Locals Disagree on What Future Holds for Owings Mills Mall

Regardless of religion, political party or thoughts about , there’s one belief that seems to unite area folks: Something must be done with the Owings Mills Mall.

The problem is that citizens are not necessarily in agreement about what, exactly, should be done with the 25-year-old once-grand shopping attraction.

and start over with an outdoor shopping center, but others point out that there is – the problem is that there simply are not enough stores to fill its empty corridors.

“I feel like we need to have that indoor mall experience here,” said Jeffrey Freedman, 26, of Owings Mills. “I don’t believe that this is necessarily the opinion of everyone, that it needs to be torn down and we need an open air center.

“People want to see something better happen, not just have a dead mall that there’s nothing going on with. Something needs to happen to improve it; it doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be torn down.”

Owings Mills Mall owner General Growth Properties Inc., has declined to comment to developers, and previously declined to discuss steps being taken to improve the mall.

Though much of the expanse of the is quiet, a handful of small stores have leased space in recent months.

SYLK Cosmetics, previously of the 1000 block of South Charles Street in Baltimore, will be the mall's newest tenant after making plans to relocate its store to the mall’s lower level this month, according to the cosmetic shop’s Facebook page.

A few stores here and there, however, won’t be enough to get former customers like Carole McCracken to frequent the mall.

“I would love to see Owings Mills Mall revamped,” McCracken wrote in an e-mail. “I was there when it was a new mall, and I watched it disintegrate into the ghost mall it is today.” 

McCracken said the mall could be a “great meeting place for neighbors and old friends,” based on its location, if only attractive stores could be convinced to make the mall their home. 

What kind of stores land in Owings Mills, however, and whether they go in the current mall or a replacement, are questions that won’t be answered anytime soon, Baltimore County councilwoman Vicki Almond said.

“It’s really all rumor and conjecture,” she said. “There’s all kinds of things out there…things that take time.”

In the meantime, indoor mall advocates like Freedman hope to make their case before decisions are made on future development of the mall area.

“A lot of the attitude seems to be…people are just upset with how it is now,” Freedman said. “People are wondering what’s going to happen with it. If we had a nice mall in the area, people would consider going back to it.

“They just want to see something nice happen there.”