After more than two years of deliberation, Cleveland Park's new "historic" Walgreens at 3524 Connecticut Avenue will be opening this summer. Best known as the former site of the Yenching Palace restaurant, where intermediaries for President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev negotiated the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the site is currently is the midst of a commercial conversion, courtesy of Mid-Atlantic Commercial Properties (MACP) and Rust Orling Architecture.
"Construction started a couple of months ago
. We’re hoping that’ll be completed this summer," said Randall Clarke, MACP Vice President. Construction is being overseen by the Dietze Construction Group.
. We’re hoping that’ll be completed this summer," said Randall Clarke, MACP Vice President. Construction is being overseen by the Dietze Construction Group.
Since purchasing the building in 2006, Walgreens reps have made numerous presentations of (and revisions to) their plans for the landmarked, 8,600 square foot site at the behest of the local ANC 3C and the Historic Preservation Review Board. In doing so, the development team arrived at a retro-esque design that recalls its original 1945 facade and will certainly make it one of the swankiest pharmacies in the District – but at the expense of a brief construction timeline.
“We went through the HPRB process and, as a result of that, we had to be careful in the demo and do some extra things, so it’s taking a little longer than it would have otherwise. But it’s plugging along,” said Clarke.
The Cleveland Park site will be Walgreen’s second location in the District; the first, at 22nd and M Streets, NW, opened in March. A third location is planned for Connecticut Avenue and Veazey Terrace, NW in Van Ness, and won zoning approval early April. In all, the drugstore chain plans to open 495 new locations in North America this year.
4 comments:
I've been dying to know if the future occupants would be using the fabulous glass blocks that are still standing in what's left of the Yenching facade. Sounds like it.
Cool. :)
There's a CVS one block away. Why another drug store? I am happy to read what will be there though. And that they'll be keeping a historic facade at least. Would have like to have just kept the historic restaurant.
This is a Walgreen's. Competition.
The design is wonderful and I welcome the drug store competition for Conn. Ave. It's too bad someone wasn't smart enough to combine this site with the fire station and build a higher density developement adjacent to a subway stop.
Cleveland Park is nice but so many of the store facades are tired which is surprising given the neighborhood's affluence.
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