Malls · Maryland

Frederick Towne Mall

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedPartly retrofittedFrederick, MD

Opened 1972. Closed 2013. Partial Redeveloped in 2019.

Status nowPartly retrofittedextracted, unreviewed

documented

Frederick Towne Mall, also known by its new name District 40, is a partially-abandoned mall located in Frederick, Maryland, United States.

en.wikipedia.org

What it becameentertainment, retail, otherextracted, unreviewed reported

Site size602,000 sq ft GLAEsri 2014 layer reported

Last sale$600,000 · 1989public reporting

Retrofit year2019extracted, unreviewed reported

Rail within 800 mNoOpenStreetMap, HUD

Reach the owner Download dossier (PDF) · early access Download record (JSON) API Share LinkedIn Correct this record

Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from. documented = a quoted excerpt (click to read it) · reported = a source named, no excerpt yet · no source.

Frederick Towne Mall. Photo: Aaron Stone, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Site profile19 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors

Boscov's

This site: Boscov's wikipedia · all sites with this

JCPenney

This site: JCPenney wikipedia · all sites with this

Montgomery Ward

This site: Montgomery Ward wikipedia · all sites with this

Finance and pipeline

Auction

This site: …scope: property research-deals · all sites with this

On Facebook

This site: …https://www.facebook.com/141170252591760 overture · all sites with this

Website alive

This site: …http://www.fye.com/ overture / http check · all sites with this

Place

15-minute neighbourhood (5+ of 6 daily needs within 800 m)

This site: 5/6 openstreetmap · all sites with this

200+ tax-credit housing units within 1 km

This site: 359 units in 3 properties hud-lihtc · all sites with this

30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent road

This site: 47,441 on 40 fhwa-hpms · all sites with this

County typical rent $2,000+

This site: $2,179/mo zillow · all sites with this

FEMA special flood hazard area

This site: AO fema-nfhl · all sites with this

Fast-growing county (8%+ 2018–23)

This site: 13% census-acs · all sites with this

Grocery within 800 m

This site: 5 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this

Renter-majority tract

This site: 78% census-acs · all sites with this

Scale

Building footprint 50,000+ m²

This site: 52,091 m² overture · all sites with this

Strategy

Redeveloped

This site: As of 2026, Home Depot and Boscov's still operate, alongside tenants such as Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant (rebranding to Saffron Grill & Bar), Warehouse… extraction · all sites with this

New use

Entertainment and sports

This site: …o Saffron Grill & Bar), Warehouse Cinemas, Spinners Pinball Arcade, and Frederick Furniture. extraction · all sites with this

Logistics and industrial

This site: …ahal Indian Restaurant (rebranding to Saffron Grill & Bar), Warehouse Cinemas, Spinners Pinball Arcade, and Frederick Furniture. extraction · all sites with this

Retail (continued)

This site: …new_use field extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

Status	Partly retrofittedextracted, unreviewed documented Frederick Towne Mall, also known by its new name District 40, is a partially-abandoned mall located in Frederick, Maryland, United States. en.wikipedia.org
Strategy	Partial Redevelopedextracted, unreviewed documented In 2006, proposals were made to redevelop the mall into a mixed-use complex. en.wikipedia.org
New uses	entertainment, retail, otherextracted, unreviewed reported
What is there now	As of 2026, Home Depot and Boscov's still operate, alongside tenants such as Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant (rebranding to Saffron Grill & Bar), Warehouse Cinemas, Spinners Pinball Arcade, and Frederick Furniture.extracted, unreviewed documented As of 2026, both Home Depot and Boscov's still operate at the site. en.wikipedia.org
Retrofit year	2019extracted, unreviewed reported

Planning

Entitlement year	2014extracted, unreviewed reported

Deals and debt

Date	Event	Price	Parties	Source
2017	Sold	—	West Frederick Center LLLP	Wikipedia
2016	Auction	—		Wikipedia
1999	Sold	—	investors in New York	Wikipedia
1989	Sold	$600,000 closed	J. DeBartolo and Equitable Real Estate Investment Management	Wikipedia
1983	Sold	$31.5M closed	group of investors	Wikipedia

Site context

Transit within 800 m	no rail stationOpenStreetMap
Motorway junctions within 2 km	13A, 13B, junctionOpenStreetMap
FEMA flood zone	AO · special flood hazard areaFEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m	23: CHEVRON; CHEVRON USA PRODUCTS CO 121954; CVS PHARMACY #1437; EXXON RAS 2 - 7413; FREDERICK TOWNE MALLEPA FRS
Census tract 24021750508	4,377 people, 9,552 per sq mi; median household income $61,683; median gross rent $1,714; 78% renters; 1.8% vacant units; 1.1% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)	5 of 6 daily needs: 5 grocers, 2 schools, 14 parks or playgrounds, 0 health, 1 civic, 20 food and drink; 1 cycleway segments, 104 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity Zone	noHUD
Housing permits, Frederick County (MD), 2024	374 units in 5+ unit buildings, 3 in 2–4, 1,185 single-family; 2023: 493 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)	overall percentile 0.63; socioeconomic 0.79; housing and transport 0.51; 17% below 150% of poverty; 8% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Other atlas sites nearby	1 within 10 km, 1 within 25 km: Francis Scott Key Mall (5.9 km)computed
Overture Maps	place Frederick Towne Mall (shopping_mall, confidence 0.98, from Overture, meta); building footprint 52,091 m²Overture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and social	www.fye.com (alive) · social: facebookOverture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views	83,172 since 2015; 5,264 in the last 12 months (+2% vs the prior 12); peak 2018-01 with 1,298Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023	tract boundary changed between the 2010 and 2020 census; no 2013 comparisonCensus ACS
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)	very low overall (score 18.5); expected annual loss $765,700; high: winter weather; community resilience relatively highFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 km	3 LIHTC properties, 359 units: Waverley View Apartments (240 units); Hillcrest Commons (60 units); Windsor Gardens (59 units)HUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)	14,832 jobs in 713 establishments; average annual pay $42,785; employment location quotient 1.40; employment +1.5% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 2022	469 jobs; 194 in retail trade, 56 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 24021750508)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)	children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 39th income percentile as adults; 2.2% incarcerated at the 2010 count (639 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)	not a low-access tract at 1 mile; poverty rate 18.0%; median family income $67,922; 511 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
Schools	Frederick County Public Schools (PK-12); 3 public schools within 1 mile: Waverley Elementary; Butterfly Ridge Elementary; Hillcrest ElementaryNCES EDGE
Elevation	355 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025	483 county-logged events: 273 thunderstorm wind, 159 flood, 24 flash flood, 22 hail; $47,377,000 property damage reported; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 21702, 2026-09	median list price $492,248 (+4.6% on the year); 129 active listings; median 40 days on market; 25% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023	724 establishments (-2%); 13,462 jobs (+12%)Census CBP
Housing market in the county	typical home value $494,258 (-0% 1 yr, +18% 5 yr); typical rent $2,179/mo (+3% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)	47,441 vehicles a day on 40 (principal arterial, 5 lanes); 1,172 trucks; 29 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Frederick Towne Mall opened in 1972 on U.S. Route 40 and operated as a regional mall until most stores closed in April 2013, leaving only the Boscov's and Home Depot anchors. In November 2019 the property was announced for redevelopment and renamed District 40, with a retrofit underway that added entertainment and retail tenants. As of 2026 the site remains partially occupied, with the original anchors plus new uses such as a cinema, pinball arcade, and restaurants.

Why. The record points to competition from a new mall that opened in 1978 as a factor in the site’s decline, and the eventual 2013 closure of most tenants suggests anchor loss and market shifts. No explicit debt or demolition causes are stated.

Where it stands. As of 2026 the site is partially operational and controlled by West Frederick Center LLLP, the owner listed from 2017 to present.

For a planner

The mall entered a formal redevelopment strategy in 2014 (entitlement year) and received retrofit approval in 2019, showing a precedent for adaptive reuse approvals.
Policy tools used include entitlement processing and a retrofit permit that allowed mixed‑use entertainment and retail without full demolition.
Open questions remain about the long‑term viability of the partial retrofit, potential need for further rezoning, and how to integrate the site with surrounding transportation and land‑use plans.

For a developer

Site size: 602,000 sq ft GLA on a single parcel.
Control: single owner, West Frederick Center LLLP (since 2017), simplifying assembly.
Entitlement stage: entitlement granted 2014, retrofit completed 2019; current use is partially redeveloped with existing anchors.
Market signals: opportunity score 0.0 (retrofit already built), large site, county population grew 12.8% 2018‑23, median rent $1,706 indicating steady demand.
Constraints: no flood, transit, or environmental constraints are noted in the record.

What we do not know yet

Exact vacancy rate, lease terms, and financial performance of the remaining anchors and new tenants are not provided.
The record does not specify any flood‑plain, wetland, or hazardous‑material constraints that could affect future phases.
Transit access and pedestrian connectivity details are missing, which are important for mixed‑use success.
Several fields (year_closed, year_retrofit, after_notes, status, strategy, new_use, entitlement_year) are marked as model‑extracted and unreviewed, raising potential accuracy concerns.
The scope of the 2017 sale to West Frederick Center LLLP is listed as “property” but no price or conditions are given.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Foothills Mall, Fort Collins, CO · Malls · similar GLA (800,000 sq ft); opened 1973; same strategy: redevelop
Century Plaza, Birmingham, AL · Malls · similar GLA (740,000 sq ft); opened 1975; closed 2009
Euclid Square Mall, Euclid, OH · Malls · similar GLA (632,043 sq ft); opened 1977; closed 2016
Metcalf South Shopping Center, Overland Park, KS · Malls · similar GLA (784,336 sq ft); opened 1967; closed 2014

Elsewhere on the web

Retail history: Frederick Towne Mall on DeadMalls.com photos, field notes and visitor memories since 2000; matched by name and city; nothing copied here

Pages with photos

Frederick Towne Mall (Frederick, MD) as of 11/9/2023. About 25… reddit.com
Frederick Towne Mall Main Entrance commons.wikimedia.org
Taking a Look Around the Old Frederick Towne Mall & a Quick Tour Inside The New Warehouse Cinemas youtube.com
FREDERICK TOWNE MALL flickr.com

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

retrofit already built
602,000 sq ft GLA (large site)
county grew 12.8% 2018–23
median rent $1,706

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Opened	1972Esri 2014 layer
Closed	2013extracted, unreviewed documented It closed in April 2013, except for two anchor stores, Boscov's and Home Depot, which remain operational as of then. en.wikipedia.org
Gross leasable area	602,000 sq ftEsri 2014 layer reported
Stores at peak	68Esri 2014 layer reported
Anchors	Home Depot, JCPenney, Boscov's, The Bon-Ton, Hoyts Cinema, Montgomery Ward, Eyerly's
Address	US Rt. 40 & Waverly Dr.
County	Frederick
Census division	5 · South Atlantic
Notes	Wikipedia categories: Defunct shopping malls in the United States

Not yet recorded: acres, original developer. Know it? Tell us.

Background

Frederick Towne Mall, also known by its new name District 40, is a partially-abandoned mall located in Frederick, Maryland, United States. The mall opened in the summer of 1972 on U.S. Route 40 along the "Golden Mile". It closed in April 2013, except for two anchor stores, Boscov's and Home Depot, which remain operational as of then. In November 2019, it was announced that the mall would be renamed District 40 and would become an entertainment center.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

1970 first announced
1972 Opened
1978 competing mall opened
1983 sold to group of investors
1989 sold to J. DeBartolo and Equitable Real Estate Investment Management
1995 completed $4 million renovation
1996 Hoyts Cinemas 10 opened
1999 sold to investors in New York
2006 proposals to redevelop into mixed-use complex
2019 announced rename to District 40

Sources

Wikipedia: Frederick Towne Mall · supports: after notes, status, strategy, year closed
14 quoted sentences
It closed in April 2013, except for two anchor stores, Boscov's and Home Depot, which remain operational as of then.
As of 2026, both Home Depot and Boscov's still operate at the site.
Frederick Towne Mall, also known by its new name District 40, is a partially-abandoned mall located in Frederick, Maryland, United States.
In 2006, proposals were made to redevelop the mall into a mixed-use complex.
Esri StoryMaps: Closed_US_Malls feature layer (2014) · 2014-10-02

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "Frederick Towne Mall, Frederick, MD." Record m-4f64945328, imported, unreviewed. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/md/frederick-frederick-towne-mall/ (accessed 2026-10-20).

BibTeX

@misc{retrofitatlas_frederickfredericktownemall,
  title = {Frederick Towne Mall, Frederick, MD},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/md/frederick-frederick-towne-mall/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record m-4f64945328, release 2026.10.20, tier: draft. Built on the Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed on the record. Accessed 2026-10-20}
}

How to cite, versioning