Dr. John Yousif says he wants people to lead more balanced lifestyles, and he’d like to make them look a little younger too. If he has his way, in less than two years, the Rock Run Wellness Center will help him do that.
The proposed facility would blend meditation, healthy eating, a tranquil setting, and cosmetic surgery. Customers could come for a few hours or a few days to clear their minds or to freshen their faces.
“I’ve had this idea for a long time,” said Yousif. Yousif was raised in Potomac and graduated from Winston Churchill High School in 1969. He now lives in Wisconsin where he works as a plastic surgeon.
The Rock Run Wellness Center would be located at 10276 River Road, the former site of the Prinz Inn bed and breakfast which has been vacant for much of the past ten years.
Yousif envisions his customers driving down a tree-lined driveway, around a small pond, and then into a roundabout in front of the wellness center. During their stay they could take walks through nature trails and enjoy oriental-style fish ponds, Yousif said.
The center would offer what Yousif calls nutrition and relaxation makeovers. Yoga, meditation, and self-hypnosis classes would teach customers holistic relaxation techniques, and nutrition classes would teach customers the advantages of organic foods and healthy eating tips.
“It’s not only about how to eat, but when to eat,” said Yousif.
A medical spa would offer Botox injections and facial laser treatments. Botox is a chemical injection that creates localized muscle paralysis and is used to get rid of aging lines in people’s faces, Yousif said. Facial lasers are minimal outpatient treatments that treat sun-damaged skin, Yousif said.
“This [would not be] a surgical site,” Yousif said. “People aren’t having surgery—there aren’t any scalpels.”
Customers could stay for a few hours or a few days, Yousif said, and the facility would have twelve to fifteen rooms for guests who stay more than one day. Cosmetic treatments would be only for patients staying at least one night. Price ranges for the services the center would offer have not yet been determined.
The center would among the first of its kind, Yousif said.
"The ideal customer would be couples who want to get away for a rejuvenating weekend," said Jody Kline, Dr. Yousif's attorney.
ARCHITECTS FOR the project say that the plans for the facility will improve the property both environmentally and aesthetically.
The Rock Run stream runs along the eastern edge of the wedge-shaped property that sits a quarter mile north of the intersection of River and Falls roads, visible from the Giant parking lot. The current structure on the property, nearly all of which lies in the stream buffer zone of Rock Run, would be demolished. The new facility would be a cluster of three buildings located in the back of the 4.5 acre lot, completely out of the stream buffer zone, and nearly a half-mile from the River Road entrance, said Jeff Fuller, Fuller of DNC Architects, Inc., which is designing the wellness center. The location of the facility would also shield it from view of the Potomac Manor homes to the north of the property, said Fuller.
“This plan locates [the buildings] furthest from the adjoining neighbors and out of any flood plains,” said Fuller. Moving the building out of the flood plain and to higher ground will reduce the amount of runoff that goes directly into Rock Run, said Fuller. Rock Run’s headwaters are nearby, several hundred yards northeast of Yousif’s property.
“We said to ourselves, ‘let’s really get out of the most critical areas,’” said Fuller. Fuller said that they could have modified the existing structure, but opted not to. “This is a lot cleaner, and a lot more environmentally sound solution.”
Initial plans are to use sustainable, green building techniques for the new facility, said Dusty Rood, an environmental consultant with Rodgers Consulting who is working on the project. This could include solar panels and porous concrete in the driveway and parking areas to reduce runoff, Rood said.
Fuller said that he anticipates the new facility would meet minimum LEED standards, but that the specific building techniques had not yet been decided upon. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards are nationally-accepted building standards that use a point scale to grade projects on their energy efficiency and environmental impact. Montgomery County offers tax credits to builders who meet minimum LEED standards.
Anthony Consoli, an architect with DNC Architects, said that all building plans are preliminary and subject to change, but that the three-building cluster is one that they are particularly fond of. One building would be for medical offices, the other would hold the medical spa, lodging, and dining and classroom areas. They will be adjoined by a greenhouse that will grow organic vegetables, said Consoli.
YOUSIF’S GOAL in redesigning the property, he said, is to create a secluded, tranquil environment for his clients. This would be achieved in part by the construction of the facility at the back of the lot, but also by substantial reforestation, said Fuller. The current facility is largely barren, the result of an old baseball diamond, Yousif said. Replanting the lot with trees would create a relaxing and more environmentally sound atmosphere, said Yousif.
The proposed facility would serve as a good transitional use of the land between the economic center of Potomac Village and the residential areas just north of it, said Fuller.
The community wouldn’t have to worry about the facility operating for a short period of time and then converting to residential use, Fuller said.
“This [plan] is so specific around its use, frankly if it went away I’m not sure what could be put here,” said Fuller. “If it comes across as a flexible building, we’ve not done our job.”
“I think it will be good for Potomac,” said Yousif. “I want it to be something that Potomac can enjoy and be proud of.”
"IT'S A TOUGH piece of property,” said Kline. Because much of the property is in a flood plain, little more than an acre is suitable for building purposes, said Fuller. The existing structure was approved under a special exception before the county's environmental regulations were very stringent, Fuller said.
Kline said that the property has an unusual zoning history and has functioned in the past as a private residence, Realtor offices, and the bed and breakfast.
According to the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, Yousif bought the property in May of 2005 for $1.7 million from Kevin T. Keyes. Ron Furman sold the property in 1998 to Independent National Mortgage Company, who in turn sold the property to Keyes in 1999.
The property is in an RE-2 zone that allows for 2-acre residential lots, said Callum Murray, of the Montgomery Planning Board staff. The bed and breakfast operated under a special exception, Murray said, but Yousif's project raises issues that have never been dealt with before and there is no language in the county's zoning ordinances either allowing or barring such use.
"This type of development is still so new around the country that there really isn't much about them in the books," said Murray.
Consequently a Zoning Text Amendment will have to be written that describes the use, said Murray. That zoning Text Amendment, if approved, would create a new type of special exception for use in the county's zoning ordinances that would apply to facilities such as Yousif's, said Kline. Though it would be written with Dr. Yousif's property in mind, Zoning Text Amendments apply throughout the county and are not site-specific, said George Barnes of the West Montgomery County Citizens Association, and that troubles him.
“Anytime you get a [Zoning Text Amendment] it’s not a simple matter,” said Barnes. “It has implications not only for this site but for all over the county.”
THE PLANS for the facility are in a very preliminary stage, said Rood, and nothing official has been submitted to the Planning Board. Rood said that he and Fuller have met with the Planning Board’s staff, and thus far the project has gotten a favorable reception.
“In our initial discussions they understand what we’re trying to do,” said Rood, “and nobody’s slammed the door in our face.”
"It absolutely would be [an environmental improvement],” said Barnes. Yousif and his team of architects met with members of the board of directors for the West Montgomery County Citizens Association on Monday, Feb. 26 to discuss their plans.
“It would get the house out of there… [and] all the improvements to the property would be out of the stream buffer, it would be replanted—all of that [would] help the property,” said Barnes.
Despite the environmental upgrades, Barnes said that he has seen too many projects in Potomac begin with high aspirations only to ultimately veer away from their original intentions.
“The uses seem relatively benign,” said Barnes. “It’s low-impact, but you know these things go, they tend to get a life of their own later on. We’ve been through this too many times to be overly optimistic.”