I’ve explored shopping centers from Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II to mega malls in Southeast Asia. Still, it turns out, you don’t have to fly anywhere far to get your retail therapy fix.

The 450 acres in Hanover that once housed a beagle hunting club could have been turned into an amusement park, a concert hall, a football stadium or even a NASCAR track. Instead, what became Arundel ...