International mall operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) plans to sell most of the malls it owns in the United States in 2022, the company announced last week. The news immediately puts the future of Montgomery Mall and Wheaton Plaza into serious question; URW owns both malls.
The news might have been a complete shock had it come prior to Westfield's acquisition by Unibail-Rodamco in 2018. After all, Westfield sunk well over $90 million into additions and renovations of Montgomery Mall alone this past decade. If Westfield was still the sole principal owner, this would not be happening.
Clearly, URW is not committed to bricks-and-mortar and indoor malls, and is seeking a Sears-Kmart-style payday via selling off the real estate. Here in Montgomery County, that real estate is worth a fortune.
However, despite a Wheaton sector plan filled with developer giveaways, there has been little to no demand in the private sector for mixed-use development in the same area of Wheaton where Wheaton Plaza is located. Since the new plan was passed by the Montgomery County Council roughly a decade ago, only two smaller, private sector apartment developments with no retail or dining have been constructed. A Montgomery County government project, a taxpayer-subsidized government office building at the Wheaton Metro station, is the only other significant project to be realized in the last decade.
It will be interesting to see who the potential buyers of Wheaton Plaza will be, and what they plan to do with the property. Montgomery Mall's site has greater demand. But there is serious question as to the potential quality of the redevelopment of both sites.
Will they become two more cookie-cutter multifamily housing developments like recent housing projects at Rockledge and Tower Oaks, or vibrant communities with high-profile retail and restaurant tenants like Pike & Rose and Virginia's Mosaic District? Will the new owners take the cautious approach Westfield had planned by building on parking lots around the malls first, or a high-risk dice roll like the one that backfired on Lerner, when it pulled the plug on its popular White Flint Mall only to wind up with an empty field and no income?
11 comments:
I assume this means the Sears-to-town-center project at moMall is dead?
People don't say this enough, but you really do provide an invaluable service by staying on top of everything local. Once upon a time, local papers would have covered the scene that you patrol single-handedly. I, for one, appreciate your reporting efforts. Thank you, Robert.
Wheaton likely will be totally blown up and redeveloped. Montgomery Mall could easily be reimagined into an "Old Town" feel with streets, etc but hopefully much better than Pike and Rose. They could do more of a Clarendon type feel that could include housing and office space as well. Malls were dying before and now in the wake of Covid, are on life support. No, they mostly won't make it long term. Tyson's, somehow, will come back but Montgomery won't.
So much for the planned “woonerf"
Agree with comment above
Robert provides an invaluable service!
Happiest memories of my youth were at Montgomery Mall,
Very sad
Let's give credit to westfield for updating Montgomery Mall. While it's nothing like their flagship malls elsewhere, it feels much more upscale than before.
Getting ArcLight and updating the food court to the new food terrace were huge wins.
The reimagined mall with more outdoor areas will be a winner, if it ever happens.
Wheaton Plaza is very nice. Can't beat having a Target.
I wonder if arclight is will come back.
@7:47AM: I guess you haven't been to Wheaton in quite some time.
I don't know what you mean. I've been to Wheaton many times. It's awful and is ripe for total demolition. Maybe you need your eyes checked.
@9:07 PM Westfield is a ghost town and hardly upscale. The Sears wing is closed; the food court lost about 20% of their stores; there are just a couple of junk kiosks and it looks like they've lost another 20% of stores throughout the mall. The Microsoft store was replaced with an alpaca pop up and that closed promptly. The whole mall reminds me of how White Flint looked right before its steep drop.
I too am curious if the pre-approved project moves forward or stalls for years.
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