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Mal Comes DOWN THE
Now just an eyesore, the once-glitzy Owings Mills Mall is being demolished to make way for redevelopment By Marc Shapiro and Justin Silberman
the Owings Mills Fashion Mall (as it was called then) was touted as “the cornerstone of one of the biggest building boons on the East Coast,” WJZ’s Frank Luber reported. “Tres chic, that’s probably the one phrase that describes the new mall in Owings Mills,” another report said. Champagne toasts marked the grand opening. Pink feathers fell from the ceiling in celebration. e upscale fashion mall meant new development and new jobs in Owings Mills, which was designated a growth area by Baltimore County. e 820,000-square-foot mall opened with 155 shops and on its first day was visited by an estimated 100,000-plus people. “You would see people going to the mall wearing fur coats,” said Baltimore County Councilman Julian Jones, whose 4th District includes the mall and nearby Metro Centre at Owings Mills. “at’s a whole different story … finding out how we got from there to here.” Fast forward 30 years: What was once the center of Owings Mills is actively being demolished to make way for an open-air shopping center. Once the pride of the community, in recent years, the mall has earned the reputation of being an infamous eyesore. “It’s been a long time coming, there’s no question,” Jones said. jewishtimes.com
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David Stuck
When it opened in 1986,
Markowitz, who grew up on nearby Owings Mills Boulevard, said he frequented the mall as a customer and employee. In high school, he spent a year-and-a-half working at Scoops, a candy shop, and Vacarro’s, a café. “It was simply just the place to be,” Markowitz said. “To have a job there was cool, because it kind of put you in the hub of things. Most of the people I worked with were my friends, and my then-girlfriend, who went to a neighboring high school, worked with me as well. Even the managers were the friends for the older generation of our siblings’ friends.” For many who grew up or made their home in the community like Markowitz, the mall will always hold a special place in their hearts. It’s where some worked their first job, opened a business and joined with family and friends for leisure and entertainment. Marci Rubin, a 30-year-old Reisterstown native, has fond memories of her experiences at the mall. One in particular was the time she went to get her ears pierced at Claire’s with her mother and grandmother, when her screaming and crying drew a lot of unwanted attention. “My mom and grandma
The Conservatory, once home to dozens of eateries, is now strewn with mall remnants and dusty air as the mall is demolished.
“Malls in general are dinosaurs unless you are number one.” — Stuart Silberman, former
e mall certainly had its heyday. It was home to Saks Fih Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Sears, Macy’s and J.C. Penney. A 17-screen movie theater, which is still in operation, opened in 1998. Owings Mills is not the only town that has lost its mall or the stores inside of it. America has been de-malling for years, abandoning the enclosed shopping centers that were built in large numbers in the 30
Baltimore Jewish Times August 19, 2016
1970s and ’80s in favor of the open-air outdoor centers a la Hunt Valley. David Markowitz said his first trip through the Owings Mills was as an unassuming 6-year-old with his parents in 1986, the year it opened. Now 36, Markowitz said he still remembers the sight of the glitzy pink marble floors, imported from France, speckled with gold dust and topped with confetti leover from the mall’s opening.
David Stuck
THE GOOD OLE DAYS
Main phto: Marc Shapiro; inset: David Stuck
COO of Changes Inc.
thought it was hilarious, and I remember them laughing,” Rubin said of the incident. “A security guard in that mall even came down to check on the screaming child in Claire’s. I’ll never forget that.” As she got older, Rubin said she would have her parents drop her off to meet her friends at pre-arranged times. Once together, they would get into all kinds of mischief, she said. “Once we got old enough for our parents to let us hang out at the mall alone, it meant freedom,” Rubin said. “It meant I could hang out with my fellow ‘mall rats’ — that’s what we called ourselves — and goof off and do stupid things and confuse the security guards and eat when and what we wanted and just be teenagers. It was a place where we could all go and be together.” But it was not always all fun and games for Rubin and her friends. She said she did learn some valuable life lessons along the way, such as budgeting her money, and formed lifelong friendships that still continue to this day.
LOCAL BUSINESS FLOURISHED While big-name national retailers put the mall on the map, local business owners did their part to add some flavor. Marlene Kurland, 68, a longtime Owings Mills resident, said she had
been in search of a permanent location for her business, Eye Natural Cosmetics, aer renting space in Carrolltown Mall in Eldersburg and in downtown Baltimore. So when a 600-square-foot spot in the Conservatory opened, she jumped at the chance to fill the space. She noted that the success she had at Owings Mills in her early years spurred her to open three more locations at the White Marsh Mall, Cranberry Mall and Marley Station Mall. “We had a great run and were very busy,” Kurland said. “ere were just the biggest, best chains of national stores anywhere, and we were right in the center of it.” It was during the mid-1990s, Kurland said, that she noticed things really started to move in a downward spiral with the sudden departure of upscale department retailer Saks Fih Avenue. Tenant aer tenant later le the mall, including Kurland, who closed up in 1999 aer 11 years. “To be honest, I just don’t think the town supported the high-end stores and idea behind the mall aer a while, which was a shame because of how beautiful it was,” Kurland said. “People just weren’t coming in anymore like they were in the beginning. I think once Towson Town Center opened and started establishing itself, it was pretty much the beginning of the end.”
heavily in Owings Mills but invest in Columbia and Towson,” Jones said. “In large part, the demise of Owings Mills sure helped those other malls.” Stuart Silberman, who was chief operating officer of the now-defunct Baltimore-based urban-wear clothing store Changes Inc., opened the 10th of his 12 locations at Owings Mills in late 1997. (Editor’s note: Stuart Silberman is the father of Baltimore Jewish Times reporter Justin Silberman.) Initially, he said, Owings Mills was one of his company’s most profitable locations because it started appealing to younger consumers. But aer the Rouse Co. of Columbia, the original owner of the mall, sold the property to General Growth Properties in 2004, Silberman, 67, said it became harder to meet
increasing rent demands. at, coupled with the recession, ultimately led to the business closing. “ere wasn’t a draw anymore,” Silberman said. “e mall was becoming empty, and the traffic fell off. Malls in general are dinosaurs unless you are number one.”
“It’s been a long time coming, there’s no question.” — Baltimore County Councilman Julian Jones
NEW LIFE FOR THE MALL Talk of redeveloping the mall began publicly in 2011 with Kimco Realty, the company that planned to redevelop the mall in conjunction with co-owner General Growth Properties. But that redevelopment came with conditions. Around that same time, Greenberg Gibbons unveiled plans for Foundry Row, a Wegmans-anchored development at
A conceptual drawing from Kimco shows what Owings Mills Mall redevelopment could look like.
Marc Shapiro
Community members and officials point to a number of factors in explaining the decline of the mall. While Owings Mills was a designated county growth area, original plans called for the area to be developed around a lake much like Columbia. Environmental concerns forced those plans to be scrapped, resulting in a more sprawling style of development rather than that of a planned community. Community members oen cite changes in socioeconomics of the area, demographics and crime. While nearly 10 years apart, two murders that took place at or near the mall did, at the very least, alarm the community. In September 1992, Christina Marie Brown, a 28-year-old employee of Saks Fih Avenue,
was fatally shot while walking on the path between the mall and the Owings Mills metro station. In December 2001, Kevin Garmzaban, who was a top wrestler at Owings Mills High School and a freshman at Carroll Community College, was killed by two teens in a botched drug deal. While community perceptions and actual crime statistics differed, these incidents undoubtedly had an effect on the community’s psyche. e Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 did the mall no favors either. Retailers and anchors retreated, and some anchor spaces changed stores in what felt like seasonal changes. “At some point, [mall owner] General Growth Properties decided it would not invest
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http://properties.kimcorealty.com
THE DEMISE
the site of the former Solo Cup factory on Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills. Kimco officials at the time said that if the Foundry Row property got its rezoning request to allow for retail, it would abandon mall redevelopment. e developer, along with officials from David S. Brown enterprises as well as some community members, actively campaigned against Foundry Row, saying the corridor couldn’t support that much retail, Reisterstown Road couldn’t handle the traffic, and there were environmental concerns at the former factory site. Other community members took the side of Greenberg Gibbons, ecstatic at the possibility of a Wegmans. In August 2012 — the mall was 55 percent vacant by then — Foundry Row got its zoning. Wegmans opens on Sept. 18. And Kimco was true to its word, at least for a few years. In November 2015, with only Macy’s and J.C. Penney le, the mall closed its interior doors. Macy’s closed that month, and J.C. Penney followed soon aer. Earlier this year, Kimco bought out General Growth’s 50 percent
ownership stake in the mall for a reported $11.5 million, and acquired the anchor stores’ parcels for an additional $12.7 million. Kimco has offered few specifics about its plans. “Kimco is considering several different retail alternatives, including a new, open-air power center concept, that will enhance the available shopping options and complement the surrounding community,” a company statement said. “A large-scale redevelopment has many moving pieces and takes an extended period of time to successfully execute. We are encouraged by the considerable interest we’ve received from potential retailers at this early stage. As Kimco’s plans and tenancy for Owings Mills become more clear, we will provide an update.” Jones, who is holding two community input meetings this month, said rumors about a Super Wal-Mart have residents concerned about the possible fates of the Owings Mills location and the Randallstown store, which has been at the center of revitalization in the Liberty Road corridor. “You can’t help but wonder what
would happen to those other two stores,” he said. e demolition of the mall is bittersweet for many community members, including Rubin. But redevelopment means a new wave of area residents will have a shopping destination. “It makes me sad that the mall is being torn down, but it seems like it was shutting down slowly for years,” Rubin said. “I would come home from college and want to pop into the mall for both shopping and nostalgia, and my favorite stores slowly started to vacate, and it made me sad. I refuse to watch the demolition video. [But] it is exciting to hear that they will be redeveloping the area.” Councilman Jones will be holding community input meetings on Owings Mills Mall redevelopment on Aug. 29 at the Baltimore County Public Library Owings Mills Branch, 10302 Grand Central Ave., from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and on Aug. 31 at the Randallstown Community Center, 3505 Resource Drive, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. JT mshapiro@midatlanticmedia.com; jsilberman@midatlanticmedia.com
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Elswhere in Owings Mills ...
Wegmans opens on Sept. 18 at Foundry Row, where construction is ongoing.
Story by Daniel Nozick | Photos by David Stuck
“Foundry Row is coming up, the Metro Centre is starting to thrive, and the mall will be the third leg of the stool.”
The Metro Centre at Owings Mills
As the Owings Mills Mall is destroyed so the area can be repurposed, the Metro Centre at Owings Mills and Foundry Row are well on their way to becoming the centers of local commerce. Foundry Row, the $140 million, 50-acre development on Reisterstown Road, will be anchored by a 130,000-square-foot Wegmans, which is set to open on Sept. 18. is staple of the shopping center will be abetted by well-known restaurant chains including Chipotle, Panera, Smashburger and Mission BBQ. Bar Louie will serve as the development’s nightlife spot. Other businesses set to open at Foundry Row include Mani Luxe salon, Massage Envy, LA Fitness, Hair Cuttery, Floyd’s 99 Barbershop, Ulta Beauty and Old Navy. Additionally, LifeBridge Health, one of the largest health care providers in Maryland, will be anchoring the office building component of the Metro Centre with a local wellness clinic. “Without a question, we are the gateway to the core downtown area at the Metro Centre,” said Brian Gibbons, chairman and CEO of Foundry Row developer Greenberg Gibbons. “A rising tide will li all boats — Foundry Row is coming up, the Metro Centre is starting to thrive, and the mall will be the third leg of the stool. We are all eager to hear the plans for the mall.” Gibbons added that the offices at Foundry Row are 92 percent leased and will be opening over the course of the next six months. Just down the road from Foundry Row and the mall is the Metro Centre at Owings Mills, which includes a housing and hospitality component in addition to retail. e 1,700 slated residential units have nearly all been filled, and a forthcoming hotel will
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Baltimore Jewish Times August 19, 2016
— Brian Gibbons, CEO of Greenberg Gibbons
feature 250 rooms and meeting and conference facilities that could accommodate 1,000 participants. Already open is the $25 million, six-story, 120,000-square-foot Baltimore County Campus building, which houses the county’s largest library branch and a branch of the Community College of Baltimore County. e Metro Centre’s plans call for more than 300,000 square feet of retail space at ground level. One shop set to open in that space is the UFood Grill. Financed in part by local resident Dr. Stephen B. Goldberg, the UFood Grill operates on the concept that fast food does not have to be inherently unhealthy.
e Grill will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, but not a single item on its menu is fried. According to Goldberg, the restaurant will “serve grass-fed organic cheeseburgers with less than 700 calories, smoothies made with real, fresh fruit and entrees such as steak tips and shrimp for dinner. Everything is made in-house; we really want options for throughout the whole day, a healthy alternative at a nice price.” Goldberg predicts that the Metro Centre will draw a lot of people because it will offer more outdoor space. Additionally, he cited that “it is a very nice alternative to living in the city when you can just
jump on the metro to get there.” When asked whether he thought there was enough room for developments at both Foundry Row and the Metro Centre, in addition to the repurposing of Owings Mills Mall, Goldberg responded, “I think [Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz] has put a lot of effort into developing all of these areas. I think the population is there to support it and draw people, and the mall closing and being repurposed to better suit the community is the best thing to happen to that area in a long time.” JT dnozick@midatlanticmedia.com
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