It is owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Its anchor stores include Macy’s, Target, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Costco.

On March 23, 1954, real estate developer Simon Sherman announced he had bought 80 acres of land in Wheaton from Charles Heitmuller for $800,000.

[11] On the day before it opened, the Woodward & Lothrop store was picketed because the tea room in its location in Chevy Chase refused service to African Americans.

[12] Wheaton Plaza officially opened on February 5, 1960,[13] as a single-level, open-air mall, with Woodward & Lothrop (now JCPenney) and Montgomery Ward (now Target) as anchors.

[11] Wheaton Plaza was built in a modified Georgian architectural style with bubbles, globes, and hemispheres as part of the exterior design.

[11] It was decorated with Italian marble, exotic woods, and Florentine glass mosaic panels.

[11] There was a marble-tiled fountain that was sculpted by Barbara Chase-Riboud, art instructor from Yale University.

[15] By March 1960, stores at Wheaton Plaza included Strosnider's Hardware, Dieners Carpets, Bank of Silver Spring, Lamp & Shade Center, Raleigh's Haberdasher, Baker Shoes, E. D. Edwards Shoe Store, Embassy Men's Wear, Hanover Shoes, Peoples Drug Store, Dolls and Dames, Miles Shoes, Happy Time Togs, Hahn Shoes, Variety Records, Fannie May Candy Store, Lerner Shops, National Shirt Shops, Vincent & Vincent, Webster Clothes, Winthrop Jewelers, Kay Jewelers, and Hot Shoppes.

[5] Store owners in downtown Silver Spring considered Wheaton Plaza to be an economic threat.

[5] Developer Theodore N. Lerner said Wheaton Plaza "is the way the future's going to be—a suburban 'downtown' with a mall and free parking.