RSS FeedDouglas Development Wants Whole Foods In Penn Quarter! Needs Residents’ Help
OCT 11 UPDATE: The Whole Foods online petition has broken 1000 signers.
To sign the online petition, follow this link.
Jason and Kelby chimed in a few minutes ago with some info that was announced at tonight’s Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting:
The Downtown Neighborhood Association recently learned that Douglas Development has been negotiating with Whole Foods Market to bring them into our neighborhood on 7th Street NW location between E and D Streets NW. This was the space that Balducci’s was slated to occupy until their unexpected decision against it last year.
Douglas Development has asked for community support and time is critical; there is a meeting between the two parties this Friday. Sign the online petition that will be presented to Whole Foods. Please notify your downtown friends and acquaintances of our petition!
Here is a link to the online petition.
As you may recall, Douglas Development recently purchased the Balducci’s space from JPI. This means that the developer who would be leasing the the space to Whole Foods is personally asking residents to help them gain a Whole Foods in Penn Quarter!
Ed. Note: As of this afternoon, both DCist and the Washington Business Journal have picked up the story. Thanks go to Heather and Maisha for pointing this out. As of 3:45 pm, the petition count currently stands at 482.
DCist – Whole Foods in Talks for Gallery Place Space
WaBizJournal – Douglas Development trying to bring Whole Foods to Penn Quarter
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Comments
OK, I realize this is getting off-topic, but Dan Tangherlini is a really competent City Administrator (and was great as Metro’s interim director), so I take some offense at Lansburgh_guy’s “slick young politico” comment. He could rattle off the exact number of various emergency vehicles in the city, list how many new computers were going to which first responders, and clearly had a grasp of the city’s homeless services, but it’s shocking he doesn’t know the exact statute of what constitutes aggressive panhandling? Give me a break.
Great to see the grocery petition is getting so many signatures! 2K was an ambitious goal, but we’re well over halfway there. Totally agree with #46 about Jemal’s motives.
Has anyone been to the Whole Foods in NYC? Reserved parking was not a deal breaker there. Perhaps they want to expand into denser city neighborhoods and the requirements for parking are not the same as residential areas.
Excellent point PQN! I drove by Whole Foods this past weekend in New York and noticed how wonderfully it blended into the neighborhood. Also, there was no nearby dedicated parking that I could see. I know that someone will respond “yeah, but D.C. is not New York.” However, I think given the number of residences in the neighborhood and the number of metros nearby, parking should not be an issue. Also, given Whole Foods dedication towards healthier living, I would think they would welcome an opportunity to increase peoples reliance on having to walk to their store or use public transportation. I don’t think parking should be the deal breaker for bringing Whole Foods to Penn Quarter.
If Whole Foods considers this site, it will also draw from other adjoining communities..ie..the Hill and because of it’s proximity to the metro vs the P street location…residents from Dupont Circle and surrounding areas.
I for one dread the parking lot on P street and go out of my way to the Whole Foods at either Clarendon or Alexandria.
We could consider contact some of those neighborhood blogs.
You must be kidding to think Whole Foods is going to make a business decision on their “dedication towards healthier living.” Business cares about one thing, the bottom line, the rest is PR and a marketing image. Reading this board, I think some of you must forget we live in a capitalist society.
As for population density, Penn Quarter is a sparsely populated neighborhood in terms of residential population. The majority of the buildings are entirely commercial space, residential population is an afterthought.
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Just to address this parking concern . . . Scanning thru the comments on the signed petition, seems the reason most people want a grocery store there is that they don’t want to drive.
Landsburgh_guy, there is alot of law in DC. Do you really expect him to know it? I don’t think he was on notice that he’d be discussing agressive panhandling. I think his answer of getting back to us was appropriate.