Steve Burns
WMAL.com
GAITHERSBURG – (WMAL) The news that the Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg has come under new ownership was a welcome development to some on the Montgomery County Council, as they have watched stores vacate and parking lots empty at the mall over the years. Officials have little doubt a shopping mall is needed and can survive, but the looming question is whether the new owners have a desire to renovate the area.
The mall was sold at a foreclosure auction on Monday to U.S. Bank for just $19.1 million. It was last sold in 2012, to a company called Five Mile, in 2012 for $100 million. Five Mile attempted to refinance last year but the effort failed, leading to foreclosure. While smaller storefronts had been emptying, four anchor stores are still operating – Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, JCPenney and Sears. The new owners have not made any indication what their plans are.
“I’m glad to hear that there’s movement over there,” Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Floreen, Chair of the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development Committee, told WMAL. “We’ve been very concerned about it for years.”
Floreen said she envisions a new development with a mix of uses, including retail, housing, and office space.
“It clearly was ready for some changes,” she said. “I’m optimistic that the change in ownership will bring about a new way of thinking about that piece of property.”
The area, she said, is important. It sits essentially at the geographic the center of the county, easily accessible off of I-270 and soon to benefit from a new interchange at Watkins Mill Road.
The mall is also an important jobs generator, Councilmember Craig Rice said.
“It really is one of the lynchpins to the success of the Montgomery Village area, as well as the Gaithersburg area,” Rice told WMAL. “It’s a definite economic development priority for us as a county, and certainly for those in the mid- and up-county.”
Rice had a similar vision to Floreen, something that takes advantage of the area’s abundant greenery to create an aesthetically pleasing setting.
“Some sort of a small, residential mix, along with some rgeat retail that is a little bit of a different model from what we’ve seen at our standard malls,” he said.
Both Rice and Floreen said the county is grappling with the new reality of the retail world, with much of the usual shopping routine moving online. However, there are still opportunities for in-person retail if it’s done right, they said.
“There will always be places where people will need to be able to return items, to see items, to touch and taste and feel them,” Rice said. “Those storefronts are still going to be a part of our overall mix for many years to come.”
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved (PHOTO: By Telanhon 1516 from MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, U.S.A. – Lakeforest Mall, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61758527)
