The Symphony Overlook neighborhood could have the best of all worlds for a true downtown feel: Shops, residences, offices and even a hotel.

The neighborhood in the middle of Town Center could be “where the new downtown meets culture in the park,” said Greg Hamm, General Growth Properties Inc.’s regional vice president and general manager of Columbia.

GGP, in its proposed 20- to 30-year master plan, is calling for the creation of five distinct, yet connected, neighborhoods of Merriweather, Warfield, Lakefront, Crescent and Symphony Overlook.

The Symphony Overlook neighborhood would boast about 43 percent of Town Center’s planned 1 million-plus square feet of retail space and about 20 percent of the planned 4.9 million square feet of office space.

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The current relative emptiness of retail and businesses worries many who believe the Mall in Columbia remains the only major downtown attraction.

“We can support the revitalization by adding more residential units, and businesses will come back, if there’s something to come back to — which is a hub,” said longtime Columbia resident and businesswoman Caroline Sherman.

The neighborhood would have a market square toward the center of the neighborhood, consisting of trees and gathering places, and three promenades, said Hamm.

However, Joel Yesley, president of the Alliance for a Better Columbia, said the master plan was characterized by “conflicting goals.”

“This huge increase in economic activity will require substantial investments in off-site road improvements ... and greatly increase automobile traffic in the downtown area, thereby creating the potential for conflicts between cars and pedestrians ... and encouraging motorists to use the local streets, thus reducing the appeal of the residential neighborhoods,” he said.

GGP officials said they plan to address traffic and transportation, including relying on a Town Center shuttle and allowing residents to walk between neighborhoods.

AT A GLANCE

Proposed use of the Symphony Overlook neighborhood:

Retail: 430,130 square feet

Office: 1,000,510 square feet

Hotel: 340 rooms

Residential: 360 dwelling units

Source: General Growth Properties Inc.

jkowalkowski@baltimoreexaminer.com

Editor’s note: This is the third installment in The Examiner’s series profiling the five proposed neighborhoods in the master plan for the redevelopment of downtown Columbia. Next Sunday, the Lakefront neighborhood will be featured.