Six Flags America Closure to Cause Real Estate Tumult

The rides are coming down at Six Flags America in Bowie, Maryland, but the real estate carousel is about to start spinning out of control.

The amusement park in Prince George’s County is set to close permanently on Nov. 2, Bisnow reported. In a statement, Six Flags CEO Richard Zimmerman said the park was “not a strategic fit” for the company’s long-term growth.

The loss of a local economic engine will sting — especially as the Washington Commanders leave Landover for Washington, D.C. — but it could create intriguing redevelopment possibilities.

Six Flags tapped CBRE to market the property for sale and to pitch it as a 500-acre redevelopment opportunity. Zimmerman said that “marketing the property for redevelopment will generate the highest value and return on investment.”

The site is located only 14 miles from the nation’s capital, a bonus for those looking to live or work in close proximity to the country’s seat of power.

But there’s a lot of uncertainty over what could actually be built there. The land use master plan for the area — updated last year — doesn’t suggest any possible uses for the site other than the amusement park, according to the Washington Business Journal, suggesting the county was caught off guard by the closure.

County Council member Wala Blegay, whose district contains the site, expressed hope that a buyer would continue to operate a theme park. Otherwise, she would like to see something similarly oriented towards family entertainment, she told WBJ; she’s resistant to a residential play, fearful of exacerbating a heavy reliance on the residential tax base.

Similarly, other county officials have balked at large residential developments.

The amusement park opened in Bowie in 1999. Prior to that, the site was a wildlife preserve.

— Holden Walter-Warner