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Restaurants, grocery stores needed in Odenton, study says ; 'This area is one to look at and we will be aggressively marketing this area' [Maryland Gazette (MD)](Maryland Gazette (MD) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The new Odenton retail market analysis identifies three of the largest lifestyle segments that make up the area. - Enterprising Professionals: Educated working professionals with a median age of 32.8 years. They love to travel abroad, eat out at Cheesecake Factory and Chili's, and shop for groceries at Publix and Albertsons. - Sophisticated Squires: Educated married couple families with a median age of 39.7. They own at least two vehicles, listen to soft adult contemporary music as well as news and sports radio and watch news, comedies, dramas and HGTV television programs. - Pleasant-Ville: Made up of families, especially middle-aged married couples with a median household income of $76,642. Most own their homes, shop at warehouse stores for value and use coupons for discounts. They take sightseeing vacations and beach trips in the United States or cruise to foreign ports, and they read two or more daily newspapers. Odenton is a place for affluent residents who listen to news radio and watch HGTV, but have a need for supermarkets and restaurants, according to a new study. Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp. commissioned the $15,000 report, which aimed to assess retail development in the Odenton Town Center region now and over a five-year period. Lipman Frizzell & Mitchell LLC, a Howard County real estate counseling firm, found that the area could support a 240,000-square- foot supermarket now and a 280,000-square-foot supermarket by 2017. It could also support 125,000 square feet of restaurant space now and that could reach 147,000 square feet by 2017, according to the report. It also identified different lifestyle segments -- Enterprising Professionals, Sophisticated Squires and Pleasant-Ville -- that make up the area. In May, the AAEDC will use the report at the International Council of Shopping Centers' meeting as a way to attract retailers to the 1,600-acre parcel located in the northeast corner of Route 32 and Route 175. Previously, the master plan for the area noted that retail was needed, but it was not specific to the amount it could support. Now that this information is available, West County Chamber of Commerce CEO Claire Louder wants it reflected in the master plan. "We've got a lot of potential for retail in the area," Louder said. "I was pleased to see the demand as strong as it was for grocery stores. That's something we always felt intuitively. Now it's nice to have the numbers behind it as we're talking to businesses interested in coming to the area." The Odenton Town Center area includes 71,371 residents, which is a 34 percent increase since 2000. Much of the growth is attributed to the influx of jobs related to BRAC, U.S. Cyber Command and other defense and technology businesses. Total household incomes surpassed $2.4 billion last year and is expected to reach $2.8 billion by 2017, according to the report. "There have been significant population changes -- demographically and economically -- and we wanted to see how that played out in terms of how the market had changed," AAEDC Executive Vice President Mary Burkholder said. "People need to realize, in the greater Baltimore Washington region and nationally, is that this area is one to look at and we will be aggressively marketing this area." The report identifies three neighborhood shopping centers as competitors. Seven Oaks and Odenton shopping centers, along with Piney Orchard Marketplace, were designed as supermarket-anchored centers. The supermarket space at Odenton Shopping Center is vacant, while Piney Orchard has a 38,000-square-foot Food Lion and there is a 40,000-square-foot Weiss at Seven Oaks. The report identifies three lifestyle segments drawn to the region: - Age 25 or older with bachelor's and graduate degrees, the Enterprising Professionals move frequently to find better jobs, play video games and shop for groceries at Publix and Albertsons. - With the Sophisticated Squires, the median age is 39.7, they work white collar jobs, take on do-it-yourself projects around the house and have four or more TVs to watch news, drama and HGTV programs. - The Pleasant-Ville group is made up of middle-aged married couples who own homes, take sightseeing vacations and use their commute times to listen to contemporary hit, news, talk and sports radio. www.twitter.com/woo_sha www.twitter.com/woo_sha (c) 2013 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |