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Annapolis Mall

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Coordinates: 38°59′23″N 76°32′42″W / 38.989736°N 76.545138°W / 38.989736; -76.545138
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Annapolis Mall
Outside of the Forever 21
Map
LocationAnnapolis, Maryland
Coordinates38°59′23″N 76°32′42″W / 38.989736°N 76.545138°W / 38.989736; -76.545138
Address2002 Annapolis Mall
Opening date1980[1]
Previous namesWestfield Annapolis
DeveloperMay Centers, Inc.
ManagementCentennial Realty
OwnerCentennial Real Estate Management & Sandeep Mathrani
No. of stores and servicesover 240[2]
No. of anchor tenants2[3]
Total retail floor area1,416,774 sq ft (131,622.6 m2).
No. of floors1 (2 in Macy's, Forever 21, Crate & Barrel, former Lord & Taylor and small mezzanine level next to movie theater)[4]
Parking4,376 spots, including three 3-floor Parking Garages, and rooftop parking.
Public transit accessBus transport MTA Maryland bus: 210, 215
Bus transport Annapolis Transit bus: Red, Yellow, Green, Gold, Brown, Purple-North, Purple-South
Websitewww.shopannapolismall.com

Annapolis Mall (formerly Westfield Annapolis) is a shopping mall in Parole, just east of the intersection of Interstate 97 and U.S. Route 50 and in close proximity to the mall's namesake of Annapolis, Maryland. Owned and managed by Centennial Real Estate Management, the mall features 1,416,744 sq ft (131,622.6 m2) of GLA, making it the second-largest shopping mall in Maryland after Arundel Mills. As of 2022, the mall features two traditional anchors Macy's and JCPenney, as well as an 11-screen AMC Theatres and prominent specialty retailers such as Forever 21, The Container Store and Crate & Barrel.

History

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The site was at one time the location of the Annapolis terminus of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway, and was known as the "Best Gate" station, which had three single-ended and four double-ended sidings, where rail cars could be shunted on or off of the single-track WB&A east–west railway which ran to the north–south Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad lines.[5] This "Best Gate" station gave the name to the nearby Bestgate Road, which today runs along the northern perimeter of the mall.

A free-standing, single-level Montgomery Ward store occupied the site during the 1970s. Following the construction and opening of a single-level mall on the site in 1980, Montgomery Ward became an anchor. Additional anchor stores included Washington, D.C.-based Garfinckel's and Hecht's, both with two levels. The mall was expanded in 1983 with the addition of a single-level JCPenney. Garfinckel's closed in 1990 after the company went bankrupt. After the mall was acquired by Westfield Group, it was expanded again in 1994 with the addition of a two-level Nordstrom store as well as an expanded food court.[6] In 1998 a two-level Lord & Taylor store opened which was followed by the opening of an 11-screen movie theater. The Montgomery Ward store closed in 2001 and in 2002 was replaced with a Sears store. Hecht's became Macy's in September 2006. Another large addition to the mall was completed in 2007, which included an expansion of the existing JCPenney store.[citation needed]

The former Garfinckel's space once housed a two-level Borders Books and Music store which operated during the mid-2000s until its closure in 2011. A two-level Forever 21 store now occupies the space.

Lord & Taylor announced in August 2017 that they would close. Westfield announced its space would be reconstructed into additional stores including The Container Store.[7][8][9][10] In December of that same year, the mall's owner Westfield Group was acquired by French firm Unibail-Rodamco, becoming Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.

Inside of the mall

In April 2018, Anne Arundel County Public Library opened a temporary branch called "Discoveries: the Library at the Mall", in Westfield Annapolis.[11] It moved to a permanent location in the former American Eagle and Charlotte Russe stores in February 2020.[12] Since July 2021, the library includes a Community Pantry where staff distribute diapers, baby supplies, hygiene items and menstrual supplies twice a month.[13]

In May 2020, Nordstrom announced it would shutter their Annapolis location during a wave of secondary store closures.[14][15] The store closed on July 15 of that same year.[16]

The SPCA of Anne Arundel County opened an animal shelter called "Paws at the Mall" at the mall in September 2020. It was the first animal shelter of its kind to operate inside of an indoor shopping mall.[17]

In April 2022, AMC Theatres announced the acquisition of seven Bow Tie Cinemas locations, including their location at Westfield Annapolis.[18] The theater reopened as AMC Annapolis Mall 11 on the weekend of April 21, 2022.

On May 10, 2024, a listing by local retail broker H&R Retail confirmed that the mall's JCPenney department store would close in 2025 and be replaced by 5 new tenants, including Hobby Lobby, Grocery Outlet and Onelife Fitness, leaving Macy's as the last traditional department store.[19][20] On May 16, 2024, it was confirmed that mall owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield were in negotiations to sell the mall.[21] This came after a prior announcement in 2022 that the company was seeking to sell their American malls, later amended to only selling non-flagship properties.[22] On August 5, 2024, it was reported that Centennial Real Estate Management acquired the property for an undisclosed sum, renaming it back to the original mall's name.[23]

On September 3, 2024, Centennial formally announced their acquisition of the mall as part of a consortium that also includes former WeWork and GGP CEO Sandeep Mathrani, Waterfall Asset Management and Lincoln Property Company. Through Mathrani's company Atlas Hill Real Estate, both Centennial and Mathrani will serve as owners of the property. The announcement also came with news that two new anchors would be joining the mall, both slated to open in the winter of 2025: Dick's House of Sport and Dave & Buster's.[24][3]

2006 shooting

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On Saturday, November 18, 2006, an off-duty United States Secret Service agent was at the mall when he witnessed a fight in progress in the food court. During the attempt to break up the fight, one of the combatants pulled a gun and fired at the agent, wounding him. The agent returned fire, hitting the shooter twice. A third person was wounded in the altercation.[25][26] A midshipman from the U.S. Naval Academy ran toward the sound of gunshots and provided first aid for the Secret Service agent. That midshipman later received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.[27] The mall was closed shortly after the incident, with all patrons asked to leave over the public address system.[25] The associated trial ended in December 2007 and the shooter was sentenced to 65 years in prison.[28]

Current anchors

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Former anchors

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References

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  1. ^ McCaffrey, Raymond (May 22, 2008). "Annapolis Eyes Funds for Main Street". The Washington Post. p. AA03. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Westfield – Annapolis". westfield.com. Westfield Group. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  3. ^ a b Urbanski, Al (2024-09-04). "Centennial and partners acquire Maryland's second-largest mall". Chain Store Age. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  4. ^ "Find it" (PDF). westfield.com. Westfield Group. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  5. ^ American Electric Railway Association (1906). Proceedings of the American Electric Railway Association.
  6. ^ Dresser, Michael (July 1, 1992). "Annapolis Nordstrom in '93 unlikely". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  7. ^ Sharrow, Ryan (November 16, 2017). "Lord & Taylor closing Annapolis store". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  8. ^ "Westfield Annapolis To Transform Former Lord & Taylor Building Into New Retail District". 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  9. ^ Price, Lilly (June 20, 2020). "Macy's plans to lay off 234 employees at Annapolis, Columbia malls". Capital Gazette. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  10. ^ Baumgart, Jacob (March 8, 2021). "Container Store Coming To Annapolis Mall: Report". Patch. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  11. ^ Cook, Chase (May 16, 2019). "Inside Discoveries, Anne Arundel's mall library experiment could go permanent". Capital Gazette. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  12. ^ "New Anne Arundel County Public Library opens in Annapolis Mall". WBAL. February 25, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  13. ^ Conaway, Donovan (July 17, 2021). "Community Pantry opens at Discoveries: The Library at the Mall in Annapolis". Capital Gazette. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  14. ^ Moin, David (May 7, 2020). "Exclusive Where Nordstrom Has Closed Stores for Good". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  15. ^ Farnsworth, Beth (May 7, 2020). "Nordstrom Santa Barbara Paseo Nuevo to close by August". keyt.com. NPG of California. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  16. ^ "Retail bloodbath continues, Annapolis Nordstrom to close July 15, 2020". Eye On Annapolis. 2020-05-08. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  17. ^ Rosenbaum, Claudia (2023-05-09). "Can Actual Rats Save the Mall?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  18. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 12, 2022). "AMC Increases Footprint In Connecticut, NY & Maryland With Acquisition Of Seven Bow Tie Cinemas". Deadline. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  19. ^ "Hobby Lobby, Grocery Outlet, Onelife Fitness to Replace JC Penney at Annapolis Mall". Eye On Annapolis. 2024-05-10. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  20. ^ a b Howland, Daphne (June 14, 2024). "J.C. Penney closing 4 stores in coming months". Retail Dive. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  21. ^ Gomlak, Norman (May 20, 2024). "Annapolis charter school delays opening until 2025, citing halt in lease negotiations". The Baltimore Banner. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  22. ^ Faithfull, Mark (February 9, 2024). "Pre-Pandemic Occupancy Encourages Westfield To Keep U.S. Malls". Forbes. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  23. ^ Overs, Bria (2024-08-05). "Dick's and Dave & Buster's coming to Annapolis Mall under new owner". The Baltimore Banner. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
  24. ^ Carlisle, Candace (2024-09-04). "Centennial teams up with former WeWork CEO to revamp Maryland mall". CoStar. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  25. ^ a b "Secret Service agent wounded in mall shooting". NBC News. Microsoft. Associated Press. November 19, 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
  26. ^ "Teen Gets 65 Years In Annapolis Mall Shooting". WBAL-TV. The Associated Press. December 21, 2007. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
  27. ^ Valcourt, Derek (January 18, 2007). "Midshipman Honored As Hero In Md. Mall Shooting". WJZ TV. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  28. ^ Fuller, Nicole (December 22, 2007). "Teen gets 65 years for mall shooting". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
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