Giant Food is moving its Peapod distribution center out of Gaithersburg as it makes way for Montgomery County’s new public safety complex, which will include a new police headquarters, liquor control and other entities. The move to a larger warehouse in Anne Arundel County also will set the stage for Peapod’s plans to serve more customers in the Baltimore-Washington region, according to Peapod spokeswoman Elana Margolis. The new warehouse in Hanover is 150,000 square feet, a 50 percent increase in space.
“In the long term, we will serve more [ZIP codes] and our delivery will increase by at least 50 percent,” Margolis said. Peapod already serves much of Northern Virginia, the District and suburban Maryland.
Meanwhile, Montgomery County is nearing the implementation of its 2008 plan to relocate county services to the GE Tech Park and clear the way for a major housing development near the Shady Grove Metro station.
Peapod’s warehouse would house the county Department of Liquor Control. The GE office building would become the Public Safety Headquarters at Edison Park, home to county police, fire and rescue and the county Department of Transportation, said David Dise, director of the county Department of General Services.
Bethesda developer Eakin-Youngentob Associates expects to submit preliminary plans for the county-owned site bordered by Shady Grove Road, Crabbs Branch Way and the Interstate 370 off ramp by the end of the summer, according to EYA President Bob Youngentob.
“This is an incredible opportunity to [develop] in a location that’s proximate to Metro and has one of best transportation networks anywhere in county with the ICC, [Interstates] 270 and 370, MARC, Metro,” he said.
The area’s sector plan calls for 407 town houses and 1,214 apartment units on the site, known as County Service Park West, with some retail and office space. About 21 percent of the town houses and apartments should be a mix of moderately priced and work force housing units.
EYA has a contract to pay the county at least $63.4 million for the land with provisions that could include more money, depending on the profitability of the housing units, according to Diane Schwartz Jones, assistant chief administrative officer for the Office of the County Executive.
Peapod, which employed 120 people at the Gaithersburg warehouse, is slated to move out by May 31 and is holding a job fair on April 26 for the roughly 30 employees who chose to not make the move with the company.
