Speak Out: Clarksburg is ‘Ground Zero’ in Retail Race. Is this Good?

For Clarksburg residents, the promise of suburban life should include a placeholder for shopping malls.

Retail developers are in negotiations to buy 40 acres of Clarksburg land from Adventist HealthCare, news outlets have reported.

Or as The Washington Post put it:

“The quiet community of Clarksburg has become ground zero in a battle to build Montgomery County’s next major shopping destination.”

(And this from The Gazette: “First, Bennigan’s arrived in Clarksburg. Malls may be next.”)

Simon Property Group, one of the former owners of Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg, would operate the retail complex, according to The Post.

Where it gets sticky, according to The Post, is that it could compete with another developer’s 100-acre project planned near Ten Mile Creek—Peterson Cos., the Fairfax, VA-based company that also owns Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg. 

Montgomery County Council Vice President Craig Rice (D-Dist. 2), who is from Germantown, has told The Post and The Gazette that he thinks this is a good opportunity for Clarksburg.

Do you agree? Would it be a good thing if Clarksburg were to become “Montgomery County’s next major shopping destination?”

Please post your comments below.