Making Way for a Main Street, U.S.A.
Waldorf Center Aims to Be Iconic Hub

By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 25, 2006

In fast-growing Southern Maryland, residents say shopping and entertainment offerings have failed to keep pace with the region's increase in personal wealth and education levels.

But there are signs of change in Charles, the most populous of Southern Maryland's three counties. One of the Washington area's largest developers is planning a $62 million lifestyle retail and entertainment center in Waldorf, and at least two other similar developments are in the works nearby, though on smaller scales.

Peterson Cos., the developer building the National Harbor project in neighboring Prince George's County, is building the Waldorf Town Center, which is modeled after Peterson's newly opened Fairfax Corner in Northern Virginia. The developer says the Waldorf project, designed as an outdoor main street, will feature upscale shopping, fine dining, professional office space and a hotel -- all amid idyllic landscaping.

It is being billed as an entertainment hub for Southern Maryland and will be anchored by a 14-screen cinema with stadium seating, making it one of the region's few multiscreen movie theaters.

"We believe that it really is an untapped market. The growth down there is rapid," said Jeff Parana, a Peterson vice president

who is managing the Waldorf and National Harbor developments. "We just felt Charles County was the place to be."

Other developers and national chains seem to agree. Whole Foods Market has been scouting sites in Waldorf and the county seat, La Plata, for a new store, said John Reardon, the county's director of economic development. A Whole Foods spokeswoman declined to comment.

Reardon also said developers are close to signing deals to introduce some high-end chain restaurants such as the Cheesecake Factory and Ruth's Chris Steak House.

Until now, one of the region's primary retail arteries, the U.S. Route 301 corridor in Waldorf, has been a miles-long stretch of car dealerships, chain restaurants, fast-food joints and big-box stores. The Gap, a shopping mall staple, doesn't operate a single store in Southern Maryland. And it took until 2002 for Starbucks to open its first shop in the region.

County officials welcome the interest from retail developers offering new restaurants and stores.

"A lot of us drive out of the county to go to those kinds of places," said Charles Commissioner Candice Quinn Kelly (R-La Plata), who is the board's economic development liaison.

"When people have to leave to go to Annapolis or Northern Virginia, that's wrong," said Board of Commissioners President Wayne Cooper (D-At Large). "We want to keep our tax base and our income in the county."

The increasing cachet of retail and entertainment options in Southern Maryland seems to be a direct response to demographic shifts. Southern Maryland is the state's fastest-growing region. Population in the region composed of Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's counties increased about 15 percent between 2000 and 2005, according to U.S. Census estimates.

In Charles, the percentage of adults who have high school degrees increased from 86 to 90 percent in the same period. And the median household income increased from about $62,000 in 2000 to $69,000 in 2004.

"You're getting an averaging up of people coming in," Reardon said. "People are coming from other areas. They have certain expectations for what they expect in the region."

In the seven-mile radius of its Waldorf development, Peterson thinks the population will reach 108,000 and average household income will surpass $85,000 by 2008.

"We think it's going to be a home run," Parana said. "The first time I went down to Waldorf, it's almost hard to find. The first question I ask engineers is, 'Where's Waldorf? Where's the center of Waldorf?'

"There is no center," he continued. "So what we'll do is, we'll create it."

The Waldorf Town Center would feature 190,000 square feet of commercial space and would be on 40 acres on the Route 301 site where the Stardust Hotel Casino once stood.

Plans call for narrow tree-lined streets between rows of shops and restaurants with wide sidewalks and parallel parking spaces. Some of the buildings will be two to three stories tall to accommodate office space for dentists, lawyers and other professionals.

"It's sort of a generic main street," Parana said. "What we try to create in our town centers are idealistic places that people like to think they grew up in in the 1950s and '60s. . . . It's something you'd see in a little town up in New England."

Similar projects are in the works in Southern Maryland. Washington developer Madison Marquette, which operates the Festival at Waldorf anchored by several big-box retailers, plans to open a 40,000-square-foot upscale shopping and entertainment expansion on the site to be named the Shops at Waldorf. A block away, Faison recently opened the first phase of Waldorf Marketplace, featuring clothiers such as Jos. A. Bank and Chico's.

"We certainly see a stronger appetite by higher-quality tenancies to consider Charles County and Southern Maryland locations," said Howard Biel, Faison's senior managing director.

Michael Silverstein, a retail analyst at Boston Consulting Group, said lifestyle centers are "hot."

"Consumers love them, the mall developers love them and are basically saying, 'Count me in, count me in,' " Silverstein said.

But developments anchored by restaurants, movie theaters and boutique retailers threaten to squeeze business from traditional indoor shopping malls across the country. In Southern Maryland, the St. Charles Towne Center is a traditional mall that has dominated the region's retail market for years.

Manager David Gott said he welcomes the competition. "That increases our foot traffic," he said. "It just brings more people to the area."

Officials hope the Peterson project will give residents something that has been missing in Charles.

"When you're playing and working where [you] live, you're creating a sense of community and a sense of place," Kelly said. "People need to feel that their county is more than a place to sleep."