Developer Jemal Is At It Again

if AV Ristorante is put out of business, I do have mixed feelings. Their menu is very affordable, but the quality of their meals have deteriorated badly, so badly that my wife and I stopped going there

that is really sad – AV is a landmark! nevermind the fact that their white pizza is some of the best that i’ve ever had.

I somewhat dispute this post’s characterization of Jemal as the “king of retail development”. He has certainly built lots of retail, but most storefronts sit empty for years before he finds a tenant. Witness the Woodies building (completed 1998, and it will still have a ton of empty space after West Elm moves in) and the 7th Street row across from Gallery Place, where the final tenants have yet to move in. The Marlo building, Atlantic building, Ventana, and Terrell Place together have tens of thousands of square feet of retail space that is sitting empty with no tenants in sight.

I feel like Jemal is a mixed blessing for our neighborhood. He does nice work, architecturally speaking, but his eternally empty storefronts just remind me (and tourists) of how far this area has yet to come.

Our friends at the Life In Mt. Vernon Square blog also reported this info. Some interesting comments from the residents.

I’m just tired of the stores that belong in strip malls in Alexandria and Fairfax being put downtown. If I want Bed Bath & Beyond and a Ruby Tuesdays I will go to Virginia. Put in something new and different. I’d rather it sit empty than see a TJ Maxx there.

the real question is why are those retail spots vacant? is it lack of traffic? high rent? I’d love to see a good audio-video store (Myer-Emco), wine store (Calvert-Woodley), deli (Wagshal’s), specialty men’s store and (dare I say it) a grocer. I know the ladies wouldn’t mind a boutique or two and some competition for Aveda. more residents downtown will breed demand but entrepreneurs or retailers have to step in and take some risk also.

pqpresident, i doubt we’ll get any retail that is that neighborhood-friendly. everything going up seems to be tourist driven, and i doubt retail space next to the convention center will be any different.

the only real interesting places (the Galleries, Jaleo, etc.) are the ones that were here to begin with.

still waiting for a hardware store . . .

I don’t get why a Bed Bath and Beyond doesn’t belong in the district. As a district resident I’d rather spend my tax dollars in DC than in Maryland or Virginia. As long as they don’t build a huge parking lot in front of the store I’m ok with it. Nobody wants downtown to become a strip mall but I just don’t see that happening. There is tons of retail space available downtown and enough room for a variety of different businesses. Hopefully, Douglas Jemal will get around to leasing it out soon.

I agree with Andy, I want all sorts of retail; big chains, small chains, local stores.

Never understood why we can only have/want one type.

Jemal would rather wait months, or even years, for the right “store” fit; he just does not want every empty storefront to be filled with McDonalds, Chevy Chase banks, Starbucks, deli’s, etc. This is his modus operandi

having every store not be a chain store doesn’t strike me as economically realistic in an area that is well developed commercially but still building its residential base. it’s a chicken and egg problem to some degree because retailers need to see economic demand before they’ll stake some money. likewise, prospective residents want to see good places to shop before moving in. someone has got to go first. I’d point out that West Elm will be coming in as a furniture store. that’s a big economic improvement even if you don’t like what they sell. homeowners and not officees buy at West Elm so there must be some residential purchasing power in the area.

but West Elm also delivers throughout the continental US. in fact, some of their best sale deals are online. their mail-order catalog is rampant.

I agree that their store helps us residents, but the tourists who will stop by afterwards will still browse now and buy later back in the Midwest. So we weren’t the only target consumer in mind.

I don’t think Jemal waits for the perfect fit for EVERY space. However, there are precious few large retail spaces left downtown, and the choice of anchor stores will set the tone for the type of retail destination downtown will be, and greatly influence the type of smaller retailers that come in. They have looked at courting Nordstrom or Bloomingdales small store format stores as well as JCPenney. Personally I hope that even if JCPenney is ready to sign up first, they don’t necessarily just give them the space. Quoting from the Downtown BID report entitled “Market Potentials for Destination Retailing in Downtown DC” (which I can no longer find on their website), “While Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and JC Penney are considered the most likely
prospects for the BID, they have very different implications with respect to small
tenant leasing. As in all shopping center leasing activity, the anchor composition
has a significant impact on the level of interest and types of small tenants. With
the cache of either Nordstrom or Bloomingdale’s as an anchor, a new retail
center in downtown could attract a strong roster of upscale fashion and other
specialty tenants. With JC Penney as the designated anchor, on the other hand,
the roster would be more limited and principally geared to other moderate-price
specialty stores.” The report is about 50 pages long and talks about many stores and why they think they could or could not get them downtown. If I find it on a website I will post a link.

I also remember when Jemal signed H&M and he was criticized for rushing to fill the space and not holding out for the best fit. I think he’s done a good job so far, and hope he continue to be selective in setting a nice tone for downtown retail development. I agree we need to and should bring in some chains, but I still think selecting the right chains is critical.

It will be hard to get small local businesses in new buildings. That’s because the cost to lease space in those buildings is prohibitively expensive for a small business.

Most small stores are in older buildings. There’s a reason for it: cost.

Speaking of restaurants closing, I heard on Tom Sistema’s chat today that Andale closed earlier this week. Another neighborhood restaurant we’ll have to do without?

On Andale’s door, it says it is only closed for renovation–and opentable says it’ll be open in mid-August. If they do reopen, I hope the chef does a menu overhaul–it’s been way to long since the change from the Mark.

Not sure I buy the “closed for renovations” bit after reading Sistema’s chat. Any news on this gpliving or pqresident?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/07/26/DI2006072601061.html?nav=topnav

Yep – pqresident is going to post a story later this afternoon – stay tuned!

Losing AV would be a blow to the neighborhood.