Welcome to the fifth installment of The Dark Side of White Flint, a frank and candid study of the less-"wunnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful" side of urbanizing the suburbs.
To check out the first 4 photo galleries of the demolition of White Flint Mall, click here.
One has to wonder why a "smart" growth organization gave White Flint an award as a smart growth community. With the exception of one JBG tower I actually think is quite nice, the main drag through White Flint looks the same as it did 20 years ago.
Except that a pleasantly futuristic, upscale suburban mall is rapidly being reduced to piles of rubble.
Maybe it was the Gordon Gekko #FirstWorldProblems Award.
Just because you can do a thing, doesn't necessarily mean you should do a thing. Especially just for the cause of the unholy dollar.
Councilmember Roger Berliner, how would you describe the "new" White Flint?
"More muscular," Berliner said on one of many vanity programs funded by taxpayers on Montgomery County Channel 6.
From the pictures below, White Flint certainly looks muscular. Downright Schwarzenegger-esque... the way he looked after reading the box office totals for his last movie.
Muscular?
Take these photos, add text from the pro-development White Flint propaganda, and you have a wonderful, coffee table volume entitled, Charles Atlas Shrugged.
Seriously, though, you can click to enlarge these photos to examine every ghastly detail. Note the supports holding up the last surviving parts of the mall from collapse. The dream is about as real as the "White Flint MARC Station" is at this point. (Remember that one?)
Welcome to the Dark Side, and stay tuned for more.
24 comments:
I really don't get your obsession with this demo. The mall sucked, it was ugly and a huge waste of space, its gone now, something new and better will take its place. At what age do people immediately decide that everything new sucks and everything old rules? Change happens, deal with it.
I hear there's a new chicken tender on the menu at KFC.
They're not tearing down WF---they are tearing down Bloomingdales.
Lord & Taylor, Cheesecake Factory, Williams Sonoma, The Gap and the rest of the mall is still in business and won't be closing for a year or so.
Bloomingdales owned its space at the Mall, not Lerner.
The Gap is gone as well.
I think this is newsworthy. White Flint was a pretty decent mall in its day, and I think the design wasn't that dated. I think a facelift instead of full demolition would've solved things fine.
10:38 just tearing down bloomingdales? You must not be a WF shopper. All the stores are closing up..gap is gone..happened weeks ago. A lot of small businesses in there closing up as well. The restaurants are the only draw right now.
Its newsworthy stuff.. total transformation of the shopping experience.
That other anonymous is right. The only demolition scheduled now is the Bloomies site. That property is not owned by Lerner and is not a part of the Mall. The rest of the stores could go dark,but it has nothing to do with the tear down on the Bloomingdales pad.
The rest of WF will come down---but that is not happening today. And has nothing to do with this demo.
Again, the mall sucked. Big deal.
If it was so bad, why did I have to park so far away to eat at The Cheesecake Factory? In fact, within the last 2 years, a mall spokesperson claimed they were 100% leased. The mall design was modern, and certainly not ugly, but architecture is always subjective. I'm not opposed to change, but certainly would never have expected a successful White Flint Mall to be torn down this early.
That's about as true as the claim below that Gap is still open at White Flint.
Not true. Gap and Baby Gap are both closed. As are most other stores. My recollection is that Lord & Taylor is going to ultimately be the only remaining store in the future. Like Bloomingdale's, they own their building.
It is a big deal, as the loss of more affordable department stores will generate more and longer automobile trips, which is the opposite of "smart" growth claims. The same thing happened when Hecht's/Macy's closed in Friendship Heights. Now I have to drive to Montgomery Mall or Tysons Corner. The new clothing store tenants in White Flint won't be for working families. Just more boutiques for wealthy new residents of luxury condos - but is there even demand to fill these units at full price?
White Flint wasn't exactly for working families either homie and sorry the trip to Montgomery Mall is "longer" for you. Next time, the county should be sure to build the department stores of your choosing around the corner from your house, complete with a McDonalds, KFC and big surface parking lot so you can drive your car there.
Plus, who said you had to drive all these places? We are not living in LA, you dont NEED to get in your car to go everywhere. I cant believe the best argument you have against creating more and better residences and stores(that are needed in this area) is that you have to drive an extra 2 miles...this is the problem with MoCo, we would be much better off if this mindset did not exist.
If you need to carry bulky shopping bags from the mall, most people sensibly aren't going to take a bus to Montgomery Mall. I do take the bus or Metro whenever it does make sense, however. I might spend more time on the bus than shopping at the mall, so that doesn't make sense. My only point about driving extra miles is that White Flint's "smart" growth was supposed to reduce auto miles. By forcing nearby residents to go to other malls, that is increasing auto miles.
The mall didn't suck. They offered some good stores like H&M and decent restaurants.
Dave & Busters is a big part of the night time economy for younger MoCo folk. It will be missed.
Sadly, the new residences most likely will start at $2,000 for a 1 bedroom. Out of reach for most young people.
White Flint was a nice mall before they decided to pull the rug out from under it. It was in need of some interior updating, which I'm sure would have happened if its future had been more secure. Not as big as Montgomery mall, but more convenient to get to due to Metro access. But I guess driving to Montgomery Mall supports smart growth... um, somehow?
It's interesting to note that Tysons is going through a transformation, but they are keeping their mall and building housing next to it.
That's one of the strangest things about the demolition. Although the aesthetics of the current entrance, and long setback of the mall structure, are far better than the concrete canyon vision of the White Flint sector plan, there was plenty of space to build adjacent to it. The all-or-nothing plan promises huge profits, but the questionable demand makes this a risky gamble for Lerner and the community.
As a former resident of Chevy chase AND bethesda i remember when bloomies opened. It was wonderful and WF itself was great with eastpy access, upscale shops and shoppers. But we moved from the area 13 years ago and really havent been back so we were shocked -- SHOCKED -- that WF was being torn down and rebuilt. Had it deteriorated that much? It's hard to believe. Its not like in the get-tow. WTF?
No, White Flint had not declined at all. Your memory serves you well, as all that changed regarding the mall since you moved is the county's zoning and growth policies. And passage of a new White Flint sector plan, that gave away the store to developers. As I mentioned above, a mall spokesperson said they were 100% leased less than 2 years ago. It's simply a case of developer greed winning at the expense of the greater community. The mall was going full steam, and the landowner just pulled the plug.
My very first job was at WF Eatery. Worked at Submarine works and that pizza place (Italiano??) back in 1986. I thought it was the best food court until they decided to close it. My manager was tough on me, but she did build my character.
My sister managed the suncoast there about 6 or so Yrs ago. Rent was really high and there was very little business in the whole mall. It makes more sense to close it. Only D&B and the restaurants did good business.
When I was a child growing up in PG county (!) a trip to WF was a treat. Must have been the glass elevators and the eatery. Right after college, I lived in Kensington for many years and never visited the mall unless it was absolutely necessary. To me, the demolition all seems like a gigantic waste fueled by corrupt politicians and developer greed.
Maybe this is the reverse of "pave paradise and put up a parking lot." Only if they let the grass grow.
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