporate catering events, and the pizza eating contests held during Frederick’s Fourth of July celebrations. Many of the familiar faces behind the counter were relatives, including their children and cousins, as well as friends who grew up alongside them.

Supporting the community has been a hallmark of the business. The owners said they took pride in helping local schools, churches, and little leagues through discounts and donations, especially since their own children were involved in many of those activities over the years.

The Frederick location is expected to be sold in mid December, when a new pizzeria concept will take over the space. The owners plan to share an exact last day of operations when it becomes available. They also noted that the Starvin Marvin name will retire with them for now. They said the legacy of the brand feels tied to their family, but they are preserving the option for the next generation to bring it back one day.

Quoting Frank Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way,” they thanked the Frederick community for its support and encouraged customers to stop by in the coming weeks to enjoy their favorite meals one last time and to say goodbye.