Live at Wal-Mart, Not Sprawl-Mart

In a move worthy of an Onion headline, a Wal-Mart will be built this year on top of a Lowes in Baltimore. Both big-box stores will anchor the development at the 25th Street Station in Remington. And amazingly, you might be able to live there, too.

The development is an usual arrangement. Rather than side-by-side construction the Lowes store will be mostly underground and Wal-Mart will be perched on top. The Wal-Mart will be about 93,000 square feet - smaller than most of its other superstore national locations. It will also feature a green roof covering more than an acre in size in the middle of the city (probably not much of a trade off for its 1,050 parking spots on eleven-and-a-half acres).

But most unusual? The megastore could be your next landlord - Wal-Mart is taking cues from apartment developers and will be offering 80 to 90 residences on site. Predictably, the reactions are mixed...