Owings Mills Mall

This article is about the indoor mall in Owings Mills. For the adjacent development, see Owings Mills Town Center.
Owings Mills Mall
Location Owings Mills, Maryland, United States
Coordinates 39°24′27″N 76°47′23″W / 39.40750°N 76.78972°W / 39.40750; -76.78972Coordinates: 39°24′27″N 76°47′23″W / 39.40750°N 76.78972°W / 39.40750; -76.78972
Opening date July 30, 1986
Closing date September 23, 2015
Developer The Rouse Company
Owner Kimco Realty
No. of stores and services 155
No. of anchor tenants 3
Total retail floor area 1,080,000 sq ft (100,000 m2)
No. of floors 2
Parking 5,300 spaces
Website www.owingsmillsmall.com

Owings Mills Mall was a large shopping mall that once hosted 155 stores and eateries, in the Baltimore County, Maryland, community of Owings Mills that is owned and managed by Kimco Realty. While its main entrance is off Red Run Boulevard between Painters Mill Road and Owings Mills Boulevard, the mall is also accessible from the exit ramps of I-795. It was originally known as Owings Mills Town Center, but a new nearby development in the vicinity has now been given that name. The mall is scheduled for demolition and redevelopment into a lifestyle center similar to that of Hunt Valley Towne Centre and The Avenue at White Marsh, though the movie theater and some anchor-store spaces will remain.

The mall's final anchor store was JC Penney, which closed its doors on April 8, 2016. Previous anchors were Macy's, Boscov's,[1] Lord & Taylor,[2] Saks Fifth Avenue,[3] and Sears.[4] IFL (International Furniture Liquidators) was temporarily located in the space vacated by Lord & Taylor. Sticks 'n Stuff, a furniture retailer, was temporarily located in the space vacated by Sears until 2004. The mall experienced the closure of several national stores, leaving many vacancies in this once upscale mall.[5]

History

The outside of Owings Mills Mall

Owings Mills Mall was developed by The Rouse Company and opened in July 1986 as Owings Mills Fashion Mall. The area was identified as a primary growth center in 1979 by Baltimore County and originally intended to be built around a lake.[6] The Rouse Company planned to develop the mall and surrounding area similar to its town center project in Columbia, Maryland.[7] Environmental regulations changed during the time between the development of Columbia and Owings Mills and the Army Corps of Engineers concluded the lake would have a negative environmental impact.[8] The mall was built, but the area does not include the waterfront focal point initially planned.

Owings Mills Mall is also located within close proximity to the Owings Mills Metro Subway Station. When the Baltimore Metro Subway first opened to Owings Mills in 1987, though shuttle bus service was provided, a long walk was possible along a trail between the two locations. In 1992, a woman was murdered while walking on this trail.[9] As a result of safety concerns, the trail was closed. Shuttle bus service had been eliminated several months before the murder took place, and only regular bus service at lower frequencies was now available. After the closure of the trail, a walk between the mall and metro became impractical for most, thereby requiring the use of regular bus service. In 1997, bus service between the two locations was improved. The ease of public transportation allows visitors from inner city urban areas to get to and from this mall much more easily than other suburban malls in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

The inside of Owings Mills Mall

The mall was quite popular throughout the mid-late eighties and well into the '90s. Exclusive and upscale stores such as Saks, Williams Sonoma, and Benetton were tenants. As a result of the renovations at other local Baltimore area suburban malls Towson Town Center and The Mall in Columbia, crime committed in and around the mall, and the shift in the socio-economic climate of the community surrounding the mall, Owings Mills Mall steadily lost business since that time.

Owings Mills Mall received growing competition as other local malls have expanded. Towson Town Center added Nordstrom in 1991 and that was the final blow to Owings Mills Mall upscale status. The Rouse Company purchased Towson Town Center in 1998.[10] The Rouse Company and General Growth Properties have continued to promote Towson Town Center and The Mall in Columbia as premier malls, while leaving Owings Mills Mall stuck in the middle.

Peripheral properties

Owings Mills Restaurant Park opened next to the mall in 1998; it is a collection of five sit-down restaurants.[11] General Cinema opened a 17-screen movie theater adjacent to the mall in 1998,[12] now AMC Theatres. A new, mixed-use, transit-oriented development, Owings Mills Metro Centre, is under construction near the Owings Mills metro stop as of summer 2012.

Crime

On September 25, 1992, Christina Marie Brown was found dead from a gunshot wound in the back of the head at close range. Her purse, containing about $120, was taken.[13] On the day of her murder, Ms. Brown, an employee of a cleaning company under contract to Saks, had left work and was believed to be heading to her home in Baltimore City. She was shot after she resisted a robbery attempt on the mile-long pathway from the mall to the metro station. The pathway was immediately closed and later torn up in response to the murder.[9] The murder received heavy local media attention, which led to a perception that Owings Mills Mall was unsafe.

Store closings

Since then, Saks has closed its doors and many more have followed. An October 2010 story on the mall in the Baltimore Sun stated that the mall was 22.6% vacant.[5] An October 2014 story in the Baltimore Business Journal stated that the mall was "about half vacant."[14]

Final closure

WBAL-TV reported on November 10, 2011, that Owings Mills Mall would be demolished in 2013, with a new "outdoor style" mall similar to the revamped Hunt Valley Towne Centre to be completed by 2014.[15]

In late September 2015, the interior of the mall was closed, leaving only the Macy's and JCPenney and outparcel restaurants and movie theater in operation.[16] Macy's closed in November 2015, and JCPenney announced on January 13, 2016, that would close its Owings Mills location in the Spring.

Fixtures from the mall were auctioned in March 2016.[17] Demolition of the mall is proceeding as of August 2016.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Zumer, Bryna (2008-08-06). "Owings Mills' Boscov's store will close". Owings Mills Times. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  2. ↑ Sentementes, Gus G. (2002-02-23). "Store quits Owings Mills mall". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  3. ↑ Bowie, Liz (1997-04-19). "Rouse plans to expand Owings Mills mall Move anticipates arrival of 75,000 new residents". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  4. ↑ Mirabella, Lorraine (January 14, 2001). "Sears calls it quits at Owings Mills". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  5. 1 2 Walker, Andrea (17 October 2010). "Owings Mills Mall trying to find its identity". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  6. ↑ Carson, Larry (1992-05-14). "Proposed 100-acre lake for Owings Mills finally given the heave-ho Baltimore County had put $2 million into the project". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  7. ↑ baltimoreinnerspace.blogspot.com (2008-10-01). "Owings Mills". Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  8. ↑ Deal-Zimmerman, Michelle (2008-05-18). "It's nice, even without a lake". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  9. 1 2 Brandt, Ed (1992-11-24). "Owings Mills to close pathway to the mall". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  10. ↑ McGowan, Phillip (2005-02-20). "Killing in Towson puts new spotlight on security at mall". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  11. ↑ Harrison, David (1998-06-19). "Restaurants sign on for Rouse Co. center". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  12. ↑ De Marco, Donna (1998-06-05). "New cinema concept may hit Owings Mills". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  13. ↑ Small, Glenn (1993-01-08). "Jury resumes today in Owings Mills Mall slaying trial BALTIMORE COUNTY". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  14. ↑ "There's still no plan for the Owings Mills Mall, but Kimco isn't selling". 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  15. ↑ "Decades-Old Mall To Be Demolished". 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
  16. ↑ Sun, Baltimore. "Owings Mills Mall closes the doors on its interior". Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  17. ↑ "Owings Mills Mall remnants — from escalators to flag poles — head to auction - Baltimore Business Journal". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  18. ↑ Dan Bell / Film It (2016-08-08), Demolition Time : The End of the Owings Mills Mall, retrieved 2016-08-22

External links

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