Developers gearing up to launch Clarksburg outlet plan

A team including Simon Property Group plans to seek approvals from Montgomery County officials this summer to develop a outlet center-anchored, mixed-use development in Clarksburg.

Courtesy of Streetscape Partners

by Daniel J. Sernovitz Staff Reporter-Washington Business Journal

A team including Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc., the nation's largest owner of shopping centers, plans to seek permission from Montgomery County officials to develop a 2.4 million-square-foot mixed-use center in Clarksburg on land Adventist HealthCare unsuccessfully sought to use for a health care facility.

The team, which also includes McLean-based Streetscape Partners LLC and Newton, Mass.-based New England Development Inc., intends to submit a development-plan amendment to county officials this summer. With additional site-plan and development approvals, the team could be ready to break ground on the proposed Clarksburg Premium Outlets at Cabin Branch by late 2014.

The project would be built on a 48-acre site the team put under contract in late 2012 to acquire from Adventist HealthCare, said Streetscape Co-managing Principal Ron Kaplan. Adventist has agreed to spend $20 million on site improvements, work it began in late 2012, to ease traffic impacts that could be created by the property's development.

Kaplan said the planned outlet stores will fill a gap in "value-oriented retail" options in Montgomery County. The project's first $100 million phase is expected to include 450,000 square feet of retail space slated for completion in late 2015.

"When you look at Montgomery County, it's actually the only category that is under-retailed," Kaplan said. "The tenant interest is incredible."

That is slated to change with the Cabin Branch project, as well as competing plans by The Peterson Cos. and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. on a site by Interstate 270 and Stringtown Road.

The outlet stores will be part of the project's 2.4 million square feet of commercial space, which will include new office, hotel and other uses. Also in the plans are 1,586 residential units and an additional 500 units for seniors.