When many malls are struggling, Greenbelt’s Beltway Plaza seems to be thriving. Why?

Beltway Plaza, a 1963 indoor-outdoor hybrid mall in Greenbelt, Maryland, has interested me ever since I checked out its Giant supermarket my first night after moving down from New Jersey for grad school at University Maryland College Park.

The mall was developed by the late real estate developer Sidney J. Brown, and is now managed by Bethesda-based Quantum Companies, which describes itself as having “a focus on shopping center redevelopment and revitalization.” Not coincidentally, Beltway Plaza is the subject of a major redevelopment plan.

But does it need revitalization?

As malls go, Beltway Plaza is thriving. It is discount-oriented and full of independent businesses, rather than mostly chains. It’s pretty well maintained for a commercial building over 50 years old. And with over 100 businesses and 850,000 square feet, only eight storefronts (not counting kiosks) are currently vacant, according to Quantum’s property info sheet.

It just feels different from the average mall; in some ways it’s an experiment, an example of what a suburban commercial property can evolve into with a little localism, entrepreneurship, and flexibility.

I recently visited the mall for the first time since mid-2020, and despite years of looming redevelopment and COVID-19 restrictions, this unique property remains idiosyncratic and successful.

It serves its immediate area well, with large appeal both for nearby University of Maryland students (many of whom live within walking distance of the mall) as well as immigrants, working-class folks, and anybody who likes a deal.

The mall’s eclectic range of businesses serve a wide range of people and purposes that retailers in new developments often fail to. From a West African restaurant, beauty emporium, and bubble tea shop to a discount dress clothier and local arts nonprofit, there’s something for everyone.

Other notable establishments include an independent hardware store famous for its deeply discounted electronic key fobs and a kiosk called Gift Outlet that sells incredibly cheap ties and menswear. Are these great suits or ties? Of course not. But for someone working their first white-collar or office job, it could be a lifesaver.

Let’s drill down a little more. What, exactly, separates Beltway Plaza from the average shopping mall?

First of all, it’s a medium-sized, one-story indoor mall that is not commonly experienced today. Unlike with a strip mall, which still comes in all sizes, one can get shelter from the weather and have space to hang out or walk around indoors.

Second, because it has a Giant supermarket as well as a smaller grocery store with a butcher counter and fresh produce section, it’s a one-stop shopping experience, sort of like a Walmart Supercenter. But unlike Walmart, it has what urbanists sometimes refer to as a “fine grain” — a high density of independent, small-scale businesses in a relatively walkable space.

There is also a Target with a standard grocery section (with an exterior entrance only), but the Target does not outcompete the rest of the mall. There are probably folks who go only for the Target or Giant, some who go only for the local businesses, and others who mix and match.

Essentially, Beltway Plaza may be as close to a neighborhood entertainment center as many suburbs will ever have. In addition to the supermarket, it features a movie theater, a gym, an ice cream parlor, a cobbler, a barber shop, a florist, a popular Italian restaurant with long ties in Greenbelt, and a fun center with games, play areas, and indoor bumper cars. There’s even a Pentecostal church in the back.

It’s a place where a family without a whole lot of money can spend an afternoon and buy everything they need. And because of its diversity of businesses that appeal to immigrant communities, students, and really anyone looking for discount shopping, it can serve the entire community.

Like many commercial projects, a proposal for the mall’s redevelopment has been slow and halting. And the plan’s scale, consisting of six phases, will take over a decade to complete. There has been little news in the last year on the project, but the first phase, which may begin soon, builds new apartments on underutilized parking lots in the back of the property. The plan eventually calls for the existing mall to be demolished and for the property to be turned into a mixed-use neighborhood.

But not everyone, as you’d expect, is on board. Greenbelt residents are divided over the plans; many like the mall as it is, or at least hope that some of its positive aspects, such as its preponderance of independent and largely immigrant-owned businesses, can be preserved after redevelopment.

While Quantum has promised to try and retain the mom-and-pop tenants, “commercial gentrification” is nonetheless a concern following redevelopment, so their ultimate future remains uncertain. In fact, the future of malls, in general, is uncertain. A 2017 report by Credit Suisse predicted that 1 in 4 malls would close by 2022.

The death of malls is a widely observed retail trend, visible across the country and in the DC region. Luxury malls, like the two in Tysons, Virginia, are doing well. But others are the subject of redevelopment proposals, like Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, or have already been demolished, like the White Flint Mall outside of Rockville or the Landmark Mall in Alexandria.

But unlike many shopping centers, which bear the scars of the pandemic, Beltway Plaza pretty much has as low a vacancy rate as it ever has in the six years I’ve been shopping there. According to Quantum’s info sheet, the property has a vacancy rate of less than 10%.

A few new businesses, which had been in the process of opening in 2020, are now open. A few shops I remember from previous years are gone, and a few storefronts are empty, but there’s a lot of life and energy. The high survival rate of Beltway Plaza’s businesses suggests that they serve their customer base well and rather precisely.

So, what’s not to like? Beltway Plaza’s land use, with its hulking parking deck, massive surface parking lot, and location along a dangerous multi-lane highway, all leave something to be desired. It isn’t pleasant to walk to if you live nearby, even though plenty of people live within walking distance.

These are issues that could be remediated without actually tearing the mall down; and while later stages of the redevelopment plan do call for demolition, they also promise open space, walkable outdoor areas, and improvements to Greenbelt Road.

And despite the apparent success of the mall, the parking lot is virtually never full and rarely even near capacity. On both of my most recent visits, in August of 2020 and July of 2021, the portions of the parking lot behind and alongside the mall were basically empty. And this is not nearly all of the parking back there. No doubt, this parking capacity was designed with a more suburban middle-class demographic in mind, who were expected to drive everywhere.

As with the businesses in the nearby community of Langley Park, a few miles west on the same state highway, a large percentage of customers now arrive by transit or walking, making all that parking redundant — especially considering there are apartments behind the mall and many homes on the other side of Greenbelt Road.

The mall is less than two miles from the Greenbelt Metro station, and there’s a bus stop on the bottom level of the mall’s parking deck. Some people even arrive by cab, as my grad school roommate did. I often saw cabs idling in front of the mall. That’s why the redevelopment plan rightly starts by turning some of that dead parking space into homes for people.

But despite its physical form and setting, the mall does not feel typically “suburban.” It’s distinguished by its idiosyncratic use of interior space, its “commercial density,” and its adaptability over the decades.

The question, then, is how we can improve the land use of properties like this, and corridors like Greenbelt Road, while also preserving the essence of ordinary places that have slowly evolved into something complex and special.