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	August 1986
Closing date	2013 (Except Macy's, JCPenney, and AMC Theaters)
Developer	The Rouse Company
Owner	General Growth Properties
No. of stores and services	148
No. of anchor tenants	2
Total retail floor area	1,080,000 sq ft (100,000 m2)
No. of floors	2
Website	www.owingsmillsmall.com

Owings Mills Mall is a large shopping mall in the Baltimore County, Maryland, community of Owings Mills that is owned and managed by General Growth Properties. 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 in 2013 and will be redeveloped into a lifestyle center similar to that of Hunt Valley Towne Centre and The Avenue at White Marsh. However, Macy's, JCPenney, and AMC Theaters will remain.

The mall's current anchor stores are Macy's and JC Penney. Previous anchors were Boscov's,^[1] Lord & Taylor,^[2] Saks Fifth Avenue,^[3] and Sears.^[4] IFL (International Furniture Liquidators) is 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 has experienced the closure of several national stores, leaving many vacancies in this once upscale mall.^[5]

History [edit]

The outside of Owings Mills Mall

Owings Mills Mall was developed by The Rouse Company and opened in July 1986 as an upscale 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 90's. Exclusive and upscale stores such as Saks, William 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 [edit]

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 [edit]

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 that started a perception that Owings Mills Mall was unsafe.

Store closings [edit]

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]

Final closure [edit]

WBAL-TV reported on November 10, 2011, that Owings Mills Mall will be demolished in 2013, with a new "outdoor style" mall similar to the revamped Hunt Valley Towne Centre to be completed by 2014.^[14]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Owings Mills Mall