Outlet Mall

By STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writer Prime Retail's efforts to build a $40 million, 100-store outlet mall outside Hagerstown received a big boost Friday when the Maryland Court of Special Appeals affirmed the rezoning of 43 acres for the mall. The company plans to start construction of the first phase of the project this year with completion by mid-1998, officials said. "We're obviously pleased with the court's decision, which means we can aggressively move forward with the project," said William H. Carpenter Jr., president and chief operating officer of Prime Retail.

SCOTT BUTKI / Staff Writer photo: RICHARD T. MEAGHER / staff photographer An Eddie Bauer outlet store is among 21 new businesses opening at Prime Outlets at Hagerstown this month. They will join the 55 stores in the 218,000-square-foot Phase I of the outlet mall, which opened in August. Outlet mall officials said Monday that a Nov. 20 grand opening ceremony for Phase II will be combined with a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony. --cont.

By JULIE E. GREENE and STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writers Hagerstown's mayor and City Council will meet behind closed doors today to discuss whether they want to pursue annexation of the planned $40 million Prime Retail outlet mall. "The benefit to the city if it's annexed is the property tax," said City Administrator Bruce Zimmerman. He said he did not know how much the city would receive in property tax revenue if the land is annexed. City officials began discussing the possibility of annexing the land at Sharpsburg Pike and Interstate 70 earlier this month, but have not made any proposals to Prime Retail officials yet, Zimmerman said.

Prime Retail's Hagerstown outlet stores will officially open for business next weekend and, with some thought, local business, tourism and downtown leaders will see this as an opportunity that goes beyond 40-percent-off on footwear. Outlets are the free radicals of a local economy, likely to have significant and somewhat unpredictable impacts on the community. With all due respect to the Civil War, from the day it opens, Prime Retail will become the county's number one tourist destination.

By STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writer A court ruling has cleared the way for Prime Retail Inc. to begin site preparation as early as this week for its planned $40 million outlet mall near Hagerstown. The 50-store first phase of the Outlet Village of Hagerstown is scheduled to open next summer. The property is in the northwest corner of the Interstate 70/Md. 65 interchange. The Maryland Court of Appeals last week refused to hear an appeal of a Court of Special Appeals ruling in June that upheld the rezoning of the property.

In addition to a plan to add space for 25 new stores, Prime Outlets at Hagerstown wants to build a 64,000-square-foot building that will house a single large store, a company executive told the Washington County Commissioners Tuesday. [cont. from front page ] Plans for the building will be submitted to the county within two weeks, said Brian Downie, vice president of development of Prime Retail, the center's Baltimore-based owner. The company would not say what store will go in the building, which will be on the east side of the outlet mall near The Gap. There currently are about 80 stores at the outlet mall.

Taxing district OK'd for Prime Retail The Washington County Commissioners formally agreed Tuesday to create a special taxing district for Prime Retail's outlet mall under construction at the Sharpsburg Pike/Interstate 70 interchange. The additional taxes levied on the mall would pay back taxable bonds issued by the county to pay for improvements on and off the Prime Retail property. The county would not have to pay back the bonds if Prime Retail couldn't make the payments, according to Prime Retail consultants and Washington County Finance Director Debra Bastian.

By DAN KULIN / Staff Writer photo: RICHARD T. MEAGHER / staff photographer HALFWAY - The Windmill Shop, a women's clothing store here, will close at the end of the year, and the owner blames competition from a new outlet mall for taking away many of her customers. "As soon as it opened, my business cut by 50 percent," shop owner Debbie Hoffman. Prime Retail at Hagerstown outlet mall, which is about four miles from The Windmill Shop at 17220 Virginia Ave., held a grand opening in August.

Prime Retail breaks ground on Outlet Village By KERRY LYNN FRALEY Staff Writer The developer of a new $40 million outlet mall being built on the Hagerstown outskirts said he sees a full-page newspaper ad run by a competitor Tuesday as free advertising for his project. "I'm glad he did it. He probably spent $10,000, $15,000 advertising our project. I love it," said William H. Carpenter Jr., president of Baltimore-based Prime Retail. "All it did was get more people out today.

By STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writer Amid signs of growing competition, Valley Mall has been put up for sale. Rob Stuart, a spokesman for Equitable Real Estate Yarmouth, the company that manages the property for the New York-based Prime Property Fund, said Wednesday that no deal is imminent. The mall, which was sold in 1989 for $61.2 million, is assessed at a fair market value of $35 million, according to the state Department of Assessments and Taxation. Stuart said there was no particular reason for wanting to sell the property.

During a speech in April, Shepherd University President Suzanne Shipley spoke of a goal to establish four-year degree programs in education, business administration and nursing for part-time, nontraditional students in Martinsburg, W.Va., by the fall of 2013. Now, because of misfortunes befalling Mountain State University, Shepherd could open a Martinsburg satellite campus as early as January. Shepherd officials are taking a hard look at buying or leasing Mountain State University's classroom and administrative facility in the converted former Tanger Outlet mall building at 214 Viking Way, Shepherd University spokeswoman Valerie Owens said this week.

For most, it was only the first stop they would make. Convinced that the bargains and the experience would be worth it, thousands spent the first hours of Black Friday at Prime Outlets at Hagerstown. Most stores at the outlet mall opened at midnight, and were offering additional discounts to earlier shoppers. Many planned to spend several hours there before heading to area stores opening at 4 a.m. and later. "It's an adventure," said Carol Hamilton of Martinsburg, W.Va. "And it's fun. " This was the second year that Prime Outlets at Hagerstown opened at midnight on Black Friday.

HAGERSTOWN - Miss Washington County Carrie Shank gave her family a fashion show in April, modeling outfits that she might wear during the Miss Maryland competition this week. "We picked all of her outfits," said her mother, Sharon Shank. "We voted. " Carrie Shank was part of another fashion show Sunday, this time surrounded by 23 other women at Prime Outlets Hagerstown. The contestants wore clothes from the outlet mall. "I get to model L.L. Bean," said Shank, 22, who lives outside of Boonsboro.

scottb@herald-mail.com A consultant hired by the City of Hagerstown to analyze the downtown commercial district and recommend strategies for improvements made suggestions to the City Council on Tuesday, including finding ways to get Prime Outlets customers to check out downtown businesses. Chris Johansen, president of Market Knowledge Inc., a Wilmington, Del., marketing firm, is being paid up to $10,000 in Community Development Block Grant money for his work, which resulted in an oral report he gave at Tuesday's meeting and a written report, city officials said.

Shepherd hopeful to getting funds for branch campus By BOB PARTLOW / Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Officials at Shepherd College are cautiously confident they will receive $200,000 from the West Virginia Legislature to help move the community and technical college to the vacant Blue Ridge Outlet Center. "I think there was a concern about the budget and what it would do," about a month ago, said Peter Checkovich, provost of the community college.

Cindi and Dennis Kelly drove from their Hanover, Pa., home to Prime Outlets at Hagerstown Sunday for one reason - to exchange a bracket for a stereo they'd bought from one of the outlet mall's stores. cont. from front page But once they arrived and saw the new third phase and stand-alone home furnishings store, they decided to stick around and check them out. "They've added some good stores," said Cindi Kelly, 51, who said she spent $100 in the new Geoffrey Beene store and was eying the yet-to-open Banana Republic store for their college-age daughter.

Some predictions for the millennium and beyond: It's 2005, five years after the turn of the century, and the parking area of Hagerstown's old Municipal Stadium is now a towing company's impound lot, surrounded by an eight-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. After the Suns moved to Aberdeen, the stadium lot was used briefly as a point from which to shuttle people to and from downtown. But then the city cut a deal with an enterprising shopping center owner on Eastern Boulevard to do the same thing in exchange for some zoning concessions, and the stadium lot was excess baggage.

By LAURA ERNDE / Staff Writer photo: RICHARD T. MEAGHER / staff photographer Prime Retail Inc. is selling three factory outlet malls, including Prime Outlets at Hagerstown, to raise capital for more retail centers, the company said Thursday. [cont. from front page ] Prime Retail, a partner in the $274 million purchase, will retain control of the outlet centers. The outlet center's name and management will stay the same, said Prime Retail spokeswoman Deboroah Radman.

In addition to a plan to add space for 25 new stores, Prime Outlets at Hagerstown wants to build a 64,000-square-foot building that will house a single large store, a company executive told the Washington County Commissioners Tuesday. [cont. from front page ] Plans for the building will be submitted to the county within two weeks, said Brian Downie, vice president of development of Prime Retail, the center's Baltimore-based owner. The company would not say what store will go in the building, which will be on the east side of the outlet mall near The Gap. There currently are about 80 stores at the outlet mall.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - There have been discussions about opening a Shepherd College branch in Martinsburg to better serve the large number of Shepherd students here, officials said Thursday. Many of the approximately 4,000 students who attend Shepherd are from Berkeley County, and it would be more convenient for them to have a local branch than having to commute to Shepherdstown, state and Shepherd officials said. "I think it makes a whole lot of sense. That's sort of a population center," said Pete Checkovich, provost of the Community and Technical College at Shepherd.