Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.
Piles of what rubble remained of the grand White Flint Mall have been cleared from the mall property. The 1977 building, fully-leased and still modern in its design, had the plug pulled by the property owner. What does the future hold?
"White Flint offers the same glamorous showcase for big-league shopping that the Kennedy Center provides for performing arts"
- The Washington Post
November 2, 1981
Currently, they are embroiled in a lawsuit with Lord & Taylor, which remains in operation on the site. All of the demolition and abandoned appearance of the overall property surely has taken a financial toll on Lord & Taylor's foot traffic. Bravo to the department store for doing all it could to stop the demolition. The gamble the mall's former owners have taken is that residential mixed-use development will be a sure success on this site.
"'It's a stop on the circuit if you want to see Washington,' says Joel Rosenberg, whose store, Cedar Post, at White Flint is done in a turn-of-the-century warehouse decor featuring belt-driven ceiling fans. 'You go to the White House, the Washington Monument, and then White Flint.'"
- The Washington Post
November 2, 1981
With at least 9 other town centers now operating or in the works within a few miles of the former mall site, and Federal Realty already in Phase 2 of completing its Pike & Rose development a few blocks "up the Pike," that gamble is anything but a sure bet. A better one might have been to simply build the rumored Wegmans on the footprint of the demolished Bloomingdale's wing, use the parking lot around the mall to develop residential and retail buildings, and keep the mall with its movie theater, popular dining options, and upscale shopping.
"The air smells like money. To wander the marble-chip walkways is to drift in a flow of stylish humanity."
- The Washington Post
November 2, 1981
Now, we'll never know. But fans of the mall will continue to keep its spirit alive - and don't forget, the Lord & Taylor building is technically what remains of White Flint Mall. Next time you're heading out to a department store, why not give them your business as a show of support?
“But let it be. Horatio, I am dead;
Thou livest; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.”
 |
| Lord & Taylor is all that remains, its arched entrance hinting at the grand architecture that's been demolished around it |
selected chapters of
The Dark Side of White Flint:
White Flint Mall now a pile of rubble - December 23, 2015
Dave and Busters closes at White Flint Mall - August 14, 2014
AMC Loews White Flint 5 cineplex closes - February 17, 2014
No more fresh-baked cookies - February 18, 2014
"Walk yourself through the feelings" - January 6, 2014
"It's like a ghost town in here!!" - July 11, 2013
The Dark Side of White Flint - March 18, 2013
Wow, the dirt looks like it was plowed and ready for sowing. Some prankster should show up and pour corn seeds all over the place. We'll have a nice corn harvest in no time!
ReplyDeleteLol I was thinking it looked ready for planting too. Return montgomery county back to nature.
DeleteCanopies. Not communities.
CANOPIES
ReplyDeleteNOT COMMUNITIES!!1!
I love it, 6:39 AM. :)
BASEMENTS
NOT BEDROOMS!!!1!
:)
DeleteHopefully they do not replace one POS indoor mall with a POS outdoor mall.
ReplyDeleteCorn is grown on every single continent except for Antarctica.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that the Moribundly Low-Energy Dyer has some proof that the his ad-nauseum repeated statement that the mall was "fully leased," especially since from the looks of it the last 5 years or so, it clearly was not....
ReplyDelete...oh wait, we ARE talking about the Moribundly Low-Energy Dyer after all....
Peter, a representative from the ownership declared the mall "fully-leased" (and that is a quote) less than 2 years before the building started to come down.
DeleteSo that reresentative was stretching the truth a bit perhaps?
DeleteYep, everyone thought White Flint was the model for success. The future would be bright! We know what the people will want! A big plus for the area.
ReplyDeleteKind of like what they tell us about downtown Bethesda, or the urbanization of the lower county.
Time will tell, I guess.
Looking forward to when Westbard looks like that, only to be replaced with wonderful housing for all income levels.
ReplyDeleteYay!
DeleteGlobal Collectivist Agenda 21 at work folks! Rome as fallen! No more dreams for a luxurious future! Only 1984 style slavery and being asked to be happy with less! That is not the America I grew up in! The County COUNCIL DID THIS!!!
ReplyDeleteInstead of corn, how about marijuana?
ReplyDeleteMoney making crop plus a new taxing opportunity. You'd think the council would be all over it. They can set it up like the DLC. Hahahahaha.
ReplyDelete"The air smells like money. To wander the marble-chip walkways is to drift in a flow of stylish humanity."
ReplyDelete- The Washington Post
November 2, 1981
WHAT YEAR IS IT, DYER? WHAT YEAR IS IT???
2016 - 1981 = 35 years.
ReplyDeleteSo does that mean that for 35 years the county has been trying to play the We'reRichAndNoteworthyToo game and failing?