Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and County Council President Gabe Albornoz were among those joining the “Crossvines” development team, consisting of the Montgomery County Revenue Authority and lead developer Weller Development Company, on Thursday, April 28, to celebrate the start of construction of the new multi-purpose facility in Poolesville that will feature a custom grape-crushing facility, a casual bistro, a special events venue and a winery.
The Crossvines, which is located on the Revenue Authority property that also hosts the Poolesville Golf Course, will create economic opportunities and investment in agricultural tourism and the emerging wine-making industry in the County. It will strongly support new avenues for economic growth for properties in the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve.
Among those joining the formal groundbreaking ceremonies were County Councilmembers Andrew Friedson and Craig Rice; Maryland State Senator Brian Feldman; Poolesville Mayor Jim Brown; Craig Beyrouty, dean of College of the Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland; Keith Miller, CEO of the Montgomery County Revenue Authority; and Marc Weller, founding partner and CEO of Weller Development Company. See photos from the groundbreaking event.
“For the past two years, Montgomery County and the nation have been dominated by the impact of COVID-19, but we continued to plan for the future—and for our future economy,” said County Executive Elrich. “Crossvines is an exciting project that will change the economic prosperity of the Agricultural Reserve. As one of the only grape-crushing facilities in the region, this will open up opportunities for more landowners to grow profitable grapes and to explore winemaking as part of their future options.”
The Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve is one of the first agricultural reserves in the country. It accounts for more than one-quarter of the overall land in the County.
The Crossvines will have a custom crush facility. Its services will also be available to wine growers throughout the area.
“We are excited to welcome and introduce the region to The Crossvines,” said Mr. Miller. “The opportunities The Crossvines will create for local growers, the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve and the state’s tourism industry will be tremendous. We look forward to welcoming growers and visitors alike as Montgomery County establishes itself as a leader in the viniculture industry.”
The Crossvines will feature acreage developed for viniculture research, education, training and promotion in partnership with educational institutions. As part of the groundbreaking event, attendees had the opportunity to sample the first wine produced from grapes grown on the Poolesville facility’s research vineyard.
“When partnering with the Montgomery County Revenue Authority and hearing the vision for this project, we knew the opportunities for this state-of-the-art facility would be amazing,” said Mr. Weller. “We are excited to break ground to create a stunning destination with a private events venue, dining and wine-making facility. The impact it will have on Montgomery County and the State of Maryland will be tremendous, and we’re proud to play a role in helping the agricultural tourism, event services, and wine making industry sectors grow.”
The County Revenue Authority, which was created in 1957, was established to construct, improve, equip, furnish, maintain, acquire, operate and finance projects devoted wholly or partially for public use, good or general welfare. It operates nine public golf courses in the County and the Montgomery County Airpark.
Weller Development is a privately-owned real estate development firm led by Marc Weller, a senior real estate executive with more than 25 years of experience developing and building residential, commercial and mixed-use real estate projects. Weller Development is the lead developer of Port Covington, a 235-acre mixed-use redevelopment project in Baltimore City that is one of the largest urban revitalization efforts in the United States. For more information on Weller, visit www.wellerdevelopment.com.
