During the mass
exodus to the suburbs, Baltimore tried very hard to bring some of the
suburban amenities to neighborhoods that weren't experiencing the same
levels of urban decay as those closer to Downtown. It was decided that
the Rotunda (then housing an insurance company) would become one of
these suburban style Shopping Centers albeit as an enclosed Mall
complete with a Grocery Store, Drug Store, Food Court, and a Movie
Theater as well as smaller shops and boutiques with Offices above
complete with a full parking lot. Parking (or lack thereof) was a huge
hurdle luring quality Retailers into the City and also why at the same
time they preferred the up & coming suburbs.
The
Rotunda helped keep the Hampden/Roland Park area from decaying as badly
as inner city neighborhoods did. Much of that had to do with the
insulated location on the outskirts that provided a buffer for them as
well so much so that Residents in nearby felt it safe to walk to and
from the Rotunda which gave an element of a Community Center as well as a
Retail and Office Complex. This safety was that was severely lacking
during the 1970s and '80s when the Rotunda was in its heyday.
In
the 1990s, Hampden began to experience a rebirth. 36th st. nicknamed
"The Avenue" became something of a Main St. and tourist trap with new
shops popping up in Retail spaces that had long since been vacant. At
Christmas time on 34th St. every house on the street began decorating
their homes with over the top lighting displays. This became yet another
tourist trap and the once desolate streets of Hampden had become a
shopping destination for City dwellers and visitors alike and eventually
Residential growth followed.
This new life
that was pumped into Hampden was not helpful to the Rotunda. In fact,
the opening of the Greenspring Tower Shopping Center just a few blocks
west of the Rotunda sent it into a downward spiral. Featuring a modern
Super Fresh along with open concept Retail, the dingy old Giant and its
enclosed layout really began to show its age. In the early 2000s
however, the age and condition of the Rotunda could no longer be
ignored.
It was around this time that the
owners began consulting developers on how to breathe new life into the
aging center. Many question were raised during this time such as; Will
Giant stay? Will the Cinema stay? Will the original building stay? Will
the entire project be Retail? The list goes on. Finally in around 2007,
plans surfaced for a redeveloped Rotunda which included a brand new
Giant that's the size of a modern Grocery Store, Multi Screen Cinemas
and roughly 1000 Apartments and Condos and a Hotel with additional
Retail space in an open concept style.
These
plans could not have been released at a more turbulent time. The economy
crashed in 2008 making development and redevelopment projects across
the Country some to a grinding halt. The Rotunda was no exception. While
many redevelopment plans were ditched completely, the owners and
developers of the Rotunda kept insisting that when the market
stabilized, they would move forward with redevelopment. Giant also
agreed to stay in for the long haul and continue to anchor the shopping
center in its brand new store once redeveloped. They even agreed they
wouldn't close their old dated store in the mean time.
Well
plans change and so does the Retail scene. Just a few blocks down 40th
St., the Super Fresh chain went belly up leaving a 40,000 square foot
hole in the Greenspring Tower Shopping Center. Although Fresh &
Greens attempted to fill that hole, it was not a hit with Residents and
left almost as quickly as it came. It was at this time that Giant had
gotten sick of waiting for a new larger store. They left the Rotunda
high and dry in 2012 in favor of the vacated space in Greenspring Tower.
Owners
and developers of the Rotunda continued to insist that redevelopment
will still happen. They scrapped the plan for a full sized Grocer in
favor of a Boutique Grocer concept like Trader Joes. That worked out
well because MOM, The Fresh Market, and Graul's all put in bids to
anchor the redeveloped Shopping Center. MOM won the bid and with it
several companies signed on to be part of the redeveloped Rotunda
inlcuding Floyds 99 Barbershop and Massage Envy. Rite Aid will continue
to stay on but the Cinema has since closed. Luckily that was part of the
plan. A new Cinema is being built that caters to the growing trend of
"Dinner and a Movie." This new Cinema is called "Cinebistro."
The
securing of MOM as the Grocer Anchor of the Rotunda made the developers
go back to the drawing board. They realized that some other components
were a tad too ambitious and grandiose. They scaled back the number of
Residences to 379 (down from close to 1,000) and scraped the Hotel. The
Apartments (named the Icon) are now a mid rise versus the high rises
that would have been required to fit that many Apartments and Condos on
that small a site.
Once given the green light,
the demolition of the old Giant began. By that point, Giant's exodus
had taken its toll and hardly anything was left in the beleaguered
Center. Tenants like Hair Cuttery, Radio Shack, and Casa Mia Pizza had
moved to Greenspring Tower just like Giant did. The original building
would retain its character but will be in more of an I shape instead of
the square that it had been with exterior entrances to shops. A brand
new building building will house a parking garage, the Icon Apartments,
the Cinebistro, and more Retail. This new building is currently being
constructed on the southern end of the site on what was once a surface
level parking lot.
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