Owings Mills Mall is a large mall in the Baltimore County, Maryland, community of Owings Mills. It has often been known as Owings Mills Town Center, though a new nearby development in the vicinity has been given this name.
The mall has more than 100 stores. Its current anchor stores are Macy's and JC Penney. Another new store is IFL (International Furniture Liquidators). Previous anchors were Saks Fifth Avenue, Bamberger's, Lord & Taylor, Sticks 'n Stuff, Sears , and Boscov's (which opened in late 2006 and closed in October 2008). Recently the mall has experienced the closures including that of the CVS leaving numerous vacancies in this once popular mall. There is also a movie theater adjacent to this mall which remains popular. The mall has a total of 10 fountains.
Owings Mills Mall is located in the heart of Owings Mills. While its main entrance is off Red Run Boulevard between Painters Mill Road and Owings Mills Boulevard, the mall is also accessible from the exit ramps of I-795.
Owings Mills Mall is also located within close proximity to the Owings Mills Metro Subway Station. When the Baltimore Metro Subway first opened to Owings Mills in 1987, though shuttle bus service was provided, a long walk was possible along a trail between the two locations. In 1992, a woman was murdered while walking on this trail. As a result of safety concerns, the trail was closed. Shuttle bus service had been eliminated several months before the murder took place, and only regular bus service at lower frequencies was now available. After the closure of the trail, a walk between the mall and metro became impractical for most, thereby requiring the use of regular bus service. In 1997, bus service between the two locations was improved. The ease of public transportation allows visitors from inner city urban areas to get to and from this mall much more easily than other suburban malls in the Baltimore Metropolitan area.
As previously mentioned, the mall was quite popular throughout the mid-late eighties and well into the 90's. Exclusive and upscale stores such as Saks, William Sonoma, and Benetton were tenants. As a result of the renovations at other local Baltimore area suburban malls Towson Town Center and Columbia Mall,crime committed in and around the Mall, and the shift in the socio-ecomonic climate of the community surrounding the mall, Owings Mills Mall steadily lost business since that time.
Owings Mills Town Center Project
Throughout the 2000s, a proposal has been in place to construct a complex on the land between the Metro station and mall, which would be known as the Owings Mills Town Center. The complex would have housing, shops, office space, a hotel, a library, and a community college (which would share the same building as the library. In addition, a new garage would be constructed on the Metro station lot to replace some of the parking spaces that the Metro would lose to the town center.
The Town Center project faced a large number of legal hurdles prior to beginning construction . However, construction finally began, and some of the project is already complete.
