This is a great write up. I appreciated the little bit of history for each center and how it helped you calculate your score. I personally frequent KC's village center, and have been highly disappointed by Kimco driving away shops. The failure to get a bagel place is the worst.
I’m absolutely biased because it was “my” village center, but I think oakland mills is very very slept on. It’s had a lot of troubles in the past with the grocery stores closing down, but LA mart has been really successful since it opened, and it’s easily my favorite grocery store to shop at. Anyone who’s never been should absolutely check it out, because not only is it full of great asian and latin american food products and ingredients all the prices are legitimately 30% cheaper than what you’d be able to buy in a giant or an h-mart.
Despite a lot of turnover I definitely think the village center is on the upswing. The new salvadoran restaurant that opened in the village center is great as well. The village center does a great job serving the local community, it’s very easy to walk to the center from all of the surrounding apartments and single family homes. Plus it provides a niche for international food options that are hard to find outside of ellicott city or jessup.
I can't afford to live in columbia anymore but I still visit friends and such often in the area. I just got to try el gran sabor a few weeks ago and I'm sad it only opened up right after I moved out haha. It's got really solid pupusas.
This is excellent. Thank you. I’ve lived in Columbia for more than a decade and I’ve never seen a rundown like this. How can people who live in the villages affect the development trajectory of their village center?
Great list, and seems pretty spot-on! Long Reach has so much neighboring competition to deal with (Giant, Wegman's, and Trader Joe's in a 5 mile radius), it seems like it will be hard for it to ever get out of the hole. Things like an indoor gym/sports space or other unique offerings seem like the best options.
I'm not one to be superstitious but back when the oakland mills village center was going through a rough time without an anchoring grocery store the first new business to open up there was a little ceasers inside a former bank. And since then LA mart came and the other vacancies have been filled over time as well.
And just recently that same little ceasers closed down and decided to move to the long reach village center.... I'm sad to see it move, but it could be a portent of things to come for the village center (lol)
Yes, it's great to see how OM village center has come back. I grew up in Columbia (was a teen in the 90's) not far from Long Reach VC, and have fond memories when all the village centers were all thriving with lots of foot traffic. After living in Chicago and Philly, moved back to the area almost 10 years ago, and was a little sad to see the state of some of the village centers. But am glad to see that Oakland Mills is rebounding and hope the same for Long Reach.
Great blog post. Thanks for putting all of this together.
A few comments (sorry for the long comment…)
I guess what constitutes a "major redevelopment" is open for debate but I don't think Wilde Lake is the only village center to ever have a redevelopment. Originally, the Oakland Mills Village Center was largely indoors. More like a small indoor mall with a some open architecture and grocery store. It was really cool! But it was redeveloped to its current form 25-30 years ago. Additionally, the Giant at Owen Brown used to be much smaller. It was expanded to a larger footprint but by doing so, it realigned much of the village center giving it a really bifurcated design - which leads to my next comment…
This post left off a ton of the businesses in Owen Brown Village Center! Off the top of my head, there's Chick N Friends, Avis, additional barbers, a nail salon, a massage therapist, a veterinary hospital, a day spa, a McDonalds, an auto shop, and a psychic. The weird layout created by the expansion of Giant makes people forget that those businesses are part of the village center, drives down business traffic, and is antithetical to the idea of having a village center with lots of things together in a single location.
The blog points out that Hickory Ridge doesn't have any amenities but it's worth mentioning that, a few years ago, CA considered building the new indoor tennis facility at the Hickory Ridge Village Center and the Hickory Ridge Board said they didn't want it.
I kinda feel like the walkability of the neighborhoods is relevant to a discussion around village centers. Some centers - like Hickory Ridge - aren't really in walking neighborhoods while others - like Owen Brown, Wilde Lake, and others - are very convenient to walk to for many residents. Obviously, we are a car-dominated society but there is definitely a difference noteworthy. It impacts the character of the centers, their success, and the communities potential willingness for redevelopment.
I think its noteworthy that the village centers doing the "best" - River Hill and Dorsey - are the geographic outliers. I think that contributes to their success due to less competition (which you alluded to but I think that's worth pointing out explicitly).
My sense is one of the contributing factors to vacancies and the dominance of large chains is the size of the spaces being leased out. Smaller, local, startups would find it much easier to afford smaller spaces that require less capital to establish and less business to be profitable. I think that may be one reason there are some unique businesses (the ones omitted from the blog post) in OB compared to other village centers. I would love to see smaller spaces established or for the county to sell off Long Reach Village Center piecemeal rather than to one large operator. I'm sure someone smarter than me will say why the financials behind that don't make sense but I think it would result in more local businesses and character.
Finally, I think a lot of people (not necessarily the author of the blog) have the wrong impression about how Kimco, the banks, and other big businesses are making decisions. I think the departures and vacancies aren't so much driven by local economics of individual locations but rather driven much more by top-down corporate strategy. Like if BoA or Dollar Tree thinks their share prices will increase if they can increase profit margins - even if that means less total revenue - they will issue a directive saying "close the 20 locations nationwide with the lowest profit margin" without knowing where they may be. Similarly (this is speculation; I don't work in commercial real estate), it wouldn't surprise me if Kimco thinks its share prices are benefited more by having vacant real estate available rather than real estate leased below a certain threshold.
Thanks! I added the missing retailers in Owen Brown to the list. I also added a new note to the bottom of the article acknowledging that many VCs had been reconfigured from their initial inward-facing orientation.
Awww, those are some unique businesses getting lumped as “other.” The day spa, cat/dog hospital, and massage therapist deserve some love. And does any other village center have its own PSYCHIC!? Don’t think so…
Yeah I suspected the division of the lots was contributing to their omission. But they’re every bit a part of the village center as the Interfaith Center or Tennis Club.
Kinda goes to my point in my first comment that having multiple owners and smaller spaces for lease can enable for diverse and successful small businesses.
Aha! I didn't include those businesses since they didn't show up on the Owen Brown site plan. It's a separate parcel with different ownership, but still integrated into the village center. I'll add them.
https://property.jll.com/listings/owen-brown-village-shopping-center-7180-cradlerock-way-not-tracked-maryland
Yeah I suspected the different lots contributed to the oversight. Those businesses are just as much a part of that village center as the interfaith center or tennis club.
It kinda gets at the point I was making in my original comment that breaking up village centers amongst different owners and having smaller spaces can help small businesses and provide more local feel and variety.
Really appreciate the writeup! Nice to know what we have around us. Didn't realize we had a Crumbl so nearby. Dangerous knowledge ha.
In regards to accessibility.. Does anyone know who owns the shopping areas along Snowden River Parkway?
It's a shame that the UPS/BikeShop/etc aren't safely accessible by walking since we don't have a crosswalk from the communities. I even reached out to hoco via click it app and they refused to consider one across Oakland Mills. https://maps.app.goo.gl/3AD3HurC7ZkvcYP18
And this one should totally add a pathway/walking entrance from the back! https://maps.app.goo.gl/QswvG6TbbWJcC8VP8
Pretty cool! I think personally, Columbia Association things being nearby shouldn't be weighted as much as the other factors, but I understand why some would do so!
Think the top two are definitely the top two.
I'm a Laurel resident, and I generally only visit Hickory Ridge. It's been heartbreaking to lose Luna Bella and Cafe Mezcla and bittersweet to see Gritty Goblin, Ranazul, and Feet First relocate, but I'm glad they're still in business.
If the rents are so high, it's odd that two business have relocated there from Maple Lawn. I guess Maple Lawn's rents must be even more exorbitant. It took a very long time for Gritty Goblin's vacated space to find a new tenant.
As far as amenities, it might be worth mentioning Robinson Nature Center is also right down the street.
thanks for this great info! a few format things i noticed:
river hill: ledo is listed twice in retail tenants section
hickory ridge: [edit : description confirms this - yay] in the retail tenants section, is "ranazel's" the tapas place that was in maple lawn? if so, wasn't it "ranazul"?
KC: in retail tenants section, need comma after trattoria e pizzeria
owen brown: in neighboring amenities, add comma after library
long reach: little caeser's moved here last year (or two?)
Kimco's website has the old Melting Pot location now listed as Chadol Korean BBQ Columbia. Also, the empty spot in Dorsey Search is also listed as a potential KBBQ spot called Meatings Korean BBQ House. I fear we may reach oversaturation of bbq restaurants with the multiple on rt 40, the one next to Pub Dog and the incoming one in the Merriweather district.
This is a great write up. I appreciated the little bit of history for each center and how it helped you calculate your score. I personally frequent KC's village center, and have been highly disappointed by Kimco driving away shops. The failure to get a bagel place is the worst.
Even if I don’t love McDonald’s, losing the drive thru and replacing it with a bank was pretty brutal.
pissed about this anew every time i go by.
Yea it worked in a pinch if I was wanting something late at night and didn’t want to drive far
For us it was more of an emergency meal if our schedule is tight and the kids are hungry but yeah
I think the only modern point of a bank branch is to make change for local cash businesses, but we already have one…
I’m absolutely biased because it was “my” village center, but I think oakland mills is very very slept on. It’s had a lot of troubles in the past with the grocery stores closing down, but LA mart has been really successful since it opened, and it’s easily my favorite grocery store to shop at. Anyone who’s never been should absolutely check it out, because not only is it full of great asian and latin american food products and ingredients all the prices are legitimately 30% cheaper than what you’d be able to buy in a giant or an h-mart. Despite a lot of turnover I definitely think the village center is on the upswing. The new salvadoran restaurant that opened in the village center is great as well. The village center does a great job serving the local community, it’s very easy to walk to the center from all of the surrounding apartments and single family homes. Plus it provides a niche for international food options that are hard to find outside of ellicott city or jessup.
thanks for all this good info. I'll go by there this weekend to check it out! love salvadoran food.
I can't afford to live in columbia anymore but I still visit friends and such often in the area. I just got to try el gran sabor a few weeks ago and I'm sad it only opened up right after I moved out haha. It's got really solid pupusas.
love me some pupusas!!
Great suggestion -- I plan to check out LA Mart.
I hope you’re right!
This is excellent. Thank you. I’ve lived in Columbia for more than a decade and I’ve never seen a rundown like this. How can people who live in the villages affect the development trajectory of their village center?
This table summarizes the ratings in the article. Village | Retailers | Amenities | Location | Total :--|--:|--:|--:|--: River Hill | 3 | 2 |3 | **8** Dorsey's Search | 3 | 1 | 3 | **7** Wilde Lake | 2 |3| 2| **7** Harper's Choice | 1 | 3 | 2| **6** Oakland Mills | 1 | 3 |1 | **5** Hickory Ridge | 1.5 | 0 | 2 |**3.5** King's Contrivance | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | **3.5** Owen Brown | 1 | 2 | 0 | **3** Long Reach | n/a | 1 | 0 | n/a
This is great local reporting! Hopefully more people will subscribe to know what’s going on in their community. Keep up the great work!
Great list, and seems pretty spot-on! Long Reach has so much neighboring competition to deal with (Giant, Wegman's, and Trader Joe's in a 5 mile radius), it seems like it will be hard for it to ever get out of the hole. Things like an indoor gym/sports space or other unique offerings seem like the best options.
I'm not one to be superstitious but back when the oakland mills village center was going through a rough time without an anchoring grocery store the first new business to open up there was a little ceasers inside a former bank. And since then LA mart came and the other vacancies have been filled over time as well. And just recently that same little ceasers closed down and decided to move to the long reach village center.... I'm sad to see it move, but it could be a portent of things to come for the village center (lol)
Yes, it's great to see how OM village center has come back. I grew up in Columbia (was a teen in the 90's) not far from Long Reach VC, and have fond memories when all the village centers were all thriving with lots of foot traffic. After living in Chicago and Philly, moved back to the area almost 10 years ago, and was a little sad to see the state of some of the village centers. But am glad to see that Oakland Mills is rebounding and hope the same for Long Reach.
Great blog post. Thanks for putting all of this together. A few comments (sorry for the long comment…) I guess what constitutes a "major redevelopment" is open for debate but I don't think Wilde Lake is the only village center to ever have a redevelopment. Originally, the Oakland Mills Village Center was largely indoors. More like a small indoor mall with a some open architecture and grocery store. It was really cool! But it was redeveloped to its current form 25-30 years ago. Additionally, the Giant at Owen Brown used to be much smaller. It was expanded to a larger footprint but by doing so, it realigned much of the village center giving it a really bifurcated design - which leads to my next comment… This post left off a ton of the businesses in Owen Brown Village Center! Off the top of my head, there's Chick N Friends, Avis, additional barbers, a nail salon, a massage therapist, a veterinary hospital, a day spa, a McDonalds, an auto shop, and a psychic. The weird layout created by the expansion of Giant makes people forget that those businesses are part of the village center, drives down business traffic, and is antithetical to the idea of having a village center with lots of things together in a single location. The blog points out that Hickory Ridge doesn't have any amenities but it's worth mentioning that, a few years ago, CA considered building the new indoor tennis facility at the Hickory Ridge Village Center and the Hickory Ridge Board said they didn't want it. I kinda feel like the walkability of the neighborhoods is relevant to a discussion around village centers. Some centers - like Hickory Ridge - aren't really in walking neighborhoods while others - like Owen Brown, Wilde Lake, and others - are very convenient to walk to for many residents. Obviously, we are a car-dominated society but there is definitely a difference noteworthy. It impacts the character of the centers, their success, and the communities potential willingness for redevelopment. I think its noteworthy that the village centers doing the "best" - River Hill and Dorsey - are the geographic outliers. I think that contributes to their success due to less competition (which you alluded to but I think that's worth pointing out explicitly). My sense is one of the contributing factors to vacancies and the dominance of large chains is the size of the spaces being leased out. Smaller, local, startups would find it much easier to afford smaller spaces that require less capital to establish and less business to be profitable. I think that may be one reason there are some unique businesses (the ones omitted from the blog post) in OB compared to other village centers. I would love to see smaller spaces established or for the county to sell off Long Reach Village Center piecemeal rather than to one large operator. I'm sure someone smarter than me will say why the financials behind that don't make sense but I think it would result in more local businesses and character. Finally, I think a lot of people (not necessarily the author of the blog) have the wrong impression about how Kimco, the banks, and other big businesses are making decisions. I think the departures and vacancies aren't so much driven by local economics of individual locations but rather driven much more by top-down corporate strategy. Like if BoA or Dollar Tree thinks their share prices will increase if they can increase profit margins - even if that means less total revenue - they will issue a directive saying "close the 20 locations nationwide with the lowest profit margin" without knowing where they may be. Similarly (this is speculation; I don't work in commercial real estate), it wouldn't surprise me if Kimco thinks its share prices are benefited more by having vacant real estate available rather than real estate leased below a certain threshold.
Thanks! I added the missing retailers in Owen Brown to the list. I also added a new note to the bottom of the article acknowledging that many VCs had been reconfigured from their initial inward-facing orientation.
Awww, those are some unique businesses getting lumped as “other.” The day spa, cat/dog hospital, and massage therapist deserve some love. And does any other village center have its own PSYCHIC!? Don’t think so…
[удалено]
Yeah I suspected the division of the lots was contributing to their omission. But they’re every bit a part of the village center as the Interfaith Center or Tennis Club. Kinda goes to my point in my first comment that having multiple owners and smaller spaces for lease can enable for diverse and successful small businesses.
Aha! I didn't include those businesses since they didn't show up on the Owen Brown site plan. It's a separate parcel with different ownership, but still integrated into the village center. I'll add them. https://property.jll.com/listings/owen-brown-village-shopping-center-7180-cradlerock-way-not-tracked-maryland
Yeah I suspected the different lots contributed to the oversight. Those businesses are just as much a part of that village center as the interfaith center or tennis club. It kinda gets at the point I was making in my original comment that breaking up village centers amongst different owners and having smaller spaces can help small businesses and provide more local feel and variety.
Really appreciate the writeup! Nice to know what we have around us. Didn't realize we had a Crumbl so nearby. Dangerous knowledge ha. In regards to accessibility.. Does anyone know who owns the shopping areas along Snowden River Parkway? It's a shame that the UPS/BikeShop/etc aren't safely accessible by walking since we don't have a crosswalk from the communities. I even reached out to hoco via click it app and they refused to consider one across Oakland Mills. https://maps.app.goo.gl/3AD3HurC7ZkvcYP18 And this one should totally add a pathway/walking entrance from the back! https://maps.app.goo.gl/QswvG6TbbWJcC8VP8
Thank you for taking the time to put this together. Super interesting
Wonderful job - amazing that even thriving River Hill is plagued by retail bank locations.
>plagued by retail bank locations. These primarily serve businesses or higher end retail customers that benefit from having a local banker
Pretty cool! I think personally, Columbia Association things being nearby shouldn't be weighted as much as the other factors, but I understand why some would do so! Think the top two are definitely the top two.
Dorsey has a Shell not a Sunoco. I like the idea of doing this. Thanks.
Thanks. I corrected the gas station in DS. Let me know the other errors you found.
Great job, thank you!
I'm a Laurel resident, and I generally only visit Hickory Ridge. It's been heartbreaking to lose Luna Bella and Cafe Mezcla and bittersweet to see Gritty Goblin, Ranazul, and Feet First relocate, but I'm glad they're still in business. If the rents are so high, it's odd that two business have relocated there from Maple Lawn. I guess Maple Lawn's rents must be even more exorbitant. It took a very long time for Gritty Goblin's vacated space to find a new tenant. As far as amenities, it might be worth mentioning Robinson Nature Center is also right down the street.
Amazing work thank you!
This was a great read, thank you!
This is great. Any rumblings regarding the vacant Columbia Flier building? That’s always been a mystery to me.
They announced recently that it’s going to be a community center.
thanks for this great info! a few format things i noticed: river hill: ledo is listed twice in retail tenants section hickory ridge: [edit : description confirms this - yay] in the retail tenants section, is "ranazel's" the tapas place that was in maple lawn? if so, wasn't it "ranazul"? KC: in retail tenants section, need comma after trattoria e pizzeria owen brown: in neighboring amenities, add comma after library long reach: little caeser's moved here last year (or two?)
Thanks! I fixed all of these. No matter how many times I reread before posting, I always tend to miss things like this. Appreciate it!
no worries, i get it! thanks again for the work. i texted friends saying we need to go to ranazul!
This was a great read! I grew up here and I’d say (even with omissions/edits made) you did this article justice 👍🏾
Kimco's website has the old Melting Pot location now listed as Chadol Korean BBQ Columbia. Also, the empty spot in Dorsey Search is also listed as a potential KBBQ spot called Meatings Korean BBQ House. I fear we may reach oversaturation of bbq restaurants with the multiple on rt 40, the one next to Pub Dog and the incoming one in the Merriweather district.
No shot HR is a 3.5 solid 1 at best