White Flint Mall parking lot leased by motorcycle safety school

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 50

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.

Nature may have reclaimed much of the former site of White Flint Mall at 11301 Rockville Pike, but its fenced-off parking lot has just been claimed by a motorcycle safety school. Motorcycle Safety Academy plans to host safety and training courses on the lot, with the first one scheduled to begin March 22, 2025. Additional courses may be added. 

Minus the island of Pike & Rose, which Federal Realty has singlehandedly steered to great success, the 2010 White Flint sector plan has been an unqualified failure more than a decade after its passage. The financial loss created by the destruction of White Flint Mall, although likely offset by developer-friendly tax breaks, is staggering. Think of all the retail sales, video games played, movies watched, and Cheesecake Factory meals consumed - and monthly tenant rents collected - that would have been racked up if the mall was still standing today. Doh!

White Flint Mall redevelopment still frozen on Rockville Pike (Photos)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 49

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.

The redevelopment of White Flint Mall is still just a Gordon Gekko-esque dream on Rockville Pike. Property owner Lerner Enterprises has fenced off the site, on which only the Lord & Taylor portion of the mall remains standing, surrounded by its former parking lots. That hasn't stopped vandals from trespassing, as the graffiti and boarded-up windows testify. The vast majority of the mall site remains an overgrown patch of weeds and grass, as nature reclaims what was once Montgomery County's ultimate shopping destination.

There's no news on the Lerner website. White Flint Mall's legacy is such an afterthought for the company, that it has placed a photo of it where one of Landover Mall is meant to be on the site. Quelle horreur! Another summer where the property could have been converted into a drive-in theater has nearly passed into history without a single screening of Star Wars or The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.

An idol has arisen

White Flint Mall still speaks to those who watch and listen for the signs. A god, an idol, has arisen among the former parking stalls of Lord & Taylor. Its head a golden sphere, its arms outstretched in a martyr's T-pose. Yet the arms are uplifted, reassuring us that in some other dimension all is well at White Flint Mall. The Singapore Firecracker Chicken and Mongolian Beef at P.F. Chang's are still better than whatever you're eating tonight in Montgomery County, the glass elevators still go all the way up to The Loft, Carrie is screening four months after its release on the March 7, 1977 grand opening night of The Movies, the mallwalking Soviet ambassador still has all the right toppings on his foot-long hot dog, and it still takes a good hour to thoroughly peruse the magazine racks at Borders.

But back in this dimension, redevelopment plans remain as moribund as Montgomery County itself. The Late Stage Capitalism Express is arriving at the White Flint, er, "North Bethesda" station. "All aboarrrrrrrrd! Next stop: The Dark Side of White Flint."

"This is a very special part of America. The highest part." - H.V. Waldrove of the Netherlands, after touring White Flint Mall in 1978

White Flint Mall property sealed off with fencing (Photos)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 48

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.

Lerner Enterprises, as anticipated, has sealed off the White Flint Mall property at 11301 Rockville Pike. Tall fencing has been erected around the site of the almost-entirely-demolished mall, and the interior roads are now closed to the public. The fencing plan has been controversial, as neighbors who use a pedestrian short-cut through the mall property opposed the loss of that walking route to the White Flint Plaza shopping center.

"It is the bright day that brings forth the adder, and that craves wary walking," Bill Shakespeare once wrote. Walk warily, then, to PetSmart. 

Welcome to the dark side.

Lerner to close neighborhood pedestrian path between White Flint Park & White Flint Plaza

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 47

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.

Lerner Enterprises plans to close the ring road inside the former White Flint Mall property, and also a 150' pedestrian walkway that connects residential neighborhoods around White Flint Park with the White Flint Plaza shopping center. This would eliminate a walking route for residents who use the path to reach the stores and restaurants at White Flint Plaza, which will soon add an Aldi grocery store. Losing the path will also hurt the businesses at White Flint Plaza, as residents forced to use their cars might decide to patronize other grocery and retail stores within a short drive, once they're behind the wheel. 

Walkway running along fence

Residents have asked the Montgomery County Council to intervene, but no Council member has stepped up to block the proposal. That isn't surprising, as Lerner has made campaign contributions to many on the Council, including Gabe Albornoz (D - At-Large), Andrew Friedson (D - District 1), Evan Glass (D - At-Large), and Hans Riemer (D - At-Large). 

A resident walking to White Flint Plaza from
the park on the walkway

Glass, who received at least two checks from Lerner in the last election cycle, wrote a noncommittal response to one resident who sought his help. Promising to "monitor" the issue, Glass did not state that he would vigorously oppose Lerner on the matter. "While Lerner is taking actions they believe to be the most appropriate," Glass wrote, "I will continue to work with Lerner, the County Executive, my colleagues, and members of the community to explore solutions that balance the needs of the property owners and our pedestrian safety goals." Friedson, who currently represents the area on the Council, has received several checks from Lerner, including $1250 from Mark Lerner in 2020.

The supine posture of the Council on the walkway brings to mind how different things go on Lerner's Fairfax County properties, by comparison. An empty site in Tysons Lerner plans to develop has hosted a variety of live entertainment over the last few years, including drive-in movies and a circus. The similar White Flint Mall site over those same years has hosted...nothing. Here's a look at the current state of the property, where only the vacant Lord & Taylor building remains, and the rest of the mall has been long-demolished:

White Flint Mall property to add more fencing

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 46

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.

There is the first sign of activity in a long while at the former site of White Flint Mall, where a redevelopment plan has been stalled out by internal lawsuits, a moribund local economy, and Montgomery County elected officials' failed revitalization strategy for the area. I'm told the property owners intend to install more chain link fencing around the site. There already has been some fencing on the property following the demolition of most of the mall, but feisty remaining tenant Lord & Taylor was still in operation until late last year.

Lord & Taylor White Flint store closing sale update

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 45

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.

The last part of White Flint Mall to remain standing, the Lord & Taylor department store, continues to wind down toward its eventual closing. Rugs and furs are featured sales promotions now, as shoppers hunt for bargains at the once-grand shopping destination, with prices now at 40-70% off storewide. 

Ten years after the passage of the White Flint sector plan, with the exception of Pike & Rose, the area looks exactly as it did then. Key infrastructure projects like the Montrose Parkway East, MARC station, and new Metro entrance remain unbuilt. County planners recently raised the white flag, acknowledging in an I-270 transit study scope-of-work that Tysons is the major employment destination for commuters in the morning, not White Flint as the Planning Board and County Council had promised, 

“O that a man might know

The end of this day's business ere it come!

But it sufficeth that the day will end

And then the end is known.”

Welcome to the dark side.