At our Montgomery County Economic & Real Estate forecast event on Friday, EYA's Bob Youngentob says that the proliferation of transit-oriented developments in MoCo is a historical trend for the county, and that new projects harken back to the area's development roots. And as for the future of county economic center, Bethesda, Bob says a transition to greater density might be necessary to keep the city growing, which unfortunately could result in the elimination of older single-family homes downtown.

MD Dept of Business and Economic Development program director Jayson Knott (with Hughes' Matthew Mohebbi) says that MoCo must commercialize the research and development happening in the county and that attracting investment from out-of-state will be a focus of his department. Jayson says some of the $84M raised for InvestMaryland, a funding source for growth companies, will be used in MoCo. Matthew adds that competition for the county isn't just local, but global, and that a sound relationship between the public and private sectors is necessary to stave off that competition.

Chevy Chase Land Co CEO David Smith weighed in on the Purple Line and says that an east-west connection would be a crucial part of the county's growth.

Spotted in the crowd before the event: Forrester Construction's Yeny Kerrigan and Fidelity Mechanical Services' Miran Vucic.

Also snapped: Comstock Partners' Dan Slear and MRP Realty's Zach Wade.