A stretch of long-undeveloped land in Gaithersburg's Watkins Mill Town Center could soon fill in with hundreds of new homes, neighborhood retail, a daycare center and a swimming pool under a sketch plan now before city planners. Pulte Home Company, LLC has submitted the proposal for roughly 18 acres sandwiched between Urban Avenue and the CSX railroad tracks, right next to the existing Parklands community and the Watkins Mill Station neighborhood currently under construction.
The application, known as Sketch Plan SK-10486-2026, is under review by the City of Gaithersburg, as reported by The MoCo Show. According to a city development listing cited in that report, the plan calls for up to 254 townhouses, 68 two-over-two units — stacked homes typically with one multi-level residence above another — and 14 live/work units, along with roughly 6,500 square feet of commercial, retail or personal service space. A developer statement framed the project somewhat differently, describing up to 280 for-sale residential units along with live/work spaces; the outlet's report notes the final number and mix of homes will be determined during later stages of the approval process.
Retail, a Daycare and a Pool Anchor the Plan
Commercial space would be concentrated near the center of the community, with planned uses including a neighborhood-serving business such as a coffee shop and a daycare center, per the same account. The live/work units could add roughly 8,700 square feet of additional commercial space and could accommodate small businesses, professional offices, and medical or dental offices.
A community amenity area spanning about 10,000 square feet would feature a clubhouse, swimming pool and playground, with sidewalks and bicycle paths connecting homes, businesses and recreational amenities. The developer anticipates more than 40 percent of the property would remain designated as open area, the report states.
New Roads Aimed at Easing Parklands Traffic
Town Center Boulevard would be extended from West Watkins Mill Road through the development to Parkview Avenue, and a second road would run along the property's southern portion, parallel to the railroad tracks, also connecting to Parkview Avenue. Those additional road connections are intended, per the developer, to distribute traffic and reduce the volume passing through the existing Parklands neighborhood.
The site itself has a winding planning history. Watkins Mill Town Center was originally envisioned as a mix of residential neighborhoods, offices, retail businesses and a hotel, with plans approved in 2005 that included more than 900,000 square feet of office space, about 260,000 square feet of mixed-use commercial space and a 394-room hotel. Plans for this particular property later shifted toward a life-science campus, and an amended development plan was approved in 2022 — but the outlet's report states the previous prospective purchaser abandoned the life-science project amid declining demand for that kind of space. The latest proposal instead focuses primarily on for-sale housing with a smaller amount of retail and service space, and the developer says it would provide additional homeownership opportunities in Gaithersburg while complementing Parklands and Watkins Mill Station.
A Separate Royal Farms Proposal Nearby
A Royal Farms convenience store and gas station is also being considered for a nearby commercial parcel within Watkins Mill Town Center, though that proposal is undergoing a separate review process and is not part of Pulte's residential application, the report notes.
This is not the first time pieces of the town center have moved through city review independently of each other. Back in 2024, a separate final site plan application, SP-9881-2024, was submitted for 232 units — 64 two-over-two condominiums along with three townhouse types — after the Mayor and City Council approved a schematic development plan for that project in March 2024, according to an earlier MoCo Show report. That 2024 report specified the Parklands residential community was not part of that application, and the city described those plans as under review at the time — a status that applied to that separate project, not to the current Phase II proposal. Two years earlier, a 2022 application sought to reallocate roughly 100,950 square feet of office density and 62,494 square feet of retail density among buildings in the Watkins Mill Town Center Urban Core without changing the overall approved square footage.
Uneven Progress Across the Town Center
Construction across Watkins Mill Town Center has long been uneven. Earlier coverage from Greater Greater Washington described rowhouses and lower-density portions as nearing completion while the downtown section had yet to break ground, with a large field still separating the Metropolitan Grove MARC station and a future bus rapid transit stop from the built portions of the development. That outlet also noted the town center was planned around future stations of the Corridor Cities Transitway.
For now, Watkins Mill Town Center: Phase II remains in early planning stages without final approval. No joint public hearing date has been announced for the Planning Commission and Mayor and City Council, and no construction timeline has been set. Residents can submit feedback by email or mail to the City of Gaithersburg, located at 31 South Summit Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.
