From Miami to Carroll County, green shopping malls are taking root.
Construction on the first green shopping center in the Mid-Atlantic region will break ground in Eldersburg this year with eight individual buildings, housing more than 20 tenants in a street atmosphere that?s similar to The Avenue in White Marsh, said Dixon Harvey, president of Owings Mills-based developer Black Oak Associates.
“It?s certainly the hot development in the industry,” said Erin Hershkowitz, spokeswoman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. “At the same time, lifestyle centers are still in their infancy, and that?s because not every place can afford them.”
This green center of 90,000 square feet will maximize windows and sunlight to save electricity, pave porous sidewalks so rainwater more easily seeps into groundwater, use roof runoff water to flush toilets; and be constructed largely with recycled materials, Harvey said.
In addition, the buildings are designed aesthetically to make Eldersburg a relaxed, downtown destination with luxury stores.
“They?re designed all around, so there?s not really a back, if you will,” Harvey said. “What we?re really working on is creating a place and bringing eateries, restaurants, shops to Eldersburg that aren?t there today.”
The stores will face the street, and shoppers can walk around outside, unlike the all-indoor malls of the past few decades.
“It offers convenience, and it offers a little more than just the shopping experience,” Hershkowitz said. “It?s a destination-oriented format.”
That?s something residents of Eldersburg, an overshadowed, unincorporated town on the outskirts of Sykesville, are ecstatic about, said Nicole Musgrave-Burdette of the area?s Freedom Area Citizens? Council.
“It?s an evolving industry,” Hershkowitz said. “People always want something that?s new and exciting.”
