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This article has been updated.
The D.C. Council gave its final approval today to a bill mandating that large retail stores pay their employees a “living wage.” With the 8-5 vote, Wal-Mart confirmed its statement yesterday that it will back off plans to build three stores in the District.
“Nothing has changed from our perspective,” Steven Restivo, a spokesman for the world’s largest retailer, said in a statement issued just after the vote. Wal-Mart is pulling out of planned stores at the Skyland Town Center and Capitol Gateway developments in Ward 7, and from another location planned at New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road NE in Ward 5.
The Large Retailer Accountability Act passed with the same supporters as it received on its first vote last month, who were undeterred by Wal-Mart’s threat yesterday to cancel those three locations. The bill requires companies that gross at least $1 billion in revenue to pay at least $12.50 per hour to employees at stores that are larger than 75,000 square feet. The rate mandated by the bill is more than 50 percent above the District’s minimum wage of $8.25 per hour.
“You’re not going to put a gun to my head,” Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) said during one of many meandering speeches during an hourlong debate over the bill. Instead of a Wal-Mart at the end of Bladensburg Road, Orange said the undeveloped part of Ward 5 would be better served by an amusement park or a soundstage for film production. He also argued against the future vision of having a streetcar line run up Bladensburg with a big-box retail store as the endpoint. “Stay strong,” Orange continued.
Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) accused Wal-Mart of bullying the District with its decision to back out of the three stores. “That’s a stickup, without a gun,” Barry said. “And I don’t want to be stuck up.”
Wal-Mart’s tone nearly won the Large Retailer Accountability Act another supporter. Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), who ultimately stuck with her decision to oppose it, said hearing that the retailer would pull three stores from D.C. over the bill “almost drove me to a different vote.
“I don’t like being threatened,” she said.
David Catania (I-At Large), who opposed the bill, introduced an amendment that would have exempted the three Walmarts that are already under construction or have received certificates of occupancy from paying the living wage. Wal-Mart is actively building stores on H Street NE, North Capitol Street, and Georgia Avenue NW. Catania’s amendment was dismissed on a 10-3 vote.
Wal-Mart said it will also start reviewing the ramifications the bill has on its three D.C. stores currently under construction. “This was a difficult decision for us—and unfortunate news for most D.C. residents—but the Council has forced our hand,” Restivo said.
The entirety of Skyland Town Center is in jeopardy with the apparent loss of Walmart, which had planned to occupy more than one-third of the 325,000-square foot development. Gary Rappaport, the developer overseeing the planned $200 million project, has said that without Wal-Mart’s commitment, construction at Skyland will not happen.
“We’ve already lobbied other retailers to come,” Councilmember Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), one of the bill’s most strenuous opponents, said ahead of the vote. “The anchor has to be a big box retailer.”
Barbara Lang, the president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, also released a statement slamming the bill. “This sends a clear message to other businesses that may be considering development projects in the District of Columbia that they are not welcomed,” she said.
Mayor Vince Gray, a Ward 7 resident who demanded that Wal-Mart include Skyland in its list of planned locations, despite the company’s initial resistance, has said several times that he has concerns over the act, but has come short of making an overt veto threat.
“The mayor has already indicated his serious concerns over the lost jobs and retail opportunities for District residents that the bill will cause,” Pedro Ribeiro, a spokesman for Gray, said. “As he waits for the Council to send the legislation to him, he’ll be interested to hear what District residents and employers think.”
Shortly before the debate on the bill began, Alexander, expecting it to pass over her objections, bemoaned the fact that without Walmart, Skyland Town Center could remain a blighted, undeveloped swath of her ward without the presence of a major tenant.
“It’s a big-ass lot,” she said. “Maybe we could put city hall there.”
