A preliminary rendering of a Trader Joe’s opening near Union Market. (Courtesy of Trader Joe’s)

For decades, the triangle in Northeast bounded by Gallaudet and New York and Florida Avenues was an expanse of cheap produce and meat, a zone of wholesalers that supplied restaurants and often residents, too. As the area nears a total transformation, anchored by the Union Market food hall, a very different kind of inexpensive groceries is coming to the neighborhood: Trader Joe’s.

The company announced today that it has signed a lease for a new location at 1240 4th Street NE, and it is slated to open in the second half of 2017. The store will occupy 15,000 square feet in the ground floor of a mixed-use project called The Edison.

It will be Trader Joe’s third or fourth store in D.C. In addition to the perpetually crowded locations near U Street and Foggy Bottom, another is slated to open in the Hine School redevelopment in Eastern Market in the summer of 2017.

The Edison brands itself as the “the Union Market District’s” first luxury building, featuring “brand-new industrial chic apartments in the heart of D.C.’s most vibrant and authentic culinary scene.” But while it is being billed as the first, there are more than 1,000 units planned for the immediate area.

This post has been updated to reflect that another store is opening in Eastern Market.