General Growth installs new Columbia leadership

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - As Columbia residents anxiously await the chief landowner’s detailed plan for downtown redevelopment, the company has changed leadership while renewing pledges for public involvement.

General Growth Properties Inc. announced Tuesday that Gregory Hamm, a GGP consultant, will take over as general manager of Columbia.

Hamm will be “intensifying” efforts to engage the public on downtown redevelopment, said Barbara Nicklas, a General Growth spokeswoman.

Hamm is replacing Douglas Godine, who is resigning to “explore other business interests” in the area, officials said.

The change comes amid community concerns over private meetings between the company and community groups.

“I think it’s the only way it works, if we involve the community in a way that is meaningful and transparent and genuine,” said Hamm, who has 20 years’ experience in planning and development and has been working with General Growth on redevelopment of Landmark Mall in Alexandria, Va.

In January, the company will announce a series of open public meetings.

But a meeting planned with Columbia’s village board members and managers will not be held, a move some community members lauded.

“I think it’s a major change,” said Columbia Association Board Chairwoman Barbara Russell.

The change has less to do with Godine’s resignation than an apparent recognition by the company that there should be more community involvement, Russell said. Godine’s resignation is a loss for the community, she said.

Alex Hekimian, head of Alliance for a Better Columbia and a vocal opponent of the closed meetings, called the change a “good signal” that could lead to more openness.

Hamm said he will be moving quickly to get up to speed on the county’s Columbia framework released in September and the series of public meetings that followed.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com

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