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Progress at Watkins Mill Town Center, expected to take at least 15 years to complete, hinges on the future layout of the Interstate 270 interchange it is planned around, according to Gaithersburg officials and representatives with the developer.

Designs for the interchange, at Watkins Mill Road and Interstate 270 in Gaithersburg, are not expected until the multimodal corridor study of U.S. Route 15 and I-270 is released in June, said Gaithersburg Assistant City Manager Fred Felton.

Additional proposed highway lanes for another project could also impact plans for the town center, which will occupy two tracts flanking I-270 known as Casey East and West.

On the east side of the highway and west of Route 355 will be an "urban core" including nearly two million square feet of hotel and office space. It will be home to Montgomery County's 6th District Police station and the Gaithersburg Senior Activity Center, according to plans. An urban village called "The Spectrum" is slated for 40 acres. Plans show 13 restaurants and a movie theater, as well as approximately 50,000 square feet of retail and a venue for live performances. The two segments will bring about 1,000 residential units.

"Casey West is underway but the reality of the situation is that until there's some certainty on the timing on the interchange construction, it's going to be difficult for the developer to lease building and office space [on the east side of the highway]," Felton said.

In the spring, Classic Development LLC began construction on the "West End," where 472 single-family homes, townhomes, two-over-two townhomes and condominiums are planned for west of I-270 near Metropolitan Grove Road. The foundation was laid for an extended Watkins Mill Road, but work cannot be completed until highway design issues are resolved, the developer said.

Construction also depends on funding slowed earlier this year by the Montgomery County Council, which lowered interchange development on its list of priorities.

The interchange is designed to have a highway bridge stretching from an extension of Watkins Mill Road to the six-lane highway and connecting Clopper Road to Route 355 and four ramp overpasses and in spring, the county asked the state to build the bridge first and ramps later.

"We are very concerned about the possibility of doing the bridge and interchange projects separately," Felton said. "But we're still evaluating the county's contention that by separating the projects it will be completed more quickly."

The current credit market has not fazed the projects, said Pete Henry, a developer for BP Realty Investments of Potomac, which is designing the future Watkins Mill Town Center to rival the Reston Town Center in Virginia. He said build-out should take about 15 years.

But BP Realty must begin construction of Watkins Mill Road extended on the east side of the highway, Felton said.

"We want to get the road built, so we can deliver to the county a graded path site for the 6th District Police station and have the land available for a senior center when the city is ready to move forward that project," he said. "We are ready to build the public facilities."