Gone are the mint-green storefronts and two castle-like towers in the Frederick Shopping Center on Seventh Street. Brick façades, fresh landscaping and two new buildings now dominate the plaza’s appearance.
After 50 years as a retail landmark on Route 15, Frederick’s oldest shopping center is sprucing up.
Fenced-off renovations and repaving began in late 2004, but construction has eased lately as most of the project is on schedule for completion this fall, with a final phase concluding in early 2008.
JBG Rosenfeld Retail of Chevy Chase developed the 234,397-square-foot center in 1957 under Rosenfeld Realty and is marking the center’s 50th anniversary this year. The plaza had one renovation in 1990, when the green theme and towers were added.
The current renovation, in which architects aimed to tie the design into the surrounding area, re-establishes the shopping center as a thriving commercial plaza in a prime, commuter route location ‘‘for the next 20 years,” said Robert Schwenger, executive vice president of JBG.
‘‘It’s always been a very successful shopping center in a good market,” Schwenger said. ‘‘Now, it looks absolutely beautiful.”
Two added pad sites total 17,200 square feet. On them are a Chevy Chase Bank branch, three restaurants — Bonefish, Caballo Viejo and Glory Days Grill — and a Hair Cuttery that moved from its original spot in the plaza.
Three tenants are expanding their locations — Giant Eagle will add 10,000 square feet; Pet Value will add 1,400 square feet; and Hair Cuttery will add 650 square feet. Giant Eagle is expanding into space formerly occupied by Pet Valu, which has relocated in the center.
JBG spokeswoman Theresa Vivona declined to disclose the cost of the project.
The plaza’s first day in 1957 was marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by hundreds of people portrayed in photo that barbershop owner John Stillrich has clipped from a Frederick Magazine anniversary edition.
Stillrich’s Gentlemen’s Choice II Barbers is one of only three original tenants. Farmers & Mechanics Bank, which will soon become PNC Bank after its acquisition, and CVS, which was originally ‘‘People’s Drug,” were also original tenants. Food Fair and F.W. Woolworth Co. were the first anchors.
Stillrich, who purchased the barbershop in 2005 after working there since 1970, recalls a drab appearance with ‘‘more or less a flat façade with round metal poles” before the 1990 renovation.
During the current project, which he said he initially expected to take only eight months, Stillrich lost several regular customers, most of whom have returned since the renovation’s heavy phase has wrapped up.
JBG Rosenfeld has two other projects in the works in Frederick County: Market Square at Frederick, 50 acres at the intersection of Routes 26 and 355, and Urbana Village Center at the intersection of Routes 355 and 80.
A Wegman’s food store and Lowe’s home improvement store are proposed for the Frederick project, which is still in the approval process. The Urbana Village Center has an approved site plan of 25,000 square feet of retail with a grocery store, pharmacy and bank, but will not begin construction until a bypass of Route 355 is complete, likely next year.
Frederick Shopping Center’s Tenant Shuffle
IN
Ashley Furniture
Chevy Chase Bank
Bonefish
Glory Days Grill
Randstad
Allegany Optical
Caballo Viejo
OUT
Manhattan Bagel
Video Warehouse
EXPANDING
Giant Eagle
Hair Cuttery
Pet Valu
