Rendering of the New York Avenue/Bladensburg Road Walmart.

Two of the four Walmarts planned inside the District’s borders have cleared a major hurdle, clearing a review from the city’s Office of Planning enabling them to move forward with construction as soon as permits from the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs can be obtained.

Ground is expected to be broken on both sites — along Georgia Avenue in Ward 4 and at the intersection of Bladensburg Road and New York Avenue in Ward 5 — at some point in 2011.

Rendering of the Georgia Avenue Walmart.

Both the locations – neither was expected to be held up, thanks to their location on “large tracts” which don’t require developers to address the concerns of hyperlocal groups like ANCs – are very much Walmarts, though slightly minimized: lots of parking space, flat boxy buildings, and the like. It’s expected that the retailer’s other two planned locations will require a much more extensive review process, which could very well result in more diverse developments featuring more green and more height.

The official documents submitted to the Office of Planning are embedded below. What do you think about the designs?

UPDATE (2:25 p.m.): The Office of Planning clarifies that the Large Tract Review process which both Walmart stores have cleared is “not an approvals/denials process,” but “an administrative review by multiple District agencies and the affected community to identify issues and provide feedback to the developer prior to applying for a building permit.” So, just to be totally clear: OP has not “approved” any actual Walmart store at this point, they’ve simply concurred that the developers seeking to build a Walmart on both sites are in compliance with zoning in both areas.

WalMart-GAave

LTR 11-02 -The Point @ Arboretum – Square 4268 – FINAL REPORT Aug 24 2011