Excavators have spent the summer digging into the defunct Landover Mall, and at least one county official sees the demolition project as a clearing of the slate for future development at the site.
Prince George’s County Councilman David Harrington, D-District 5, of Bladensburg, said the site at the northwest corner of the Capital Beltway and Md. Route 202 would be perfect for a mixed-use project combining residential and retail spaces that would be “a gem for that part of Prince George’s County.” But Harrington said ideas have just started to surface regarding how to develop the site owned by Lerner Enterprises and that any project will be years, not months, in the making.
“We only have one shot to make it right,” Harrington said, “so we have to be very deliberate and cautious.”
The mall opened in 1972 with several high-end retailers as its anchors, as well as a movie theater. “It really became not only this sort of regional destination but this community asset,” Harrington said.
But as much as the mall gladly opened its doors early so senior citizens could walk the corridors, the departure of one of its largest tenants, Woodward & Lothrop, spurred other stores to leave. By the late 1990s, the mall had deteriorated and all but the Sears store closed in spring 2002. Demolition began this spring, Harrington said, as a way for Lerner to stop paying maintenance on empty buildings.
“As long as the buildings were there,” Harrington said, “they still had to pay and enormous amount in water bills and electricity to keep the sprinklers running.”
A spokesman for Lerner Enterprises did not return a call. Theodore Lerner, the head of the company, is the primary owner of the Washington Nationals and the developer of commercial projects across the Washington area, including Tysons Corner Center.
In recent years, planners have taken interest in the site’s future.
Harrington said any development at the mall should tie in with the Wegman’s-Woodmore Towne Centre to be built in nearby Glenarden, as well as such existing neighbors as FedEx Field and Boulevard at the Capital Centre.
“In essence, we clearly want Landover Mall to create jobs,” Harrington said. “My saying in development is that a rising tide raises all ships.”
