Bowie Town Center
Encyclopedia
History
Shopping center developer Simon Property GroupSimon Property Group
Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American commercial real estate company, ranked #1 in the United States as the largest real estate investment trust. Simon is a fully integrated real estate company which operates from five retail real estate platforms: regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers, The...
of Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
broke ground on the retail portion of the project — a 560000 square feet (52,025.7 m²) lifestyle center called Bowie Town Center in October 2000. The Town Center project was a by-product of improvements that were made years ago to Route 50. The refurbished highway connects Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, to Annapolis, Md., and that opened up the corridor to development, said Roderick Vosper, Simon Property Group's vice president of regional development and lead developer of the Bowie project.
During a boom in the 1990s, Bowie saw more than 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²) of retail and office space added outside of its downtown. Three subdivisions built on the outskirts of Bowie have been annexed by the city, and municipal officials are close to adding a fourth subdivision, said Jim Cronk, planning director for the City of Bowie. The project started in 1996, when Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American commercial real estate company, ranked #1 in the United States as the largest real estate investment trust. Simon is a fully integrated real estate company which operates from five retail real estate platforms: regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers, The...
acquired the 93 acres (376,358 m²) parcel of land as part of its merger with DeBartolo Realty Corp. The project was originally intended to be a regional mall. But Bowie’s city officials asked Simon to consider alternatives to putting an enclosed regional mall on the site. After researching other open-air shopping centers in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
market, Simon decided to bring that type of concept to the Bowie site, and secured site-plan approvals for the project, Vosper said. Simon, expected to spend in the area of $90 million for the project, due to a syndicated construction loan arranged by Minneapolis-based US Bank. Cleveland-based Key Bank
Key Bank
KeyBank is a regional bank headquartered in Key Tower within Cleveland, Ohio's Public Square. , it is the 19th largest bank in the United States based on total deposits...
and Toronto-based Scotia Capital also participated in the financing.
Stores and attractions
Bowie Town Center is anchored by Macy'sMacy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
, Sears, Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
, Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. was formed in 1971 and today operates a chain of domestic merchandise retail stores across United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. They feature mostly medium-ranged, but also a limited selection of high quality, domestic merchandise: items for the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen,...
, Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
, Safeway
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
, Famous Footwear
Famous Footwear
Famous Footwear is a nationwide chain of retail stores in the United States dealing in branded footwear, generally at prices discounted from manufacturer's suggested prices. Established in 1960 as a single store, "Famous" is regarded as both a forerunner and champion of the trend towards the...
, and Old Navy
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap, Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It is one of the first major corporations to house headquarters in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco.Gap, Inc. was run by...
. Bowie Town Center has numerous specialty shops, restaurants, and an enclosed food court.
On September 30, 2009, the City of Bowie
Bowie
- Places :* Fort Bowie National Historic Site* Bowie, Arizona* Bowie, Maryland* Bowie County, Texas* Bowie, Texas* Bowie Seamount, a submarine volcano on the coast of British Columbia, Canada- Fiction :...
initiated the process of building a new city hall building. The building is at the intersection of Excalibur Road and Evergreen Parkway, adjacent to Bowie Town Center. The building is expected to house most administrative offices of the City and the newly established City of Bowie Police Department
Bowie Police Department
The Bowie City Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency for Bowie, Maryland, servicing a population of 54,884 in of the municipality.-History:...
.