Gateway Overlook could be the new Howard County shopping destination.
“It?s a green field development that has been zoned for this activity for 30 to 40 years,” said Dick Story, chief executive officer of the Howard County Economic Development Authority.
Located at the intersection of Route 175 and Route 108, Gateway Overlook?s 30-acre business center is expected to draw business because its prime location. General Growth Properties is developing the site.
“It is the bull?s-eye of the circle that is the Columbia-Howard County growth area, and the dead center of the Baltimore-Washington corridor,” Story said. “It is well-positioned on the Interstate-95 corridor on the eastern edge of Columbia, which is a thriving, affluent community. It brings a mix of new and expanded retail opportunity to a very high demographic.”
There are 98,096 residents in the Columbia area, with an average household income of $80,465, the second highest in the nation, according to the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning.
“We?re bringing in merchants who have never been in Howard County before,” said Karen Geary, senior general manager at Columbia Mall and manager of Gateway Overlook. “We also have an incredible, loyal and stable market in terms of customers, which we?ve seen at the mall as well as with Gateway.”
New merchants to the area include Lowe?s, Lohmans, Costco, Trader Joes, Golf Galaxy, and restaurants Hoolihan?s, Mimi?s Cafe, and On the Border Mexican Grill and Cantina. These merchants should be open by October, General Growth project manager Paul Cavanaugh said.
The total project also will consist of 116,532 square feet of office and retail space, along with 133,600 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
General Growth Properties declined to comment on the total cost of the development.
Gateway Overlook
» Now open: Best Buy, Office Depot, Five Below
» To open: Lowe?s, Costco, Lohmans, Trader Joe?s, Golf Galaxy, and restaurants Hoolihan?s, Mimi?s Cafe, and On the Border Mexican Grill and Cantina.
