More Bar Louie Details In Gallery Place

I don’t know where the site is — is it to the side of the 6th street entrance of Gallery Place?

I’m still confused as to where exactly Bar Louie will be located. Next to..?

brian: We think the bar will be located inside the 6th street entrance of Gallery Place – immediately to the right. (There is a glassed in kind of walkway and a large room in the corner of back the building)

Yet another franchise in the neighborhood.

Pretty uninspiring.

Oh who cares if a franchise goes into the Gallery Place space? It means more suburbanites dropping loads of money at 10% sales tax. And the Gallery Place complex already has the look and feel of a suburban mall. I doubt any establishment could inspire from within that setting.

Okay, I’ll cede your point about a francise at that location. But the larger issue still remains — it’s most of the new businesses at Gallery Place are franchises.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The city can establish rules for economic development which limit the number of franchises in a particular area.

We shouldn’t have to settle for second best.

After seeing some of the local businesses that open up in the district, I am not so sure franchises are so bad (think those weird clothing stores in Georgetown where you can bargain a “$500 pair of shoes” down to $20). I would love to have some local flavor in the area but with the going rates for retail space here, I think those stores will have to believe that this area has some serious commercial appeal. We’re almost there, but I think it’s going to take a few more franchises and chains to reach that point.

Wow, some of you reflect the oldschool way of thinking that has stifled businesses and kept the city’s population declining for so long. People like many franchises, and will go where they can find popular ones. That’s a fact. The next time you whine about people flocking to Tyson’s Corner, Georgetown, Pentagon City, or Potomac Yards to shop and live, it’s the elitist and anti-business attitude that prevails in DC that may be to blame.

To address a comment from above,

I dislike how Gallery Place is commonly referred to a suburban mall. Most of the retail space has direct access on the street level. Suburban malls do not have this feature. Gallery Place has 192 condominiums. Suburban malls do not have condominiums above retail. Gallery Place has a metro station directly underneath it. How many suburban malls in the DC area have that?

Gallery Place is a dense, mixed-use complex featuring retail, condominiums, office and entertainment space. Suburban malls are not mixed use developments.

So, Gallery Place is not a suburban mall. Gallery Place is a mixed-use complex in the centre of the city of Washington, D.C and Gallery Place is unique in that no other place in the D.C. area is like it.

And by the way, who cares where the money comes from. The aim of this city is to generate revenue to provide services for its residents. Gallery Place does a great job of it.

Seriously? How many suburban malls are over Metro stops? How about Ballston, Pentagon City, White Flint, and Friendship Heights, to name the first 4 that pop to mind?

I’m not saying that GP has become a “mall” but Octavio is a bit off.

Also, I’d argue that Pentagon Row, with its mixed-use apartments above the restaurants and stores, is, in fact, a mall.

This is my last counter to the above comments.

Well, if you are talking about Mazza Gallerie…..that is in DC proper. That is not the suburbs. White Flint Mall…..the subway is 1 block away, not directly over the subway stop. Pentagon City is a mall, but most of its stores our enclosed. You know, like a mall. Gallery Place retail is positioned for direct street access. You know, unlike a mall. Oh yeah, Ballston is……so suburban.

And like I said, most malls don’t have condos, apartments, offices, and retail. Most malls have retail. Gallery Place is not a mall, especially not a suburban mall.

The most important thing is that Gallery Place has brought back the crowds to the centre of Washington, DC, franchises or not. That is the most important.

Getting back on subject, Bar Louie will close out the retail at Gallery Place. Gallery Place is now fully leased except for the one kiosk located outside. If nobody wants that space by the time I get back to the area, then I would like to take it. This is the direction that we need all retail space in the downtown area to be.

otavio_dc: Do you mind sharing with us what you plan on opening up in that 3rd kiosk? GPLiving is always looking for the inside scoop.

gpliving:

It good to know that you are always on the job in search of the latest scoop!

For the new kiosk, I was thinking along the lines of a specialty electronics shop which would carry items not commonly available at Radio Shack and other stores in Gallery Place and Penn Quarter. It is just a starry-eyed dream at this point. The foot traffic past the kiosks are very favorable now, day and night!

And, thanks for giving us readers the latest and greatest for the neighborhood! This is a happening blog!