Nationally Known Health Resort to Anchor Rock Spring Centre

BETHESDA, MARYLAND - Developed by Washington, DC-based Penrose Group, Rock Spring Centre features a rare combination of high population density and incredible demographics. Divaris Real Estate is handling the leasing for the upscale, mixed-use “town center,” which is located in the heart of DC’s most affluent suburb. The center will offer more than 340,000 square feet of destination, couture and luxury retailers, as well as fine restaurants.

In addition to the retail component, Rock Spring Centre will include a 160-room five-star hotel, an 80,000-square-foot wellness center and spa, 430 luxury condominiums, 420 luxury rental apartments and up to 700,000 square feet of Class A office space.  The hotel, condos and wellness center and spa will promote an overall healthier lifestyle for its members and provide not only treatments, but also fitness facilities, offering classes in water aerobics, stress management, rock climbing and more. Within the retail center, the wellness center and spa will open a store that will sell specialty skin care products and other items related to health and wellness. 

Located in Bethesda, Rock Spring Centre is bounded by Rockledge Drive, Rock Spring Drive, Old Georgetown Road and Interstate 270. Its location off I-270, at the junction with the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495), makes it easily accessible from anywhere in Greater Washington, D.C. "Rock Spring Centre’s unique locational attributes truly enable it to be a regional opportunity, versus a local opportunity," explains Gerald Divaris, chairman/CEO of Divaris Real Estate, Inc.

“If you look at the other retail opportunities in the Bethesda/Rockville markets, they’re not as regional, because they tend to be buried within an existing thoroughfare, which might be heavily traveled, but not easy to get in and out of. So they tend to serve a much smaller market or trade area.”

Downtown Washington, DC is minutes away by car or via the Grosvenor/Strathmore Metro Station, and local conduits, like Old Georgetown Road and Democracy Boulevard, will bring shoppers to the center from points across Montgomery County and the entire Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

The center is surrounded by 5 million square feet of existing office space, which includes Marriott’s international headquarters and Lockheed Martin. Rock Spring Centre is also within close proximity to the National Institutes of Health.

The project is being designed by the innovative Jerde Architecture Group from California which has designed signature retail, entertainment and residential projects all over the world, including the famous Bellagio Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, The Gateway in Salt Lake City and Beijing Mall in Beijing, China. Rock Spring Centre is planned as a town center, urban-style development, comprising a variety of mixed uses.  The architectural style resembles a Tuscan village with terra cotta rooftops and a forum-style, horseshoe-shaped, three-level building that overlooks the nature preserve running through the middle of the development The Tuscan architecture captures the essence of Italian-style villas, with tile roofs, potted plants, wrought iron appointments, gas lamps and windows that have shutters, arched vistas, and, in some cases, window boxes.

The project also features a European-flavored "via," based on the towns and cities of such countries as Italy, France and Greece, that have meandering boulevards with shops and outdoor pavement cafes on either side. It is pedestrian-friendly, as opposed to automobile dominated, and in addition, there is limited on-street parking; most parking is provided in subterranean parking garages. Several restaurants will be situated on multiple levels, with outdoor terraces and dining areas that look down onto lush landscaping and green space.

The quality of the retail  is in keeping with the luxurious nature of the residential units, hotel and spa, with a mix of high-end luxury and couture retailers, as well as eclectic, specialty retailers that are new to the market or have only one other store in the region. Most of the retailers are located in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or Europe, while others may have another store in D.C.

Rock Spring Centre will enjoy an incredibly dense and wealthy community within a seven-mile radius. Based on 2007 projections, there are 138,000 households in the 35- to 65-year age group. In that same age group, the average household income is $248,000. According to Jeff Green & Partners, 85.2 percent of the households within a five-mile radius shop for better retail goods versus a national benchmark of 21.5 percent. In addition, it is projected that residents of affluent submarkets, outside the seven-mile radius, will make up more than 30 percent of Rock Spring Centre’s retail expenditures.

“Very few markets in the country have that kind of demographic profile, and to find a property that has yet to be developed in the middle of such a densely populated, high-income area is truly unique,” says Divaris, “The property has been owned by the same family for generations, which is the reason it hasn’t yet been developed.  But now is the time!”

Retail space at Rock Spring will is expected to be open in the spring of 2008.