The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company.

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 United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part by ...

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, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

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 downtown revitalization strategy ...

s, such as Jacksonville Landing in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, Faneuil Hall in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

South Street Seaport The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District, in Lower Manhattan. The Seaport is a designated historic district ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Harborplace in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and

Bayside Marketplace Bayside Marketplace is a two-story open air shopping center located in the downtown Miami, Florida. The banks of Biscayne Bay wrap around the property with the City of Miami marina at its side. It is recognized by the Greater Miami Convention & V ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. They also developed

The Shops at National Place The Shops at National Place was a three-level, indoor shopping mall located in downtown Washington, D.C. in the 16-story National Place Building. It is located on the block bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue, F Street, between 13th and 14th Streets ...

in downtown

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

that opened in 1984–85. On 20 June 1966, The James W. Rouse Company was renamed as ''The Rouse Company''. The company has been credited as the pioneer of the first successful food court in an enclosed shopping mall, when the food court at the Sherway Mall in Toronto 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 at Columbia, Maryland in December 1969. Its community projects include the

Village of Cross Keys Village of Cross Keys is a privately owned upscale area of Baltimore, Maryland. It is located off Maryland Route 25 (Falls Road) between Northern Parkway and Cold Spring Lane, and is home to luxury condos and upscale small shops. Baltimore finan ...

in Baltimore and the

planned cities 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 ...

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...

(where it was headquartered),

Bridgeland Community, Texas Bridgeland Community is an master-planned community under construction in unincorporated Harris County, Texas to the northwest of Houston between U.S. Highway 290 and Interstate 10. Bisecting Bridgeland is Segment E of the Grand Parkway, a 15. ...

, and

Summerlin, Nevada Summerlin is a master-planned community in the Las Vegas Valley of Southern Nevada. It lies at the edge of the Spring Mountains and Red Rock Canyon to the west; it is partly within the official city limits of Las Vegas and partly within uninc ...

. 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 The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a U.S. government executive branch agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its planning policies and review of developmen ...

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 stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

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 to 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 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 DLA Piper is a multinational law firm with offices in over 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2021, it had a total revenue of US$3.47 billion, an average profit per equity partner of U ...

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 Trizec Properties, Inc., previously known as TrizecHahn Corporation, was a real estate investment trust headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was originally a Canadian company. The name is derived from the initials of the three groups (Tri) that f ...

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. In 1996, Howard Hughes Corporation, which had extensive property and other business interests, became a subsidiary. On November 12, 2004, the Rouse Company was sold to General Growth Properties. In 2012, General Growth Properties spun off 30 malls into a new real estate investment trust, Rouse Properties.

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 ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

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 Harundale Mall, in Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States at the intersection of Ritchie Highway and Aquahart Road, was the first enclosed, air-conditioned mall built east of the Mississippi River. Originally built in 1958, ...

(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. *Pocantico Hills (1962) - A cancelled "Village" concept for

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

's grandchildren.

David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...

would later finance $10 Million of the Columbia Project. *

(1963) - First "planned community" conversion of a golf course to high-rise residential and commercial. * Planned community (1966) - Howard Research and Development formed to build planned community of Columbia Maryland. *

Salem Mall Salem Mall was a shopping mall in Trotwood, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, United States. It was built in 1966 by The Rouse Company and originally featured Rike's and Sears as its main anchor stores. Expansion in 1981 added a new wing of store ...

(1966) - Trotwood, Ohio. Closed in 2005, demolished shortly thereafter. * Eastfield Mall (1967) - Springfield, Massachusetts *

Echelon Mall Voorhees Town Center (formerly Echelon Mall) is a regional shopping mall and a residential area located in Voorhees Township, New Jersey. It was built in 1970 and named after Echelon Airfield which was located where the mall stands today. The E ...

(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 Staten Island as "New Richmond". *

The Mall in Columbia The Mall in Columbia, also known as the Columbia Mall, is the central shopping mall for the planned community of Columbia, Maryland, United States. It has over 200 specialty stores and the anchor stores are AMC Theatres, Lidl, Main Event Enter ...

(1971) -

Perimeter Mall Perimeter Mall is a shopping mall in Perimeter Center, Dunwoody, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, near the interchange of Interstate 285 (the Perimeter) and Georgia State Route 400. It is the second largest shopping mall in the state of Georgia, ...

(1971) -

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Highland Mall Highland Mall was a shopping mall located in north Austin, Texas, United States, on Airport Boulevard west of I-35 and north of US Route 290. Opened in 1971, Highland Mall was Austin's first suburban shopping mall. Highland Mall was jointly owned ...

(1971) -

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Closed on April 30, 2015. *

Woodbridge Center Woodbridge Center is a major two-level shopping mall located in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey at the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 9. As of 2022, the mall currently features Macy's, Boscov's, J. C. Penney, and Dick's Sporting Good ...

(1971) -

Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Woodbridge Township is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is both a regional hub for Central New Jersey and a major bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York metropolitan area located within the ...

* 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 the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

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. The city'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 ...

. Closed in 2002, demolished in 2005. *

Hulen Mall Hulen Mall is a diverse-scale shopping mall located in southwest Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Located at the southwest corner of Interstate 20 and Hulen Street, it is in the southwest side of the DFW Metroplex. The mall is anchored by two maj ...

(1977) - Two level enclosed mall in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

* The Gallery at Market East (1977) -

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Reconstructed from 2016-2019 with the new name

Fashion District Philadelphia Fashion District Philadelphia is a shopping mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, located in Center City along Market Street. It opened in 2019 on the site of a previous mall known as The Gallery and later renamed The Gallery at Mar ...

* Harborplace (1980) - A downtown marketplace built on the

Baltimore Steam Packet Company The Baltimore Steam Packet Company, nicknamed the , was an American steamship line from 1840 that provided overnight steamboat service on Chesapeake Bay, primarily between Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia. Called a " packet" for the mai ...

docks. Indoor mall closed December 31, 2021. *

White Marsh Mall White Marsh Mall is a regional shopping mall in the unincorporated and planned community of White Marsh, Maryland. It is one of the largest regional malls in the Baltimore metropolitan area, with 6 anchor stores and 134 specialty shops in . The ...

- first part of the White Marsh Town Center project. Opened in 1981. * Burlington Center (1981) - Burlington Township, New Jersey. Opened August, 1982. Closed in 2018, demolished in 2021. *

(1983) - Festival Marketplace in Lower Manhattan, New York. * The Waterside (June 1983) - Festival Marketplace in Norfolk, Virginia. * Jacksonville Landing (June 1985) - Festival Marketplace in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. *

Sixth Street Marketplace Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor sixt ...

(September 1985 - 2003) - Festival Marketplace in Richmond, Virginia. * 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 Westlake Center is a four-story shopping center and 25-story office tower in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The southern terminus of the Seattle Center Monorail, it is located across Pine Street from Westlake Park, between 4th and ...

(1988) -

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. *

Underground Atlanta Underground Atlanta is a shopping and entertainment district in the Five Points neighborhood of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, near the Five Points MARTA station. It is currently undergoing renovations. First opened in 1969, it takes ...

(1989) - Renovation * The Centre at Salisbury (1989) -

Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury () is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, United States, and the largest city in the state's Eastern Shore region. The population was 33,050 at the 2020 census. Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury ...

. * Oviedo Mall (1997) -

Oviedo, Florida Oviedo ( ) is a city in Seminole County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 33,342, representing an increase of 7,026 (26.7%) from the 26,316 counted in the 2000 Census. It is part of the Orlando– ...

. 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