Development Director Pete McLaughlin Speaks at Montgomery County Planning Department Winter Speaker Series

Date: Wednesday, January 24, 2018

As part of the Montgomery County Planning Department’s Winter Speaker Series, Peter McLaughlin, Promark Partners’ Principal and Managing Director of Development, spoke about some of the company’s recent projects.

The Planning Department says the speaker series, titled The Economic Future of the Suburbs: Infill, Commerce, Placemaking, examines the shift away from sprawling, car-centric places to more walkable, mixed-use and urban-style communities.  The presentations focus on the changes that are occurring in the suburbs in response to market conditions, including a renewed emphasis on developing infill housing rather than single-family homes, converting office buildings into residential units, the influence of digital technology on retail and commerce, and placemaking as a strategy for economic development.

McLaughlin, who manages Promark Partners’ construction projects and focuses on new acquisitions, portfolio strategy and redevelopment opportunities, discussed two recent projects that epitomize Promark Partners’ achievements with infill and adaptive reuse developments.  His presentation began with the Octave condominiums located at 1320 Fenwick Lane in Silver Spring, Maryland, which transformed a 1964 office building into residential units, and the challenges of such conversions. He also discussed his work at Exchange Place, located at 451 Hungerford Drive in Rockville, Maryland, where many extraordinary steps were taken to retrofit an aging, 101,000 square-foot mixed-use building with modern, environmentally-friendly features.

Heather Arnold, Director of Research and Analysis for Bethesda-based StreetSense also spoke about online shopping’s influence on retail and commerce in the suburbs.  Arnold was the lead consultant on the Planning Department’s recent Retail Trends Study.

Watch a video of the presentation, including a lively Q&A discussion.