Crown Farm Property

Steve Lebling's pursuit of the Crown Farm acquisition began in the early to mid-1990’s with some general due diligence and conceptual planning prior to his first contact with the owners’ representative. Several years later a partner was brought in to assist in the patient pursuit of the property. Steve conceived of the mechanism which ultimately led to the acquisition of the property.

Concurrent with closing, KB Home secured the rights to the residential property and Steve and his partner retained the rights to all commercial property. KB Home brought in Centex Homes and took the lead role in managing the entitlement efforts. Steve took on a subordinate, advisory role as the plan moved forward through annexation to the City of Gaithersburg and plan approval, which is ongoing. The final annexation calls for 2,250 residential units and 320,000± square feet of retail with a ground breaking on 2 of 4 pods expected in 2008. Once it became apparent that the retail would have significant residential on top of it, Steve and his partner sold their rights to all the retail, except one parcel (without residential above it) to a group suggested by KB Home.

The collaborate effort on Crown Farm with the City of Gaithersburg and development team has led to an outstanding plan with award winning design. It is essentially a transit oriented village with almost immediate current Metro accessibility and pedestrian-friendly features. The group also took the unprecedented step of donating a 30-acre site for a high school to the city in recognition of its responsibility to the overall Montgomery County community.

 

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