Frederick Towne Mall was a mall located in Frederick, Maryland, United States. The mall opened in 1972 on U.S. Route 40 along the "Golden Mile". It was closed inApril 2013, except for two anchor stores, Boscov's and Home Depot. In November 2019 it was announced that the mall would be renamed District 40 and would become an entertainment center with a movie theater, and possibly a trampoline park, video arcade, go-karts and bowling alley.
History
The mall opened in 1972 on U.S. Route 40 along the "Golden Mile". The mall had anchor stores JCPenney, Gentleman's Choice, Eyerly's, McCrory's, and Montgomery Ward, as well as a Hoyts cinema. The area surrounding the mall eventually intensified with low income housing, as did violent crime in the surrounding area. After a series of well-publicized events earned the mall a reputation for crime and frequent fights, mall tenants began relocating to a safer retail district across the city near the competing Francis Scott Key Mall, which opened in 1978. The Montgomery Ward store closed in 2001 due to bankruptcy and later to be replaced in 2004 by The Home Depot. The then vacant J.C.Penney was replaced with Boscov's in 2003. In 2005, Gentlemen's Choice, the last remaining original tenant, moved out. In 2006, proposals were made to redevelop the mall into a mixed use site. However, by 2009, economic issues caused by the Great Recession ended the possibility of mixed use redevelopment for the time. By 2007, the reputation for crime the mall gained increased, as a woman was attacked and beaten while exiting the Bon-Ton department store. This reputation would only grow further when the Hoyts Cinemas 10 was closed in 2008 after a man was stabbed to death inside. Because of this, Frederick residents relocated their dollars to the safer side of town, near the Francis Scott Key Mall. In November 2010, it was announced that the Bon-Ton store and their furniture gallery would be closing within the next few months. They closed in January 2011, leaving the mall without any original anchor stores. John's Hallmark, the last interior tenant, closed its doors in April 2013; however by this time it was selling merchandise out of its back door due to the closure of the mall's interior to the public in early April. At this time, it was announced that Walmart had plans to open on the site, following demolition of the mall, however these plans were cancelled in 2016. In 2014, just a year after the closure of the mall, three men were charged with burglary and trespassing after breaking into the mall by prying one of its doors. Officers went inside and arrested the three men. Their motive for breaking into the mall remains unclear. Since 2015, the land has been planned for redevelopment. In 2016, work started on a redevelopment called Frederick Towne Center. Boscov's and Home Depot will be kept and the mall in between demolished. The new site plan would include a Walmart of size 155,000-square-foot. In September of that year, however, Walmart cancelled their plans for redevelopment. Shortly afterwards, the owner of the property considered selling the mall. On November 23, 2016, there was an auction for the site between December 6 to 8 with a starting bid of $2.5 million. On February 24, 2017, the property was sold to LYNK Capital, headed by urologist Mohammed Mohiuddin. many For Lease signs can be seen around the building. A Warehouse cinemas is slated to open on the former Hoyts Cinemas side of the mall with a signed lease and the mall being cleaned up, although it has been several months since any work has been done and lease signs have reappeared on the Hoyts anchor building.
District 40
On November 11, 2019 it was officially announced that the mall was being renamed District 40 and may include tenants with business such as go-karts, a bowling alley, a video arcade, a trampoline park, and restaurants. Warehouse Cinemas would be the first tenant and was expected to open in the summer of 2020. According to the report, Home Depot, which is connected to the old mall, is technically not included in the property and Boscov's still has a lease, but no further details were disclosed about the future of the store.
