What's New This Fall in Maple Lawn, Fulton MD: A Local Guide
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
Between August and the end of September, three things happened on Maple Lawn Boulevard. Ciena opened a corporate office there in August. A fare-free rapid bus to Silver Spring began stopping near East Market Place on September 8. On September 30, Bozzuto said it would move its headquarters into the building next to Ciena's. Taken one at a time, each is a business-page item. Put together, they show where Maple Lawn's weekday life is concentrating: a few blocks of one boulevard, where the commuters, the new office staff and the restaurants that serve them now share the same addresses.
Montgomery County's Flash Blue route has run on U.S. 29 since October 2020. On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, it was extended into Howard County, with four new stops: Merriweather Drive near Hickory Ridge Road, Little Patuxent Parkway at Corporate Center Way, Johns Hopkins Road at APL Drive, and Maple Lawn Boulevard near East Market Place. The ride costs nothing. Buses carry bike racks, unsecured WiFi and USB charging ports.
The Business Monthly rode the first day. It summed up the service this way: like three of MTA's commuter routes, it goes to Silver Spring, but it runs both directions in both rush hours, comes much more often, and is free. At the Silver Spring end, riders get off at the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center. That is where Metrorail and MARC stop, along with more than 30 Ride On and Metrobus routes, and eventually the Purple Line.
The service runs on weekdays only, during rush hours. These are the published endpoint times:
| Direction | Morning window | Afternoon window |
|---|---|---|
| Southbound, leaving Merriweather District | 4:44 a.m. to 7:55 a.m. | 3:02 p.m. to 5:53 p.m. |
| Northbound, leaving Silver Spring | 5:25 a.m. to 7:43 a.m. | 3:25 p.m. to 7:14 p.m. |
Buses come every 16 to 20 minutes, and the full route takes about 70 minutes. Southbound trips start in Columbia, so a Maple Lawn rider boards a few stops into the route, a little after the Merriweather departure times above.
The morning schedule is lopsided. There are 12 southbound runs and six northbound. The paper read that as a service built mostly for people heading from Columbia and Maple Lawn toward the D.C. area. It also noted that every Howard County stop sits near workplaces, so the bus carries people north too. On the 7:11 a.m. run from Silver Spring, many riders got off at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and the rest rode on toward Columbia.
For now, the stops have temporary signs. Montgomery County's Ride On newsletter says permanent stations are coming later in 2026 but gives no completion date. Howard County is paying for those stations and for the cost of running the extension. It also put local money toward four new zero-emission electric buses. Montgomery County runs the service.
The bus stop has two office neighbors, at 8150 and 8160 Maple Lawn Boulevard, and both just signed major tenants.
Ciena, the network technology company, leased 28,132 square feet at 8150 Maple Lawn Boulevard. The plan was to move about 160 employees from the BWI area. In its September 30 release, St. John Properties said Ciena opened the office "last month," which means August.
Next door, Bozzuto signed for 57,837 square feet at 8160 Maple Lawn Boulevard. That covers two and a half floors of a four-story, 100,000-square-foot building. The company plans to move its headquarters and 225 employees from Greenbelt in the first quarter of 2027. It will keep a Greenbelt office as a hub for corporate services.
Together, the two moves bring roughly 385 new daytime workers to two adjacent buildings: about 160 with Ciena, whose office opened in August, and 225 more with Bozzuto in early 2027. Maple Lawn's developer counts more than 1,300 homes across the 605-acre community, plus more than 215,000 square feet of retail. As the landlord tells it, the shops and restaurants were part of the sales pitch. Matt Lenihan, St. John Properties' executive vice president of leasing, said the "wide range of walkable amenities including restaurants, shops, grocery, recreation, and an onsite hotel" appeals to companies choosing office space.
The landlord is betting on the same restaurants and shops that Maple Lawn homeowners already use for an ordinary Tuesday.
Most of the Market Place's food and errands sit on two streets, Maple Lawn Boulevard and Westside Boulevard, plus the West Market Place building at 11811. These are the places with current, verified addresses:
The 11811 West Market Place building got two new tenants this summer. Hyatt Commercial handled both leases. Its June 19, 2026 announcement said Maple Lawn Pizza & Subs had recently opened in Suite A2, and that Bruster's Real Ice Cream would open next door in July. Bruster's own location page now lists the Maple Lawn shop at 11811 W Market Pl, Suite A1, with hours and online ordering.
One space changed hands in the other direction. The Baltimore Business Journal reported in December 2025 that Banditos Bar & Kitchen had closed its Maple Lawn location. The community's online food directory still lists Banditos. If you're checking whether a particular business is open, its own website is the better source.
The office and transit changes are about weekdays. Maple Lawn's fall weekends still center on two fixed events, and one of them takes place at the same 8191 address as Lib's Grill and Mikey & Mel's.
There's one more Maple Lawn item before Howard County, and it's well behind the others. A revised plan, case ZB-1134, proposes up to 221 more detached homes in the West District. It also proposes 260 apartments on about 6.2 acres of mostly paved Business District land near Buch Way and Route 216. The petition describes a voluntary commitment to make 15 percent of the apartments moderate-income units. The applicant's phasing chart runs from 2029 to 2032.
As of now, the county's case page shows a decision pending, and the Zoning Board lists the case as awaiting the Hearing Examiner's report. Nothing in the record shows a construction start.
For now, the changes you can see are new tenants at 8150 Maple Lawn Boulevard and on the way at 8160, a temporary bus sign near East Market Place, and a few new storefronts at 11811 West Market Place. The permanent Flash stations are due later this year, and Bozzuto's move is set for the first quarter of 2027.
If you own a home near the boulevard and want to talk through what a new transit stop and two corporate neighbors could mean for your property, The Guzzone Group of Compass is glad to go over it with you. Start with a complimentary home strategy call.
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