Baltimore County Projects with an Urban Attitude
Suburbs aren’t dead; they’re just becoming more like cities. (Except it's easier to park your minivan there.) But just how do developers translate walkability, mixed-uses, and TODs to the suburbs? That’s what we’ll ask the panelists at Bisnow’s Baltimore County Summit on Oct. 15 at North Baltimore Plaza Hotel, starting at 7:30 AM.
Walkability at Cordish’s Towson Square
The developer’s goal for this $85M project is a regional entertainment and dining destination that people will drive to, says Cordish’s Taylor Gray. But once they’ve parked in the 850-space garage, there’s plenty to walk to, including the 15-screen Cinemark movie theater and Nando’s Peri-Peri, that like the garage opened in July.
A garage is an urban approach to parking, but this one doesn’t look like a garage, Taylor says. It’s tucked into the hill that descends behind the movie theater, so you can’t see it as you enter (above). Plus it’s brick and masonry with tasteful outdoor lighting and landscaping. The entire project, in fact, uses those tools, plus oversize sidewalks and widened streets, to become walkable. On the Border Mexican Grill, Bonefish Grill, Hanabi Japanese Restaurant, and Bobby’s Burger Palace will open over the fall and winter, and BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse will arrive early next year.
Mixing Uses at Greenberg Gibbons’ Projects
Mixed-use offers shopping destinations more peak hours, says Greenberg Gibbons CEO Brian Gibbons. His company always wanted to add residential to its Hunt Valley Towne Centre to gain a round-the-clock component. Come Dec. 1, AvalonBay will break ground on 332 apartments on an adjacent site Greenberg Gibbons bought from Walmart. A three-minute walk from the project’s “Main Street” center gives the apartments some privacy, though they’ll also have ground-floor retail.
The 45k SF of office within Greenberg Gibbons’ Foundry Row (above), which got construction financing last month and will open in late summer 2016, will add vitality to the 400k SF shopping center, Brian says. It expands the peak hours to include, say, the breakfast crew. The developer also is considering going MOB, which would bring shoppers in throughout the day. Similarly, the company is expanding its recently purchased Shops at Kenilworth and is considering a food marketplace to increase traffic. To learn more, please join us for Bisnow’s Baltimore County Summit on Oct. 15 at North Baltimore Plaza Hotel, starting at 7:30 AM. Sign up here!
