Jury: White Flint Mall Owners Must Pay $31 Million

Jurors decided Friday that the owners of White Flint Mall breached their contract with Lord & Taylor with plans to close the complex, and awarded $31 million in damages to the store.

The Washington Post reports mall owners Lerner Enterprises’ plans to tear down the mall and build a new town center of stores, office buildings and apartments was a breach on contract. According to contract Lord & Taylor signed in 1975, the shop was promised space in an enclosed mall.

The $31 million damage award is half of what Lord & Taylor sought.

Scott Morrison, an attorney for the mall, told the Post the jury’s decision will harm the White Flint redevelopment efforts. Demolition on the mall is still expected to be complete by January or February but Morrison said what happens after that is up in the air.

Last month, a videographer flew a drone over the corpse of White Flint Mall, where demolition began in early July to make way for a new wave of development in Rockville.

The 38-year-old mall will give way to an open-air development that blends residential, retail and restaurants with office buildings and parks.

YouTube user Mike Purks posted the eerie video June 25, which combines video shot with a GoPro camera while walking through the empty, dusty hallways with soaring drone footage around the exterior. The video is accompanied by music from the “Nightmare on Elm Street” horror film.

»YouTube video by Mike Purks