Retrofit Atlas

Malls · Maryland

Frederick Towne Mall

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedPartly retrofittedFrederick, MD

Opened 1972. Closed 2013. Partial Redeveloped in 2019.

Status nowPartly retrofittedextracted, unreviewed
What it becameentertainment, retail, otherextracted, unreviewed
Site size602,000 sq ft GLAEsri 2014 layer
Last sale$600,000 · 1989public reporting
Retrofit year2019extracted, unreviewed
Rail within 800 mNoOpenStreetMap, HUD
Reach the owner Download dossier (PDF) · early access Download record (JSON) API Share LinkedIn Correct this record

Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from.

Frederick Towne Mall
Frederick Towne Mall. Photo: Aaron Stone, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Site profile19 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors
Boscov'sThis site: Boscov's wikipedia · all sites with this
JCPenneyThis site: JCPenney wikipedia · all sites with this
Montgomery WardThis site: Montgomery Ward wikipedia · all sites with this
Finance and pipeline
AuctionThis site: …scope: property research-deals · all sites with this
On FacebookThis site: …https://www.facebook.com/141170252591760 overture · all sites with this
Website aliveThis site: …http://www.fye.com/ overture / http check · all sites with this
Place
15-minute neighbourhood (5+ of 6 daily needs within 800 m)This site: 5/6 openstreetmap · all sites with this
200+ tax-credit housing units within 1 kmThis site: 359 units in 3 properties hud-lihtc · all sites with this
30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent roadThis site: 47,441 on 40 fhwa-hpms · all sites with this
County typical rent $2,000+This site: $2,179/mo zillow · all sites with this
FEMA special flood hazard areaThis site: AO fema-nfhl · all sites with this
Fast-growing county (8%+ 2018–23)This site: 13% census-acs · all sites with this
Grocery within 800 mThis site: 5 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this
Renter-majority tractThis site: 78% census-acs · all sites with this
Scale
Building footprint 50,000+ m²This site: 52,091 m² overture · all sites with this
Strategy
RedevelopedThis site: As of 2026, Home Depot and Boscov's still operate, alongside tenants such as Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant (rebranding to Saffron Grill & Bar), Warehouse… extraction · all sites with this
New use
Entertainment and sportsThis site: …o Saffron Grill & Bar), Warehouse Cinemas, Spinners Pinball Arcade, and Frederick Furniture. extraction · all sites with this
Logistics and industrialThis site: …ahal Indian Restaurant (rebranding to Saffron Grill & Bar), Warehouse Cinemas, Spinners Pinball Arcade, and Frederick Furniture. extraction · all sites with this
Retail (continued)This site: …new_use field extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

StatusPartly retrofittedextracted, unreviewed
StrategyPartial Redevelopedextracted, unreviewed
New usesentertainment, retail, otherextracted, unreviewed
What is there nowAs of 2026, Home Depot and Boscov's still operate, alongside tenants such as Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant (rebranding to Saffron Grill & Bar), Warehouse Cinemas, Spinners Pinball Arcade, and Frederick Furniture.extracted, unreviewed
Retrofit year2019extracted, unreviewed

Planning

Entitlement year2014extracted, unreviewed

Deals and debt

DateEventPricePartiesSource
2017Sold—West Frederick Center LLLPWikipedia
2016Auction—Wikipedia
1999Sold—investors in New YorkWikipedia
1989Sold$600,000 closedJ. DeBartolo and Equitable Real Estate Investment ManagementWikipedia
1983Sold$31.5M closedgroup of investorsWikipedia

Site context

Transit within 800 mno rail stationOpenStreetMap
Motorway junctions within 2 km13A, 13B, junctionOpenStreetMap
FEMA flood zoneAO · special flood hazard areaFEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m23: CHEVRON; CHEVRON USA PRODUCTS CO 121954; CVS PHARMACY #1437; EXXON RAS 2 - 7413; FREDERICK TOWNE MALLEPA FRS
Census tract 240217505084,377 people, 9,552 per sq mi; median household income $61,683; median gross rent $1,714; 78% renters; 1.8% vacant units; 1.1% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)5 of 6 daily needs: 5 grocers, 2 schools, 14 parks or playgrounds, 0 health, 1 civic, 20 food and drink; 1 cycleway segments, 104 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity ZonenoHUD
Housing permits, Frederick County (MD), 2024374 units in 5+ unit buildings, 3 in 2–4, 1,185 single-family; 2023: 493 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)overall percentile 0.63; socioeconomic 0.79; housing and transport 0.51; 17% below 150% of poverty; 8% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Other atlas sites nearby1 within 10 km, 1 within 25 km: Francis Scott Key Mall (5.9 km)computed
Overture Mapsplace Frederick Towne Mall (shopping_mall, confidence 0.98, from Overture, meta); building footprint 52,091 m²Overture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and socialwww.fye.com (alive) · social: facebookOverture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views83,172 since 2015; 5,264 in the last 12 months (+2% vs the prior 12); peak 2018-01 with 1,298Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023tract boundary changed between the 2010 and 2020 census; no 2013 comparisonCensus ACS
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)very low overall (score 18.5); expected annual loss $765,700; high: winter weather; community resilience relatively highFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 km3 LIHTC properties, 359 units: Waverley View Apartments (240 units); Hillcrest Commons (60 units); Windsor Gardens (59 units)HUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023724 establishments (-2%); 13,462 jobs (+12%)Census CBP
Housing market in the countytypical home value $494,258 (-0% 1 yr, +18% 5 yr); typical rent $2,179/mo (+3% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)47,441 vehicles a day on 40 (principal arterial, 5 lanes); 1,172 trucks; 29 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Frederick Towne Mall opened in 1972 on U.S. Route 40 and operated as a regional mall until most stores closed in April 2013, leaving only the Boscov's and Home Depot anchors. In November 2019 the property was announced for redevelopment and renamed District 40, with a retrofit underway that added entertainment and retail tenants. As of 2026 the site remains partially occupied, with the original anchors plus new uses such as a cinema, pinball arcade, and restaurants.

Why. The record points to competition from a new mall that opened in 1978 as a factor in the site’s decline, and the eventual 2013 closure of most tenants suggests anchor loss and market shifts. No explicit debt or demolition causes are stated.

Where it stands. As of 2026 the site is partially operational and controlled by West Frederick Center LLLP, the owner listed from 2017 to present.

For a planner

  • The mall entered a formal redevelopment strategy in 2014 (entitlement year) and received retrofit approval in 2019, showing a precedent for adaptive reuse approvals.
  • Policy tools used include entitlement processing and a retrofit permit that allowed mixed‑use entertainment and retail without full demolition.
  • Open questions remain about the long‑term viability of the partial retrofit, potential need for further rezoning, and how to integrate the site with surrounding transportation and land‑use plans.

For a developer

  • Site size: 602,000 sq ft GLA on a single parcel.
  • Control: single owner, West Frederick Center LLLP (since 2017), simplifying assembly.
  • Entitlement stage: entitlement granted 2014, retrofit completed 2019; current use is partially redeveloped with existing anchors.
  • Market signals: opportunity score 0.0 (retrofit already built), large site, county population grew 12.8% 2018‑23, median rent $1,706 indicating steady demand.
  • Constraints: no flood, transit, or environmental constraints are noted in the record.

What we do not know yet

  • Exact vacancy rate, lease terms, and financial performance of the remaining anchors and new tenants are not provided.
  • The record does not specify any flood‑plain, wetland, or hazardous‑material constraints that could affect future phases.
  • Transit access and pedestrian connectivity details are missing, which are important for mixed‑use success.
  • Several fields (year_closed, year_retrofit, after_notes, status, strategy, new_use, entitlement_year) are marked as model‑extracted and unreviewed, raising potential accuracy concerns.
  • The scope of the 2017 sale to West Frederick Center LLLP is listed as “property” but no price or conditions are given.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

  • Foothills Mall, Fort Collins, CO · Malls · similar GLA (800,000 sq ft); opened 1973; same strategy: redevelop
  • Century Plaza, Birmingham, AL · Malls · similar GLA (740,000 sq ft); opened 1975; closed 2009
  • Euclid Square Mall, Euclid, OH · Malls · similar GLA (632,043 sq ft); opened 1977; closed 2016
  • Metcalf South Shopping Center, Overland Park, KS · Malls · similar GLA (784,336 sq ft); opened 1967; closed 2014

Elsewhere on the web

Pages with photos

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

  • retrofit already built
  • 602,000 sq ft GLA (large site)
  • county grew 12.8% 2018–23
  • median rent $1,706

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Opened1972Esri 2014 layer
Closed2013extracted, unreviewed
Gross leasable area602,000 sq ftEsri 2014 layer
Stores at peak68Esri 2014 layer
AnchorsHome Depot, JCPenney, Boscov's, The Bon-Ton, Hoyts Cinema, Montgomery Ward, Eyerly's
AddressUS Rt. 40 & Waverly Dr.
CountyFrederick
Census division5 · South Atlantic
NotesWikipedia categories: Defunct shopping malls in the United States

Not yet recorded: acres, original developer. Know it? Tell us.

Background

Frederick Towne Mall, also known by its new name District 40, is a partially-abandoned mall located in Frederick, Maryland, United States. The mall opened in the summer of 1972 on U.S. Route 40 along the "Golden Mile". It closed in April 2013, except for two anchor stores, Boscov's and Home Depot, which remain operational as of then. In November 2019, it was announced that the mall would be renamed District 40 and would become an entertainment center.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

  1. 1970 first announced
  2. 1972 Opened
  3. 1978 competing mall opened
  4. 1983 sold to group of investors
  5. 1989 sold to J. DeBartolo and Equitable Real Estate Investment Management
  6. 1995 completed $4 million renovation
  7. 1996 Hoyts Cinemas 10 opened
  8. 1999 sold to investors in New York
  9. 2006 proposals to redevelop into mixed-use complex
  10. 2019 announced rename to District 40

Sources

  • Wikipedia: Frederick Towne Mall · supports: after notes, status, strategy, year closed
    14 quoted sentences
    It closed in April 2013, except for two anchor stores, Boscov's and Home Depot, which remain operational as of then.
    As of 2026, both Home Depot and Boscov's still operate at the site.
    Frederick Towne Mall, also known by its new name District 40, is a partially-abandoned mall located in Frederick, Maryland, United States.
    In 2006, proposals were made to redevelop the mall into a mixed-use complex.
  • Esri StoryMaps: Closed_US_Malls feature layer (2014) · 2014-10-02

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