Sink or Swim for Marley Station?

By Susan Kim, STAFF WRITER

When living in Atlanta, Steven Andrews' father-in-law operated a dental practice in a mall. It was a success for 25 years.
Little did Andrews, the mall manager at Marley Station in Glen Burnie, know that he would one day tap into that memory professionally. "We were looking at ways to utilize space and we looked at the type of customer who shops at the mall," he said.
As a result of that brainstorm, Marley Station is now offering professional and medical space in the north section of the center's upper level. In a partnership with Annapolis-based Murphy Commercial Real Estate Services, the mall is trying to lease spaces from 590 up to 34,116 square feet at between $25 and $27.50 per square foot.
Marley Station, a 22-year-old shopping outlet located at the intersection of southbound Ritchie Highway at Route 100, houses more than 100 retailers, including anchor stores Macy's, JCPenney and Sears. Andrews observed that, in the Deep South, he was aware of many malls that successfully mixed such a considerable amount of retail space with professional or government offices.
"There, many county seats had the courthouse mixed in with shops, and some malls had married with community colleges," he said.
With approximately 5 million visitors per year according to Murphy's numbers, Andrews sees potential for success in such a mix for Marley Station.
However, other observers see the move as an effort to save a long-struggling property that has been plagued by high vacancy rates and now also has an empty anchor location to fill after the departure of Boscov's, also at the mall's north end, last year.

One-Stop Shop?
Wes MacQuilliam, a real estate agent with Murphy Commercial Real Estate Services, said that the ultimate vision of Marley Station is that of a contemporary town center. "We want to make it into a place where people can go to do everything they need to do, all in one stop."
"The people who walk the malls early in the morning, before they leave, [could] get to an eye appointment or ear appointment. They [could] do some shopping while they're there," MacQulliam said, noting that Marley Station is known for its "Marley Milers," a walking program that began when the mall was new and now has more than 650 registered members.
To fill the vacant space, his company and the mall, which is managed by Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, are actively seeking general health care providers as well as dentists, dermatologists, optometrists and other specialists.
Space is also available for attorneys, insurance companies, travel agencies and other businesses.

'A Dead Mall'
While Andrews and MacQuilliam view the combination of medical offices and retail shops as a creative approach, Mark Millman sees it as a last-ditch effort to save a dying mall.
Millman, a retail consultant, is president and CEO of the Millman Search Group, an Owings Mills-based company that serves as a staffing source for newly-developed retail centers.
"No other retailers want to go in there," he said. "That's why they're doing it. It's a dead mall. They're just desperate right now."
Millman said he views the combination of medical offices and retail as problematic, since medical facilities will likely need extensive new plumbing and fixtures.
But Andrews said he believes Marley Station has the infrastructure necessary to support medical offices. "The spaces already have bathrooms and A/C, and creating suitable layouts for medical professionals is very simple," he said.
Marley Station isn't the only mall outlet experiencing higher rates of vacancy. In the greater Baltimore area, the retail vacancy rate is projected to grow to 8% by July 2009, according to projections by MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services. That is the region's highest retail vacancy rate since 2001.
Nationally, consumers are beginning to favor discount stores such as Target and Wal-Mart over shopping malls, according to retail experts. Compounding the problem, many retailers have lease clauses allowing them a rent reduction or allowing them to break their leases if neighboring tenants they depend on for customer traffic vacate the property.