Two shopping centers under the guide of Black Oak Associates -- Main Street Eldersburg and the Carrolltown Center -- are facing different, but equally vexing, challenges with the nationwide retail industry.

That's the word from Mark Renbaum, director of development for the Owings Mills developer, who spoke at a South Carroll Business Association luncheon last week.

Each is facing a problem many centers are dealing with, Renbaum said, though each also has its own unique issues, too.

Main Street Eldersburg, planned as the state's first "green" shopping center for its environmentally-friendly features, is hitting a snag with the economy and county government, Renbaum said.

The 12.5-acre center will be located off of Londontown Boulevard, and is now targeted for a fall 2009 opening -- a full year after it was initially expected.

Main Street is proposed to lure high-end shops, but some of the categories in that market -- namely apparel and fine dining -- have taken a dive in the recent economy, and retailers are rethinking opening new stores.

So although the market is good in Eldersburg, clothing stores such as Anne Taylor and Chico are looking at what is going on globally and have to be careful about what they will commit to, Renbaum said.

For dining, it's all about families budgets. These days, Renbaum said, "Families don't want to pay $50 for dinner if they can trade down."

He told SCBA members he can't promise when construction will be renewed at the center because of the uncertain economy, but he's still upbeat about the local demand.

"The South Carroll market is a terrific market, and we as a company are so proud to be involved in this market," he said.

Meanwhile, the developer and the county are still discussing what road improvements Black Oak will have to make to ease Main Street traffic into the transportation network.

"We've been working with the county about construction issues related to traffic," but it has taken longer than anticipated, Renbaum said.

Steve Horn, director of county planning, confirmed in an interview that the issue revolves around traffic improvements the county wants Black Oak to make on Londontown Boulevard, around the shopping center and concerning routes 26 and 32. Horn said the sides are, "trying to come up with some workable solutions in the coming months."

Carrolltown Center

Meanwhile, Black Oak Associates is working to re-negotiate a long-term lease with Sears Holding Corp. regarding the Kmart store in the Carrolltown Center at Liberty and Ridge roads.

The current lease gives Sears veto power of sorts over redevelop plans. But Renbaum told the SCBA that the lease re-negotiation issue with Sears isn't just a Carrolltown problem -- it's a common ailment retail developers nationwide are having with Sears/Kmart leases.

Sears officials have said plans for Carrolltown call for either reducing the size of the Kmart or closing it, and the company objects to those requests.

Ellen Dix, president of Freedom Area Citizens' Council, attended the SCBA meeting and reminded guests that FACC is circulating a petition urging Black Oak and Sears Holding to reach an agreement, and has collected about 500 signatures so far.

Renbaum said it's been tough on Black Oak as well as the community to wait for a resolution at Carrolltown -- but the company wants to get it right.

"The last thing that I want to do is to drive back to Owings Mills and see the shopping center we don't want," he said.

Rezoning case moving

Meanwhile, Carrolltown's latest local issue is rezoning. Black Oak recently discovered what company President Dixon Harvey called "a mistake" in the county's zoning language that he said could make the center ineligible to have a department store such as Kmart, or even most smaller chain stores.

The center is zoned under the county's business-neighborhood retail category, which was revised in recent years. Those revisions would kick in if the center is redeveloped.

Black Oak wants the zoning changed to "business-general," which would resolve the problem and allow for larger stores.

Just this week, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Carroll County Planning & Zoning Commission recommended that the Board of County Commissioners approve Black Oak's request for the zoning change. A date for the commissioners to consider the case has not yet been set.

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