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The Planning Board unanimously approved a seven-story commercial office building on Century Boulevard in Germantown last week, but long-term plans for the site are expected to change after Germantown's Master Plan is updated.

The board approved the preliminary plan and site plan review for 235,000 square feet of office space and 709 parking spaces on 12 undeveloped acres east of Aircraft Drive, according to Planning Board documents. The property is designated as part of the Town Center neighborhood in an ongoing update to the Germantown 1989 Master Plan, which is expected to be adopted by the County Council in fall 2009.

The property is expected to receive more density and a higher building limit than the seven stories in the plan, Elza Hisel-McCoy, a coordinator in the planning department's development review division, said at the Nov. 13 meeting.

The plan conforms to the current Master Plan but is inconsistent with the update, which recommends mixed-use development and structured parking, Hisel-McCoy said.

"The Germantown master plan under development is called ‘Germantown Forward,' and an office building surrounded by surface parking is not very forward," Hisel-McCoy said.

Applicant Matan Development of Germantown plans to add more buildings and structured parking when Germantown improves and the market supports it, according to its attorney, Bob Dalrymple of Linowes and Blocher.

The proposed Corridor Cities Transitway, which would connect the Shady Grove Metro station to Clarksburg via light rail or rapid bus, would pass in front of the property.

There is 1 million square feet of office space on Century Boulevard and about 10 percent is vacant, according to Sue Edwards, a county planner assigned to the Germantown area.

"This is a placeholder, but it could become the only game in town for the foreseeable future," Dalrymple said. "…Despite what you've heard, there's a market out there that's wanting to be tapped, and we want to get to that market."