White Marsh Town Center a 2000 acres (8.1 km²) planned community of residential, office, industrial, and retail properties developed by Nottingham Properties, now owned by Corporate Office Properties Trust

Corporate Office Properties Trust

Corporate Office Properties Trust Inc. is a publicly-traded real estate investment trust corporation that specializes in office development, and describes itself as "a fully integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust that focuses on the acquisition, development, ownership, management...

. It is located in White Marsh

White Marsh, Maryland

White Marsh is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 8,485 at the 2000 census.- History :...

, northeast Baltimore County, Maryland

Baltimore County, Maryland

Baltimore County is a county located in the northern part of the US state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 805,029. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Towson. The name of the county was derived from the barony of the Proprietor of the Maryland...

.

History

Plans for White Marsh Town Center were proposed in 1965. Construction of the adjacent Interstate 95

Interstate 95 in Maryland

Interstate 95 in Maryland is a major highway that runs diagonally from northeast to southwest, from Maryland's border with Delaware, to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, briefly entering the District of Columbia before reaching Virginia...

 in 1969 justified the proposal and plans for rezoning. The first project, White Marsh Mall

White Marsh Mall

White Marsh Mall is a shopping mall in the unincorporated and planned community of White Marsh in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. The White Marsh Mall is one of the largest regional malls in the Baltimore area, with 5 anchor stores and 142 specialty shops in ....

, developed by the Rouse Company

The Rouse Company

The Rouse Company, founded by James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties Inc...

, opened in 1981.

The Avenue at White Marsh

The Avenue at White Marsh is a 300,000 square foot open air mall located in White Marsh, Maryland

White Marsh, Maryland

White Marsh is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 8,485 at the 2000 census.- History :...

 south of White Marsh Mall

White Marsh Mall

White Marsh Mall is a shopping mall in the unincorporated and planned community of White Marsh in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. The White Marsh Mall is one of the largest regional malls in the Baltimore area, with 5 anchor stores and 142 specialty shops in ....

.

The Avenue was developed as a town-center in a suburb without a center. Its design is drastically different from previous suburban malls and part of a wave of similar destination retail sites across the country. Construction on the Avenue started in 1996 and was completed in 1998 with stores opening to the public as they were ready. Federal Realty Investment Trust purchased The Avenue in early 2007.

The concept for the Avenue at White Marsh was modeled in part after the Reston Town Center

Reston Town Center

The Reston Town Center is a group of offices, stores, and restaurants in Reston, Virginia.-Layout:The Reston Town Center is designed with open avenues and with wide sidewalks. It is built around Fountain Square, a medium-sized open area between the surrounding shops. The main landmark in Fountain...

, which also blends office, residential, entertainment and retail components. The Avenue stores are situated on both sides, at the beginning, and at the end of a quarter-mile main street

Main Street

Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...

. The layout was planned to feel old-fashioned from the stone plaza to the architecture. The Avenue was criticized early on as a "street without a town."

A plaza

Plaza

Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...

 is located at the center of the main street where regular entertainment can take place. Each year in November the Avenue at White Marsh along with White Marsh Mall sponsors a holiday parade that goes through the main street then over to the mall.

The Avenue supplements White Marsh Mall with retail, food, and service options. Some of its businesses include: A.C. Moore, 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...

, Pier 1 Imports

Pier 1 Imports

Pier 1 Imports Inc. is a Fort Worth, Texas based retailer specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly furniture, table-top items, decorative accessories and seasonal decor. The chain operates over 1,000 stores under the name Pier 1 Imports in the United States, Canada, Mexico...

, Staples, AnnTaylor Loft

Ann Taylor (retail chain)

ANN INC. is an American group of specialty apparel retail chain stores for women, headquartered in New York City, . The stores offer classic styled suits, separates, dresses, shoes and accessories...

, Chico's, New Balance

New Balance

New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. , best known as simply New Balance, is a footwear manufacturer based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. It was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company...

, Don Pablo's Mexican Kitchen, Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...

, AMC Theatres

AMC Theatres

AMC Theatres , officially known as AMC Entertainment, Inc., is the second largest movie theater chain in North America with 5,325 screens, second only to Regal Entertainment Group, and one of the United States's four national cinema chains AMC Theatres (American Multi-Cinema), officially known as...

, Hallmark Creations

Hallmark Cards

Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....

, and Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless

Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....

Nottingham Square

Nottingham Square is a collection of large retail stores and restaurant franchises. This property is located on Campbell Boulevard between Interstate 95

Interstate 95 in Maryland

Interstate 95 in Maryland is a major highway that runs diagonally from northeast to southwest, from Maryland's border with Delaware, to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, briefly entering the District of Columbia before reaching Virginia...

 and Maryland Route 7

Maryland Route 7

Maryland Route 7 is a collection of state highways in the U.S. state of Maryland. These highways are sections of old alignment of U.S. Route 40 between Baltimore and Elkton that were bypassed when US 40 was moved to Pulaski Highway, a four-lane divided highway, in the late 1930s and early 1940s...

. Patrons can access to Nottingham Square from two signalized intersections and two unsignalized intersections from Campbell Boulevard.

Retail stores are located in front of a large parking area with perimeter access roads. Behind the parking lots are several restaurants and other services.

Some of the businesses include 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...

, 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,...

, Party City

Party City

Party City is the largest retail party supply store in the United States, including Puerto Rico, with more than 500 corporate and franchised locations...

, Dick's Sporting Goods

Dick's Sporting Goods

Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. , or Dick's, is a Fortune 500 American corporation in the sporting goods and retail industries.The company's headquarters are on the grounds of Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay Township near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dick's has 451 stores in 42 states as of...

, Target Greatland, Value City

Value City

Value City was an American discount department store chain with 113 locations. It was founded in 1917 by Ephraim Schottenstein, a travelling salesman in central Ohio. The store was an off-price retailer that sold clothing, jewelry, and home goods below the manufacturer suggested retail price...

, Lowe's

Lowe's

Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,710 stores in the United States and 20 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in...

, Panera Bread

Panera Bread

Panera Bread is a chain of bakery–café quick casual restaurants in the United States and Canada that sells breads, sandwiches, soups, salads, and other bakery items. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.-Corporate history:In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co...

, Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A |"fillet"]]) is a quick service restaurant chain headquartered in College Park, Georgia, United States, specializing in chicken entrées and is known for promoting the company founder's claims of Christian values. Long associated with the southern United States, where it has been a...

, and McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

.

Other Properties

• Franklin Ridge
• Corporate Place
• White Marsh Business Center
• White Marsh Hi-Tech Center
• Tyler Ridge
• McLean Ridge
• Nottingham Ridge
• Campbell Corporate Center I
• White Marsh Professional Center
• White Marsh Health Center
• Byron Station
• White Marsh Plaza
• CastleCreek
• Eaton Square
• Devonshire at White Marsh
• Cambridge Court
• Maple Ridge
• Silver Lake
• White Marsh Commerce Center