The village was the first part of Columbia's "New Town" to be built in the late 1960s, James W. Rouse and Frazar B. Wilde formally opened the neighborhood on June 21, 1967.

[3][4] The lake and village are named for Frazar B. Wilde, a past chairman of the board of Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and former employer of James Rouse.

[5] In 1963, the company agreed to fund the secret land purchases and, in return, acquired an equity participation.

[4] Wilde Lake collects storm water runoff from 1,140 acres (460 ha), with a maximum capacity of 48,200,000 US gallons (182,000 m3).

Rouse executive Mort Hoppenfeld designed the 27 foot (8.2 m) tall, 200 foot (61 m) wide dam across the Patuxent River branch which flooded the fields between the historic stone buildings of Oakland Manor and the pre-colonial Old Oakland manor.

A rapid change in design by engineer George Levine reduced the cost to $250,000[7] In 1969, Spiro Agnew proclaimed the arrival of the first Columbia-based scientific firm, Hittman Associates, who relocated for favorable lease rates from Howard Research and Development.

[5] As the planned community of Columbia reached its design capacity and development opportunities lessened, its developer sought to increase the population density of existing land in order to make a profitable revitalization of Columbia's aging infrastructure.

Kimco Realty Corporation, the current owner of the village center, proposed a controversial redevelopment plan in 2008, that would have torn down buildings and built a large number of apartments in a mixed-use project.

"[16] In 2013, Kimco broke ground on a $17 million project, demolishing the community grocery store, and proposing 250 multi-story garage apartments and 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of office space.

LEED features incorporated into the design include on-site storm water management, efficient lighting, native landscaping, and sustainable building materials.