08/29/2026
From Doug Anderson, Senior Council Assistant to Councilman Todd Crandell in regards to Eastpoint Mall:
Good day, Community Leaders.
Apparently, there is some misinformation regarding the future of Eastpoint Mall, and some social
media rumors about data centers. Let me be very clear up front – there is a moratorium on ALL new
data centers in Baltimore County through the end of 2026 and the Council is about to approve Bill79-26 to increase that to the end of 2027. Also, even without the moratorium, data centers are impossible under EPM’s current zoning.
With that said, let me walk you through the entire process of figuring out the future of the EPM property.
But first a general history on the Mall’s attempts to become solvent in an era where even
places like Marley Station in AA county are long dead and Owings Mills Mall was converted many years ago.
MCB Real Estate owns the Mall, and over the past many years they have attempted to find ways to make it profitable. There are unique challenges with old infrastructure underneath the mall which the County is putting them on the hook to replace. The best estimate for that replacement is well over $10 million. And that replacement must be done before MCB can even consider what the market will allow there. Think of it like looking at a decades old home in need of severe renovation, but before we can even speak to the Realtor to possibly buy, we must pay to replace the water and sewer.
Now let’s move on to what’s important in this perception of where the Mall property is going. Over all those years, MCB came up with several ideas, and each time they discussed them with us. What usually happened was the financial numbers couldn’t work out. Banks demanded more up-front cash due to market situations, and the infrastructure costs made that even worse for financing, just like trading in a car you’re “upside down” on. This is why if you look at the history of the development process, you’ll see numerous refinements over the years as MCB continued to try and forge a future for the mall.
MCB has finally settled on what the market will support: warehouses for logistical purposes.
We all must keep in mind that, at the end of the day, they are businessmen trying to get a return on their private property, and unfortunately that’s what the market is supporting right now.
There seems to be some unfounded rumors and wild speculation out there that these warehouses will morph into data centers and this is just a “foot in the door,” as some kind of trickery to get data centers. This is impossible. This is not how zoning and land use works at all. If that were the case, we’d already have convenience stores, gas stations, and all manner of other things located in residential neighborhoods and such that began as someone “getting their foot in the door,” and then converting a home into something else.
First, let’s start with where the Council hesitantly allowed data centers back in 2024 with Bill 54-24. Data centers must be located in Manufacturing zones such as M.H. or M.L. with various district overlays. There is no way around this. Data Centers require MASSIVE infrastructure upgrades that
are only allowed in the heaviest industrial zoning the county has: Manufacturing Heavy or Light. (M.H. or M.L.) On top of this, the Council enacted a blanket moratorium on ALL new data centers in the County in early 2026 with Bill 3-26. At the meeting where we passed the moratorium, Council staff confirmed there were no pending applications for new data centers anywhere in the County. Further, the effective date of Bill 3-26 was retroactive to prevent any developer from trying to sneak in an application while the Council was considering the moratorium. As I said up top, that
moratorium is due to expire at the end of this calendar year, but the Council is currently looking at Bill 79-26 to extend that to the end of 2027.
The Mall is zoned entirely B.M. (Business Major.) This zoning encourages and supports things like shops, storefronts, light commercial uses, warehouses, and gas stations, to name a few. In short, uses where people are present, parking, and going into a shop of some sort.
Note that the pad sites such as Chick Fil-A, Arby’s, and McDonalds will remain, as will a brand-new Royal Farms. This is consistent with Business (B) zoning in all its variants. In fact, those pad sites must remain to satisfy
the approval of ANY warehouse use. In other words, the current Zoning Regulations mandate that the property cannot be entirely warehouses.
Now let’s move to the overlay districts, sometimes called zoning overlays, or just districts. Across the County, some zones have districts attached to them such as A.S. for Automotive Services, N.C. for Neighborhood Commons, and the case of the mall, C.T. for “Commercial, Town Center Core.” Districts are a tool the Council can use to further refine and encourage specific growth. Think of the
zones as a Standard-Definition image you would get from an old CRT TV, while districts are more like a 4K image – you can get much greater detail.
Here is the excerpt directly from BCZR § 259.1D.:C.T. (Commercial, Town-Center Core) District. C.T. Districts may be applied only to primary
shopping areas within town centers on land zoned B.L., B.M., B.R. and/or M.L., the primary
shopping area of any such center being that area which contains or is intended to contain a
high incidence of pedestrian-oriented retail uses of a type ordinarily producing relatively high income and profit per square foot of sales area; includes or is intended to include major
business generators (such as department stores); and also includes, or is intended to include,certain auxiliary services (such as offices) typically not occupying ground-floor frontage. Certain planned shopping centers having such characteristics may lie wholly or partially within C.T. Districts.
There was also confusion regarding Bill 54-24, claiming that it allowed data centers there. It does
not and never did. Pay particular attention to page 4 at the bottom:
https://countycouncilweb.s3.amazonaws.com/Bills%202024/b05424.pdf
19 § 233.1. Permitted uses. 20 The following uses only are permitted: 21 B. DATA CENTERS OR
ENERGY STORAGE DEVICES IF THE LOT IS 22 PART OF A TRACT OF LAND THAT ALSO
INCLUDES LAND ZONED M.L. OR M.H. 23 WITH OR WITHOUT AN OVERLAY DISTRICT. FOR
PURPOSES OF THIS PROVISION, 5 1 THE TRACT MAY INCLUDE LOTS SEPARATED BY PUBLIC
ROADS OR RIGHTS OF 2 WAY. A USE PERMITTED UNDER THIS PARAGRAPH MAY BE
ESTABLISHED AS A 3 SINGLE USER OR OPERATOR, OR AS PART OF AN OVERALL CAMPUS OR
PARK 4 THAT INCLUDES MULTIPLE USERS OR OPERATORS.
The Mall property is purely BM zoned. Bill 54-24 does not apply. Again, some amount of
Manufacturing zoning is required due to heavy infrastructure upgrades.
It is important to remember something here. The Mall property is privately owned and does not require any type of public hearing as long as the newly developed use is allowed by-right and is consistent with existing zoning rules (setbacks, height and bulk regulations, etc.) Only if the new development would require variances or need to be a Planned Unit Development would the development plan then go through the Administrative Law Judge’s office for a public hearing, or our
office to be voted on ty the entire Council.
Let me again use an analogy of private residential property: unless you need a variance from what is
allowed by-right, putting in a pool, deck or fence, never requires a hearing where all your neighbors weigh in on approval. The same holds for commercial properties operating within their assigned zoning.
It should be noted that MCB has voluntarily made every opportunity to supply Councilman
Crandell’s office with information and even solicit thoughts on where the mall should go over the years.
