CONNECTIONS…an e-newsletter from General Growth Properties designed to provide
information, ideas and communications about downtown Columbia and its future. Please feel free to let us know what you think
by emailing us here.
Lin Eagan
has witnessed much change during the 38 years she’s lived in Columbia. While raising her family, developing a very successful real
estate career with Long & Foster Real Estate and ultimately becoming president and CEO of Lakeview Title Company, she
closely has watched Columbia grow into the community that James Rouse envisioned. But always, community has been Lin’s priority.
Over the years, she has served as chair of The Columbia Foundation and the Howard County Board of Appeals and as a member of the
Board of Directors of The Columbia Festival of the Arts, the Foreign Information and Referral Network and the Howard County
Association of Realtors.
Currently,
Lin chairs The Business Alliance’s Town Center Task Force and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Howard County Chamber
of Commerce and the Howard County Public School Foundation, Bright Minds. She understands firsthand the needs of businesses in
Columbia and envisions a day when a true downtown exists for the benefit of all of Columbia and Howard County.
From Greg Hamm
Lin touched on one
of the key issues facing downtown Columbia – its underperforming office sector. This area is a major financial and economic center yet it
needs significant enhancements to make it a vibrant, mixed-use environment that attracts new businesses and jobs. The growing office
vacancy rate is not a reflection of a lack of business need. It reflects the absence of Class A office space. And this trend is creating a
ripple effect – just visit Wilde Lake or Oakland Mills Village Centers to see the empty storefronts.
Downtown Columbia
already has many assets that can be enhanced and combined into a dynamic environment. We’ve got a strong retail base, with The Mall
attracting more than 15 million shoppers each year. And Merriweather Post Pavilion is a major regional attraction that brings thousands
of people to Columbia for shopping and dining before and after concerts. There already exists a strong residential base surrounding
downtown Columbia, and the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program will bring more than 40,000 new jobs to the region. Columbia’s
location between Baltimore and Washington also lends itself to economic vitality. Over the next 30 years, Columbia has every chance to
become the center of one of the nation’s most prosperous and significant regions of economic growth and human fulfillment.
Although the
current mix of amenities in downtown Columbia distinguishes it from other potential business locations in the region, much more is needed
to attract the businesses that will keep the community vital and prosperous. To make it happen we must embrace and pursue a common vision.
That vision must include all those aspects of life and market success which are going to characterize the winners of the 21st Century,
while remaining faithful to the enduring truths and ideals that made Columbia great these past 42 years.
Greg Hamm
Vice President, Master Planned Communities
General Manager, Columbia
|
