OWINGS MILLS, MD—Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, while pleased with the fact that two major development projects are moving forward, is frustrated over the lack of progress being made at the mostly vacant Owings Mills Mall here.

Once a source of controversy, competitors Brian J. Gibbons, the CEO of Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp., and Howard S. Brown, chairman of David S. Brown Enterprises Ltd., met recently and settled differences they had over their competing Owings Mills development projects. Now, both Gibbons' Foundry Row and Brown's Metro Centre developments that will feature open-air shopping centers, are progressing. The same cannot be said about the struggling Owings Mills Mall, which is within walking distance of the two new developments, according to the Baltimore Business Journal. Kimco Realty Corp. and General Growth Properties Inc. have ownership stakes in the mall.

“The problem with the mall is we have recalcitrant property owners who don't want to reinvest in the property the way we think it should be done, but it's their property, they pay taxes and there are no code violations,” Kamenetz says. “Ultimately, I see Metro Centre as expanding into the mall and really making it into more of a continuum.” See story in the Baltimore Business Journal.