I'm sure you have all heard about the plans to redevelop the LL
Bean building outside the Columbia Mall into an open air lifestyle
center. This is the new trend in Downtown Retail across the Country as
enclosed Shopping Malls are becoming a thing of the past. Examples of
what is being proposed include the Avenue at White Marsh, Hunt Valley
Towne Centre, the Rio in Gaithersburg, and Bowie Towne Centre. Owings
Mills Mall will be one by the 2015 as well. One way Columbia differs
from Retail trends is that their enclosed Mall still does great business
despite using a dating Retail concept which is something of an anomaly.
I support the new lifestyle center component whole heartily and I think
a second one would be the icing on the cake.
The area of the Mall near Sears, the Cheese Cake Factory, and The
Movie Theatre has become a happening place in recent years. Before these
additions to the Mall outdoor plaza style space was almost non existent
around the Mall. One should note that the Lakefront does boast these
amenities but not the Retail offerings of the Mall. In the early 2000s
when these exterior buildings opened around this section of the Mall it
was no surprise that would become something of a Community gathering
spot. Could these new Restaurants have hurt the Lakefront?
LL Bean is mostly a catalogue company so the Columbia Mall has had
an honor bestowed upon by having an actual Retail store as part of its
tenant roster. The placement of LL Bean has proven to be an obstacle to a
Mall that just does have enough space for a growing list of Retailers
waiting to sign leases. In addition LL Bean has said that although they
would like to stay at the Mall, their building is too large for their
needs. With that little bit of info it would only seem necessary that LL
Bean demolishing their building in favor of a smaller one. With the
space created by the demolition of LL Bean, there would then be
availability to build a promenade that would act as an expansion to the
existing plaza flanked Retailers that haven't been able to get inside
the Mall. Hence a Lifestyle Center. And if that weren't enough LL Bean
will now have a store that's more appropriate for its needs. Preparation
for the new Mall entrance is already underway, J Crew (located at the
once and future Mall entrance) is moving to a new location as we speak.
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| Proposed Residences in the Warfield District |
The new lifestyle center in addition to the 800 new residential
units going up on the three vacant land parcels near Sears will
certainly bring a long awaited vibrant life to Downtown Columbia, well
just that one area. The Mall, in all its glory can also act as a
hindrance that divides Downtown into two. Don't believe me? Go Downtown
and look at the crowd around the Movie Theatre and then take a look at
the lakefront and while you're at it take a look at what's going on
along Little Patuxent Parkway adjacent to Lord & Taylor it doesn't
seem like the same place does it?
My personal vision for the redevelopment of Downtown Columbia would
be to see the Lord & Taylor side of the Mall come to life as a
means of unifying all of Downtown from the Cheesecake Factory all the
way to the Lakefront. The way to bring Lord & Taylor to life, at
least in my mind would be to add a lifestyle center not unlike the one
that is being planned where LL Bean is. The Mall's owners and developers
are quite confident that Retailers are interested in the proposed
lifestyle center that I think a second one will be filled easily. In
order to make this happen, Lord & Taylor would have to be
reconfigured drastically if not demolished completely. If all the
anchors of the Mall Lord & Taylor appears to have the smallest
crowd. I think if Lord & Taylor became a smaller out building with
its current site acting a Mall entrance that would be the perfect
beginning for the second lifestyle center.
Now how would the addition of a second lifestyle center unify
Downtown? Well, the new entrance created by moving J Crew is directly
across from the entrance to Lord & Taylor. If Lord & Taylor were
demolished and relocated that small corridor of the Mall would make a
perfect "cut through" for Downtown. If the main corridor of the Mall
were cut in two and the cut through between what is currently J. Crew
and Lord & Taylor were made outdoors and open 24 hours a day to
pedestrian traffic, I believe that that will play a huge part in
unifying Downtown.
With the proposed lifestyle center gathering steam and appearing to be a hit, it begs the question; why just one?
