Steve Burns
WMAL.com
NORTH BETHESDA – (WMAL) Despite another loss in court for the White Flint Mall’s owners in their long-running dispute with Lord and Taylor, advocates for a more walkable and vibrant White Flint area are hoping something more will come of what is now a giant pile of dirt on the side of Rockville Pike.
“It’s a tremendous site and the potential is there,” Amy Ginsburg of the Friends of White Flint told WMAL. “It would be a game-changer for both the Pike District and Montgomery County.”
The redevelopment of the White Flint Mall is one of the biggest projects planned in Montgomery County, but it has been on hold as the Lerner family, White Flint Mall’s owners, were locked in a court battle with Lord and Taylor over their refusal to vacate the property. The Lerners were dealt another blow this week when an appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling awarding $31 million to Lord and Taylor. Lerner family lawyers have said the planned redevelopment would not go forward if the case against Lord and Taylor was lost.
“I would love for it to look like their original plans for the area,” Ginsburg said. “A hotel, condos, apartments, stores, entertainment venues, a town square and some green space. It would be an amazing addition to the community.”
Ginsburg has said there has been some progress in recent years in her group’s quest to diminish car reliance and promote more walkability around White Flint. At this point, they’re in the “awkward adolescent phase” of the effort.
“We’re not quite walkable, but we’re so much further along than we were when this plan was formed in 2010,” she said.
While the mall property would represent a game-changer in that effort, Ginsburg said it’s not the be-all, end-all for them.
“There are other big developments that are happening,” she said. “We’ve got Pike and Rose, Saul Centers will start development soon, East Village, the Gables. There is forward movement.”
For now, Ginsburg can only hope developers don’t give up faith, just like she hasn’t.
“When I drive past the mall site, I see the potential. I can envision this spectacular mixed-use development,” she said. “I would think, and hope, the Lerners will see that.”
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved (PHOTO: Google Maps)
