Ground Breaking Held For Frederick Towne Center

April 19, 2016 / / News

By Kevin McManus, WFMD Radio
Saturday, April 16, 2016

It’s considered to be an important step in revitalizing the Golden Mile in Frederick. Elected officials and other dignitaries gathered Saturday morning for a groundbreaking at the closed Frederick Town Mall. The plan is to demolish the old mall and replace it with the Frederick Towne Center, which is expected to have 15 retail spaces, anchored by the new Wal Mart Supercenter as well as Boscov’s and Home Depot.

“There’s more than 1.6-million square feet of gross retail space out here on the Golden Mile, not including what we’re about to take down,” says Richard Griffin, the Director of the Department of Economic Development in Frederick. “We’re going to add about another half-million square feet with this project, bringing our total gross square footage of retail out on the Golden Mile to over two-million square feet.”

DLC Management will develop the property. Its Director of Leasing is Adam Greenberg. “Standing here in an empty parking lot in front of a shuttered mall I find it very exciting to envision what’s to come,” he says. “The view from here will be much different in the not-so-distant future. The view will be that of a vibrant town center where people will come to shop. to dine and to gather.” Greenberg says the project is expected to be completed by December, 2017.

Attorney Dave Severn, whose a member of the Board of the Golden Mile Alliance, says this center could be the go-to place in Frederick once again. “This is the place to be in Frederick  for a long. And we’re confident that with this redevelopment plan, it will be that place again, along with the rest of the Golden Mile,” he said. He noted that he liked coming to the old Frederick Town Mall in the past  because it offered free gift wrapping on Christmas Eve.

Justin Kiska, the President of the Golden Mile Alliance, hopes that the perception of the Golden Mile as the vacant Frederick Town Mall will change with this project. “That image that has come to symbolize the Golden Mile, for good or bad, is finally coming down,” he says;. “And it is going to be replaced by a exciting,vibrant, and bright new addition to the Route 40 Corridor with the Frederick Towne Center.” He says the Frederick Towne Center will have 40,000 square feet of retail space, and that will mean 15 new businesses,including two restaurant sites, at the Frederick Towne Center.

Later on, Greenberg said no leases have been signed by prospective tenants, but there is a strong interest in the site by some retailers.