Officials of General Growth Properties Inc. plan to hold a public meeting July 9 to share their vision for building five mixed-use neighborhoods in downtown Columbia.

The meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the company's headquarters at 10275 Little Patuxent Pkwy., in Columbia.

The neighborhood plan is part of the developer's 30-year master plan to build 5,500 residential units, an arts district and other public amenities in downtown Columbia, where General Growth is the majority landowner.

General Growth officials released their master plan in late April but still must win approval from the county government to move forward with most elements in the plan. General Growth officials said they hope to begin work on the master plan by 2010.

At the July 9 meeting, General Growth officials will discuss the amount and types of housing, and the height of buildings they have planned in each of the new neighborhoods, said Barbara Nicklas, General Growth's vice president for marketing master planned communities.

Nicklas declined to say exactly where the new neighborhoods would be located. However, she said the neighborhood plan is similar to one introduced by the county in February of 2006.

Under that plan, the county created neighborhoods composed of a mix of residential, retail and office space at the Columbia mall, Lake Kittamaqundi, Symphony Woods, Governor Warfield Parkway and on land just south of the mall.

"It is similar (to that plan) but not the same," Nicklas said, adding that her company plans to collect feedback on the neighborhood plan for several weeks following the July 9 meeting.

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