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The Rouse Company was a publicly traded
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
and
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developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. It was founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939.


Beginnings: Moss-Rouse Company

The Moss-Rouse Company was founded as a FHA mortgage company with a loan from Hunter Moss's sister. Rouse leveraged his knowledge as loan guarantee specialist at the
Federal Housing Administration The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a Independent agencies of the United States government, United States government agency founded by Pr ...
to establish a Baltimore-based mortgage company specializing in FHA backed loans. Moss-Rouse hired a World War Two Navy friend, Churchill G. Carey from Connecticut General, who in turn provided capital for future projects. Carey would hold positions ranging from president to CEO of the mortgage company subsidiary. In 1952-1953 the company built one of the first
modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...
office buildings on Saratoga Street in Baltimore, while also dropping its commercial lending business line. Jim Rouse hired his brother, Willard Rouse II, in 1952, and partner, Hunter Moss, phased out of operations, selling his shares of the company, while remaining temporarily on the board of directors. The firm was renamed the ''James W. Rouse & Company, Inc.'', with Rouse owning 50% equity, his brother, Willard, 10%, and 40%, to company officers.


The James W. Rouse Company

The James W. Rouse Company built some of the first enclosed shopping malls, and it pioneered the development of
festival marketplace A festival marketplace is a European-style shopping market in the United States. It is an effort to revitalize downtown areas in major US cities begun in the late 20th century. Festival marketplaces were a leading Central business district, downt ...
s, such as
Jacksonville Landing The Jacksonville Landing (informally The Landing) was a festival marketplace in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida, at the intersection of Independent Drive and Laura Street, along the Jacksonville Riverwalk.Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
, Faneuil Hall in
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, South Street Seaport in
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, Harborplace in
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, and Bayside Marketplace in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. They also developed The Shops at National Place in downtown Washington, D.C. that opened in 1984–85. On 20 June 1966, The James W. Rouse Company was renamed ''The Rouse Company''. The company has been credited as the pioneer of the first successful
food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...
in an enclosed shopping mall, when the food court at the Sherway Mall in
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opened in 1971. It followed an unsuccessful attempt at the Plymouth Meeting Mall in 1968, which reportedly failed because it was "deemed too small and insufficiently varied." The company moved its headquarters to the Cross Keys development, then to the project in
Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...
in December 1969. Its community projects include the Village of Cross Keys in Baltimore and the
planned communities A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
of Columbia, Maryland (where it was headquartered), Bridgeland Community, Texas, and Summerlin, Nevada. To develop these projects, in 1962 Rouse brought on Bill Finley, who built a planned "company town", Ravenswood, West Virginia, was a former planner with the National Capital Planning Commission proposing planned cities, and was a proponent of public-private partnerships. Columbia Research and Development was founded as a
public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
and Howard Research and Development was formed as a Rouse subsidiary in 1956 to raise capital for four mall projects and later to facilitate the Columbia Project with Connecticut General and Chase Manhattan as stakeholder with interest deferred loans. In 1966 The James W Rouse Company was restructured as the Rouse Company, adding Howard Research and Development (HRD) as a separate entity shielded Rouse Corporation from debt liability of the Columbia development. HRD lost money, with new rules affecting the parent company as well. In 1974, HRD was refinanced. Columbia Development Corporation was formed a subsidiary of HRD using subcontracted Rouse Company employees. In 1985 CIGNA (Connecticut General) divested its interest in HRD and the project back to Rouse for $120 million at a net loss. Rouse created the subsidiary company The American City Corporation to take advantage of the National Urban Policy and New Community Development Act of 1970, A HUD program which granted developers incentives and loans to build Title VII "New Towns" with mandatory percentages of low income housing projects. Rouse's former ACTION member, Leo Molinaro was selected to run the subdivision. The symposiums held by the company gathered together investors like George Mitchell, who would go on to develop Woodlands, Texas using the Columbia model. The subsidiary was based at "Two Wincopin" in the second office building in built in Columbia in 1968. It was renamed the American City Building, using the subsidiary to lease the empty space and develop the system of Public-Private partnerships that Rouse would use worldwide to minimize risk in developments using public debt. The business was given its own postal office, the American Cities Station in 1977. The Columbia development was marketed as a progressive community for all races. In 1971, the company responded to pressure from the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
that the company was absent of African Americans at all management levels and its businesses in Columbia were predominantly white owned. The company responded with an affirmative action program in November 1971. In 1973, the former assistant attorney general of Maryland, Mathias J. DeVito, left the Rouse-owned legal firm of DLA Piper to replace James W. Rouse as President of the Rouse Company, and Rouse became Chairman. DeVito cut staff from 1,700 to 500 to keep the company afloat in 1975. In 1974, the Columbia development got a political boost as the population of Columbia supported a slate of at-large council candidates with Columbia interests, including Ruth U. Keeton, Lloyd Knowles, and Columbia's city manager, Richard L. Anderson. In 1979, Simon H. Schuer acquired a 7.5% interest in the Rouse Company. He was the creator of "The Shrink", a method where an investor buys an interest in a company, then orders stock buy-backs to make the interest more valuable. Schuer died the day after the purchase, and Trizec Properties then acquired the shares and bought a 25% stake. In 1986, the company attempted to purchase a majority share. In 1985, The Rouse Company absorbed all of Connecticut General's interests in the Howard Research and Development subsidiary. In 1986, former general manager of Columbia and executive vice president of development Micheal Spear became president as a successor to Rouse. In 1990, Spear died in a crash with his wife and one daughter in his Piper PA-31T Cheyenne attempting a single engine missed approach near Logan International Airport. In 1997, Anthony Deering took over as CEO of the company. On November 12, 2004, the Rouse Company was sold to General Growth Properties. In 2012, General Growth Properties spun off 30 "class B" malls into Rouse Properties, a new real estate investment trust named after (but otherwise unrelated to) The Rouse Company.


Investments

* Freedom shopping center (1953) - A 308 unit combination apartment complex and shopping center funded by Moss-Rouse. * Mondawmin Mall (October 1956) -
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
with partner Harry Bart. *Talbottown (1957) - A Easton shopping center adjacent to the Spring Hill Cemetery where citizens rejected early Alexander Smith Cochran modernist architecture. * Harundale Mall (1958) - Glen Burnie, MD. Financed by Connecticut General. First enclosed mall east of the Mississippi River. Closed in 1997, now Harundale Plaza, an outdoor shopping center. * Cherry Hill Mall (1961) - Delaware Township, now
Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a Township (New Jersey), township within Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As a suburb of Philadelphia, the township is part of the South Jersey and Delaware Valley regions. Cherry Hill ...
. *Pocantico Hills (1962) - A cancelled "Village" concept for
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's grandchildren. David Rockefeller would later finance $10 Million of the Columbia Project. * Village of Cross Keys (1963) - First "planned community" conversion of a golf course to high-rise residential and commercial. * Greengate Mall (1965) -
Greensburg, Pennsylvania Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,976 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located southeast of Pittsburgh, Greensburg is a part of the Greater Pittsbu ...
. Closed in 2001, redeveloped as Greengate Centre. * Planned community (1966) - Howard Research and Development formed to build planned community of Columbia Maryland. * Salem Mall (1966) - Trotwood, Ohio. Closed in 2005, demolished shortly thereafter. * Eastfield Mall (1967) -
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...
* Echelon Mall (1969) - Voorhees, New Jersey. Groundbreaking began to build the Echelon Mall (Now the Voorhees Town Center). The mall was opened in 1970. * Planned community (1969) - Greater Hartford Corporation formed to redevelop Hartford, Connecticut suburbs with Connecticut General funding. * Planned community (1970) - Failed project to develop 10,600 acres of
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as "New Richmond". * The Mall in Columbia (1971) -
Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...
* Perimeter Mall (1971) -
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* Highland Mall (1971) -
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. Closed on April 30, 2015. * Woodbridge Center (1971) - Woodbridge Township, New Jersey * Planned community (1972) - Failed project to develop Wye Island with 706 homes. * Planned community (1973) - Failed project to develop 5,000 acres in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
as Shelby Farms with First Horizon National Corporation. * Exton Square (1973) - Square shaped enclosed mall in Exton, Pennsylvania * Tampa Bay Center (1976) - Two level enclosed mall in
Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
. Closed in 2002, demolished in 2005. * Hulen Mall (1977) - Two level enclosed mall in
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* The Gallery at Market East (1977) -
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. Reconstructed from 2016-2019 with the new name Fashion District Philadelphia * Harborplace (1980) - A downtown marketplace built on the Baltimore Steam Packet Company docks. Indoor mall closed December 31, 2021. * White Marsh Mall - first part of the White Marsh Town Center project. Opened in 1981. * Burlington Center (1981) -
Burlington Township, New Jersey Burlington Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and is part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 U ...
. Opened August, 1982. Closed in 2018, demolished in 2021. * South Street Seaport (1983) - Festival Marketplace in
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, New York. * The Waterside (June 1983) - Festival Marketplace in
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. *
Jacksonville Landing The Jacksonville Landing (informally The Landing) was a festival marketplace in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida, at the intersection of Independent Drive and Laura Street, along the Jacksonville Riverwalk.Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. *Sixth Street Marketplace (September 1985 - 2003) - Festival Marketplace in
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. * New Orleans Riverwalk (1986) Festival Marketplace * Owings Mills Mall (July 1986) - Owings Mills, Maryland. Closed in 2015, demolished in 2016. Now Mill Station, a lifestyle center. * Westlake Center (1988) -
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. * Underground Atlanta (1989) - Renovation * The Centre at Salisbury (1989) -
Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. Salisbury is the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region, with a population of 33,050 at the 2020 United States census ...
. * Collin Creek Mall (1995) -
Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...
. Built in 1981 by Federated Stores Realty; Rouse acquired 30% in 1995 and the rest in 2002. Closed and partially demolished in 2019. * Oviedo Mall (1997) -
Oviedo, Florida Oviedo ( ) is a city in Seminole County, Florida, United States. As of 2020, the population was 40,059. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. Oviedo was known for its historic houses and buildings and a ...
. The last mall built by Rouse.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rouse Company, The Real estate companies established in 1939 Defunct real estate companies of the United States Columbia, Maryland Defunct companies based in Maryland Shopping center management firms Companies disestablished in 2004 1939 establishments in the United States Rouse family