October 24, 2006
Missing: New Convention Center Retail
The "coming soon" signs have been up for literally years now, and the area could use some more retail, especially places to eat. Besides the spots in the building itself, there are only a few islands of retail around the battleship of the convention center — a Subway, the Warehouse Theater, a couple coffee shops, a pet spa, and an upscale liquor store are about the only businesses on the 7 blocks that face the CC. The rest are abandoned or seemingly unused buildings. And some of the few businesses that tried to open further up 9th, such as Vegetate and BeBar, had some well-publicized opposition from local churches over their liquor licenses. With a little imagination, one could picture the boarded up buildings on 9th Street as another 18th Street or U Street, but that seems to be a long way away.Three years after the opening of the new Washington Convention Center, only three businesses are open among the building's 11 community retail spaces on 7th, 9th, and N Streets — Abou Master Goldsmith, Capitol Business Center, and Enterprise Car Rental. In addition to the three open business, four more have signed leases but have not yet opened - Euro Market, Divine Cravings Bakery, Old Dominion Brewery, and J. Sumner Salon. Four more retail spaces remain vacant, awaiting prospective tenants.
One wonders why the people who raised a fuss about a lack of retail space when the building was proposed aren't making much noise about the lack of retail now. A few of the spots within the convention center itself have window decals up, but Goodspeed has a convention center spokesperson attributing the delay to various construction difficulities. As for the brewery, which we are especially looking forward to, an Old Dominion spokesperson said "it's going rather slowly" and the franchise owner never returned calls to clarify. The delay is nothing new, however — Goodspeed points out a Washington Post report that the brewery would open in Summer 2005, more than a year ago. There were workmen in the brewery's location this weekend, however.
Of course, retail can't be forced to open, and it's possible the area just hasn't yet reached critical mass for retailers to rush opening their stores. That seems hard to believe, however, as the owners must be eating rent in the meantime with no immediate hope for revenue. Perhaps there needs to be some pressure put on whatever it is that's causing the delays. With all the condo projects right next to the convention center, like the Whitman at 9th and M, as well as the booming construction along Mass Ave and in the Mt. Vernon Triangle, it seems like some retail development certainly ought to be coming to the area. One of these years.
Photo by Rob Goodspeed
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Now that Bodo's on The Corner in C'Ville is finally open, these places should be right behind.
Some of the longtime Mt. Vernon property owners in the immediate vicinity of the convention center are asking for ludicrous amounts (seven figures for a hole in the wall) for their properties. A friend was looking into opening a bar in the neighborhood. The money they were asking for, up front and in a monthly lease, were staggering. I guess they figure they're getting that much on U Street and Logan, they should get the same for NoMa or ELog or SoYou or whatever they're calling it this week.
Some of the longtime Mt. Vernon property owners in the immediate vicinity of the convention center are asking for ludicrous amounts (seven figures for a hole in the wall) for their properties. A friend was looking into opening a bar in the neighborhood. The money they were asking for, up front and in a monthly lease, were staggering. I guess they figure they're getting that much on U Street and Logan, they should get the same for NoMa or ELog or SoYou or whatever they're calling it this week.
Some of the longtime Mt. Vernon property owners in the immediate vicinity of the convention center are asking for ludicrous amounts (seven figures for a hole in the wall) for their properties. A friend was looking into opening a bar in the neighborhood. The money they were asking for, up front and in a monthly lease, were staggering. I guess they figure they're getting that much on U Street and Logan, they should get the same for NoMa or ELog or SoYou or whatever they're calling it this week.
I live around the corner from this strip and I can say for sure that the area is still an outpost. properties to the west, east, south and north have all progressed far past this desolate stretch of broken concrete, and it has to be a combination of church property ownership, continuing violent crime, high price of entry, and "waiting it out" on the side of investors that is keeping a seemingly viable commercial corridor from developing.
If that 5 block stretch of ninth can develop, then it connects the city from Georgetown to Dupont to Logan to Shaw to Mt Vernon. If it does not develop, ninth street becomes a nice big cancer on the business and residential development hopes of DC at large. Putting aside issues of gentry, whiteness and blackness, I'd love to be able to walk back from the metro without having to assume the worst.
monkeyrotica makes a good point. Many properties in the whole area are so over priced that many buyers struggle and the property sits for a long time. That, or even worse, many owners leave their properties in ramshackle conditions waiting for the day when they can "cash in" big.
Still its a great area.
Something's fishy about that Dominion Brew House in the Convention Center. I have to wonder if it will ever open.
totally a missed opportunity. i walk that way when i am heading down to chi town from my house. such a shame that no one will open something there. would love for more restaurants along that strip. have a drink a be bar, then dinner at some cute little place. sigh. a boy can dream i guess.
Bob - Many years ago, a friend of mine dressed up as Bodo's on The Corner for Halloween.
All he did was wear a big sign that said "Coming Soon." Everybody got the joke.
I wonder if similar things are in store for developments like Columbia Heights. I thought about opening a food related business there, and called the developers to see what kind of incentives I would get as a neighborhood resident. The answer was none, and the prices I was quoted were high enough to scare me away altogether.
The real estate boom has come to an end. Until that fact is rationalized by all the market players, and real prices adjust accordingly I think we're going to see a lot of this around town.
I can't wait to see what is developed around the new stadium.
I think the residential real estate boom is over, but the commercial real estate sector will take a while to correct. It would be nice to see a return to reasonably priced dining and drinking options (i.e., more dive bars and greasy spoons.) But it may be that we end up getting more fastfood chains, unless the ANCs zone it otherwise.
Hope Ole Dominion has a jukebox. Jukebox makes all the difference in a good bar. The people can make the party instead of having it dictated to them.
I bike by there on my way home. There's no retail because this ugly mass of sameness wasn't designed for the street, it was designed as a place for large conventions. Who would rent overpriced space here?
Convention centers are a true waste of money, but this one looks like crap, too.
How is the Convention Center a waste of money? That thing is filled regularly with out of town visitors on expense accounts who spend a lot of money in this town on hotels, cabs, and dining.
Places like Ruth's Chris, and McCormick and Schmicks are packed when big conventions are in town. That means money in the pockets of the people who work there and money in the tax coffers of the DC government. Not to mention the hotel room taxes that these guys pay.
One needn't argue whether or not the Convention Center was a waste of money. The point that building it didn't bring the anticipated additional retail services can stand by itself.
Monkeyrotica: You know the ANC's don't have zoning power. It's unlikely that ZC or OP or the Council would go along with serious restrictions on zoning so close to the convention center, which was touted as a catalyst of development.
How is the Convention Center a waste of money?
Because it's already obsolete.
"The Mt. Vernon center, unlike most centers in the U.S., will not be able to expand to meet market demands. With the Mt. Vernon plan for a new convention center, D.C. is on the brink of repeating the same mistake it made with the old convention center. Because it had no room to expand, the first Washington Convention Center was recognized as undersized just three years after it opened, when the hotel industry began planning a new, larger convention center. Parking has been and will continue to be a problem, because the Mt. Vernon plan calls for zero additional parking space for a facility that will attract 42,000 people at one time, with 64-84 local events per year."
http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/concent.htm
ANCs don't have zoning power, but they do have pull with the DC Office of Zoning. If the ANCs make it clear that they want more affordable sitdown dining and no more fastfood/nail salons, they're likely to get what they want.
It doesn't work like that. There are no differences in zoning between sit down restaurants and nail salons. There is no zoning mechanism to effect the change you discuss.
Arlington Kate - that's hilarious!