Harris Teeter To Open in Old Town in 2014

Old Town, Alexandria is preparing for an addition to the neighborhood: a 51,500 s.f. Harris Teeter, on the north end of Old Town, one block east of Washington Street. Buchanan Partners of Gaithersburg will team with The Pinkard Group LLC of Bethesda to develop the project, which will also include 175 rental apartments.

"Harris Teeter has been working on finding an Old Town location for years, said Kingsley McAdam Project Manager for Buchanan Partners. "Everyone is very excited about this." Developers are hoping to break ground in 2012 with a 2014 completion. Three condemned buildings reside in the space presently as well as a dry cleaner whose lease will be up by the time the project breaks ground.

The lead architect for the project is John Rust of Rust Orling Architecture, based in Alexandria. Buvermo Properties, Inc. of Bethesda is an equity partner in the $74 million mixed-use development.

Alexandria, Virginia real estate development news

"Things Are Moving" for O Street Market

Think Eastern Market meets City Vista if you're trying to imagine what the CityMarket at O will look like, the $260 million dollar project to help revitalize Shaw's business district. "It will embrace an unusual combination of 19th century charm and 21st century technology," said Armand Spikell, Principal of Roadside Development about the Shaw project that will transform two city blocks in Shaw.

Though Roadside had applied to raze the Giant at 1414 8th Street at the end of January - the first of many permits - the demolition date is still hazy, though Spikell projects the store will close this summer. Between now and then, the group has been digging around the foundation and adding steel braces to support the historic market building.

The new Giant Foods will be larger than the Safeway that now resides in City Vista. 55,000 of the 87,000 s.f of retail space is slated for Giant, of which 13,000 s.f. will be underground. This includes the loading dock in particular. "During the initial meetings, the community stated they did not want the eyesore of the docks that take up 9th Street now. It is a very unusual move, but we've tucked all that out of sight," said Spikell.

Also out of sight are the 500 parking spaces, which will also serve as an option for the Convention Center so as not to congest the neighborhood, again at the behest of the community. The remaining retail space is slated for small local businesses, none of which have yet signed at this early date; businesses would not open doors until 2013.

"Working with metro on foundations, working on design, meeting with the community, securing funding through HUD, this is not a normal commercial venture," said Spikell, "and this all takes time." Having started in 2003, eight years later, "things are finally starting to move."

Washington DC real estate development news

Montgomery County Planning Board Gives Wheaton Safeway Go-Ahead

Create a landscaped terrace and art installment, or fork over nearly a million dollars to County Planners: thanks to a Montgomery County Planning Board ruling last Thursday, developers at Patriot Realty will do both. Last spring a "favorable" staff report concerning Patriot's mixed-use "Wheaton Safeway" redevelopment proposal across from the Wheaton Metro questioned whether their efforts to satisfy the "20 percent public amenity requirement" was satisfactory. Apparently not quite, as the Planning Board gave developers the green light to move forward with the plans for the 50,000 s.f. Safeway and 17-story apartment complex, but required that Patriot contribute $961,161 to a public amenity fund in addition to its proposed public terrace. But pay to play seems

de rigueur, as Patriot and local urbanists are just happy the large-scale, transit-oriented project is finally moving forward.

Designed by Baltimore-based architecture firm Hord Coplan Macht, the new building will shoot what appears to be 3 vertical towers skyward, dwarfing all the other buildings in Wheaton. But the towers are simply a visual ploy to avoid the appearance of a mammoth monolith of a building, as each column is connected at the center. But the break up of the massing does succeed in this capacity, as the giant structure does not at first glance appear to be a singular integrated building. Lee Driskill, a Principal with the firm and the lead architect for the project, explains that "the skin" of the building "has been organized to have these three tower elements come to the fore." The result is not a bland block, but a "tall and elegant" building.

The 195-foot building will feature a new Safeway on street level, an underground parking garage for shoppers, a 486-unit apartment complex (60 of which will be offered as "moderately priced dwelling units"), and three levels of residential parking above the store. A cutback in the massing in between each tower offers the luxury of a fifth-floor courtyard atop the parking garage. Here residents will be able to simply enjoy the view or take advantage of the pool, outdoor lounge area, fire pit and/or open lawn. In total, some 70 percent of the roof will be green, which is expected to assist the project in earning LEED Certification (upon completion of course). The approved 59,000 s.f. of ground-floor retail space will house not only the expanded Safeway, but also a Starbucks, SunTrust, and a Bergman’s Drycleaners (everything a Maryland suburbanite knows and loves all in one place).

Although the planned on-site, public-use terrace offered by developers only totals 7,615 s.f. and 9.9% of the net lot area (10.1% too little), Patriot will make amends for their shortcomings with a $961,161 "donation," which will assist in the redevelopment of 13,800 s.f. of off-site public green space. A public art installment also helped woo the Board into approving the proposal, as several bronze figures ranging from 14 inches to 28 inches tall will be arranged throughout the public terrace. Judy Sutton Moore, a Silver Spring artist, will craft the statues that are set to be welded to a stainless steel pole and "float, as it were, above the flowers, grasses, and shrubs in the planters." Planning Board members specified that the public statues must "avoid depicting art as a commercial expression of Safeway-life."

But before the meandering grocery shoppers can enjoy cute puppy statues, the public amenity funds must be released into the escrow account, demolition and building permits must be secured, and 17 stories of concrete and glass must be amassed; with Board approval at last in had, developers will look to keep things moving as construction is set to commence by early Spring of next year.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Wisconsin Giant "Launch Party" this Thursday

Despite a pending legal battle that has tied up the Wisconsin Avenue Giant, developers are moving forward - pretty soon - with their 56,000-s.f. grocery store project that will add additional retail, residential, and office space. Developer Steet-Works has announced a "launch party" for this Thursday to celebrate the impending demolition of the abandoned 1950's era G.C. Murphy Co. store and existing Giant, which will yield to a newly renamed "Cathedral Commons."

Parent company Stop & Shop owns the site bounded by Idaho Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, and Macomb Street and divided by Newark Street, all of which now contains a mostly-abandoned, one-story retail strip and surface parking. Upset with the parking provisions, the threat of increasing density in the area, and even challenging the Commission's authority to make the specific zoning amendment ruling that approved the project, the Wisconsin-Newark Neighbors Coalition (WNNC) had filed a lawsuit to prevent the project, challenging, as they had previously, the Zoning Commission's 2009 approval of the project.

Despite the burst of optimism on the ultimate outcome of the development, the litigation has not yet been resolved, and Street-Works does not plan to begin construction until March of next year. DC officials and President of Giant Food Robin Michel, among others, will gather to announce their commitment to moving forward, ambitiously marking the last days of the 50-year old block that is a deteriorating and out-dated eye-sore. In an official press release Giant promises: "the development will create new jobs and feature neighborhood retail shops, restaurants, a 56,000-square-foot supermarket, townhomes, apartments, engaging open spaces, and an attractive streetscape." Developers insist that the current tenants will relocate into the new retail space upon completion.

When asked what circumstances changed to justify throwing a launch party this week, Sharon Robinson, a consultant for the Giant Team, explained that "this is simply a chance for the company to publicly voice its support for the project, and its commitment to move forward." She added that it will provide the opportunity for Giant officials to elaborate on the details and timeline of the development plans going forward. Councilwoman Mary Cheh is one of the many invested individuals who is happy to hear the news. "I am delighted, as I'm sure residents are," Cheh explained, "that after waiting for many years for this development, that we are finally on the threshold of it actually happening." There is always the worry that the litigation will again prove a hitch in the development's progress, but Cheh has been assured that the legal case of the opposition is not very strong.
In total, the proposed project will contain approximately 136,500 square feet of retail space and 140-150 residential units. After construction begins, developers expect the entire project to be completed within three years. How the project will be phased - likely in two phases - and how developers plan to transition from the old grocery store into the new, remains unsettled. Perhaps those answers will be revealed on Thursday.

Update: The launch party, as predicted by our prescient poster below, has been called off. Giant recently sent out an e-blast saying: "Giant Food wants to give all members of the community an opportunity to join us to launch the new project to redevelop the Wisconsin Avenue Giant and Friendship Shopping Center, which will be known as Cathedral Commons. To honor the High Holy Day, Rosh Hashanah, we will postpone the previously announced launch event." A new date has yet to be set.

Washington DC real estate development news

New Grocery Store Chain to Land In Northeast

The supermarket wars rage on, now with a new competitor. The poor man's Trader Joe's is coming to Ward Five next week, as discount grocer chain ALDI will break ground on what is set to become their first store in the District of Columbia. Work will officially begin on September 7th at 901 17th Street, NE; ALDI executives will be joined by Ward 5 Councilmen Harry Thomas Jr. to celebrate the good news. ALDI summarizes their unique business model as this: "A select assortment discount grocer featuring its own ALDI select brands, ALDI applies smart and efficient operational and business practices to save more than 20 million monthly customers up to 50 percent on their grocery bill." With limited shelving, and most products displayed on the same wooden pallets they're shipped on, it seems as if the end product will be the less complicated, groceries-only version of Costco.

As it is now

Looking more like Soviet Safeway here

Although it may be tempting to poke fun at the grocer as the District becomes overpopulated with gourmet supermarkets, it will likely be a vast improvement upon the "UnSafeway" just next door. With a neglected Safeway on Rhode Island Avenue shut down earlier this year, it is clear that northeast has not received anything like the attention from grocers lavished on northwest. In Germany, where ALDI originated, the chain was once sneered at and dismissed as a low-quality, thrifty-alternative for impoverished shoppers, but has now gained momentum as hip and simplified shopping for the parsimonious. Future customers be warned however, you must come armed with a quarter (redeemed upon return of the grocery cart), and cash or a debit card (credit cards not accepted). Customers are also required to pay for the grocery bags they use, so bring your own reusable cloth sacks to save time, money, and the environment.

The new store should look something like this

Since their business philosophy is a no-frills shopping experience that focuses on cutting costs and passing the savings onto the customer, it's hard to imagine the architecture being inspirational. And like the majority of ALDI's business relationships, they've contracted with a single entity, ADP Engineering and Architecture, to bring their new stores across the country to life. No official construction timeline has been published, but it is expected the turn around will be fairly short. The need for better shopping options in the area certainly remains strong.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Whole Foods in Foggy Bottom

Various real estate blogs are reporting that Whole Foods has signed a lease agreement with Boston Properties to occupy 37,000 s.f. in their Foggy Bottom development. The site on Washington Circle, known as Square 54, has long been rumored as a prospective house for the upscale grocer, but Boston Properties had declined to comment on the possible tenant, maintaining a Whole Foods policy of not commenting on leases and plans.

The grocery store will be the closest full-service supermarket to many Georgetowners, providing stiff competition for the newly opened Safeway just north of Georgetown. The former hospital site will provide 335 apartment units and 440,000 s.f. of office space, on a 60-year lease from George Washington University to Boston Properties. The residences are expected to open in early 2011, with Whole Foods thought to open in mid 2011.

Washington DC real estate development new

Shelly Weinstein to Safeway: Tear Down this Wall

Tempers are flaring in Bethesda over the reconstruction of the Safeway at Arlington Road and Bradley Boulevard, a project that is expected to kick off any day.

On Thursday, May 20th, the Montgomery County Planning Board considered a site plan amendment that altered the location of a planned screening wall between Safeway and their residential neighbors in the adjacent Kenwood Forest Condominiums. Although a wooden fence already exists between the two properties, the proposed stone and masonry wall was to act as a more substantial sight and sound barrier between the new 43,097 s.f., two-story shopping center and the neighboring backyards.

The plan is part of the redevelopment that will replace the 1950's era architectural pockmark with a more attractive, larger store sitting above a parking garage. Elza Hisel-McCoy from the Montgomery County Development Review Division explains that the original plans for the dividing wall were "added sort of last minute" by the Safeway team on the morning before their July 23rd, 2009 site plan review hearing.

"When Safeway engineers went back to look at the placement of the wall, there were issues," and since the Safeway engineers felt a wall on Safeway's property would no longer be possible, "an amendment to place the wall on the condo's common area" was put forth.

The seven members of the elected Kenwood Forest Board went for the idea, but at least 40 members of the Kenwood Forest Homeowners Association did not.

A Kenwood Forest resident for more than 30 years, Shelly Weinstein is heading up the opposition to Safeway's new wall location proposal. While the movement of a wall might not seem like such a big deal on paper, Weinstein characterizes the issue as a symptom of the larger problem: namely, that homeowners in the Kenwood Forest community are being deliberately excluded from on-going development negotiations between Safeway and the Kenwood Forest Board - negotiations that she says allow Safeway to encroach on private residential property, increase traffic flow through neighborhoods, and construct a parking garage without making assurances that dynamite will not be brought in to blast rocky terrain.

According to Weinstein, the Board has the right to enter into contracts with a developer or contractor without consulting the other 116 homeowners in the community if the work that's taking place will last less than a year. "If the Board enters into a one year contract with Safeway to build a wall on our property and then renews that contract annually, then they can get around getting permission from the individual homeowners for the work and get around easement requirements."

That's a tall order, says Weinstein, especially when you're talking about negotiations that could allow Safeway "in some cases, to put a wall within 6 feet of some of our homeowners' decks."

At the time of publication, Safeway PR representatives could not be reached. When asked about the results of the May 20th Planning Board hearing, Safeway Eastern Division Real Estate Manager, Renee Montgomery, confirmed that she was heading up the project but preferred "not to be quoted" and referred us back to Safeway's PR team.

Staying quiet about the subject might be understandable when you consider that, for the time being at least, Safeway has the site plan approval it needs to move forward with construction and an agreement with the homeowners' association.

"The screen wall is no longer a condition of the site plan approval," says Hisel-McCoy, who adds that private agreements between the Kenwood Forest Board and Safeway reps will determine just how that portion of the plan plays out.

Safeway hopes to begin demolition and construction work any day now and the new store is slated to open by the 2011 holiday season. But don't count Weinstein out just yet. The Bethesda resident also happens to be the former Environmental Director of the Department of Energy in the Carter White House and has found a cause in this issue.

The Kenwood Forest Board met last night at Concord-St. Andrews United Methodist Church to discuss, among other subjects, the Safeway development. Weinstein planned to use the opportunity to announce that she's filed an official complaint about the Safeway negotiations with the Maryland Attorney General's Office. With any luck, she says, "We can stop the Board from moving forward with any contractual agreements with Safeway until we can re-open this process and let the homeowners get involved."

With the Attorney General's Office mediating the development, she hopes to answer once and for all "whether or not the [Kenwood Forest] Board violated its authority by not including the homeowners."

She anticipates opposition from the Kenwood Forest Board but says "It's senseless to get into an argument with them when we've been trying to get involved with the project for over a year." Wall or no wall, a new Safeway is on its way.

Maryland Real Estate and Development News

Whole Foods Opens Next Week in Chevy Chase

Whole Foods will open its latest area store next Tuesday. The neighborhood-transforming grocer is putting the finishing touches on its Chevy Chase store, located just over the DC border at Wisconsin Place, at 4420 Willard Avenue.

New England Development (NED), Archstone and Boston Properties jointly developed the Wisconsin Place shopping center, which also features a 432-unit apartment building designed by SK&I, 295,000 s.f. of office space, and 305,000 s.f. of Chevy Chase-style retail.

Turner Construction began working on the new Whole Foods back in August of 2004, interior work is being performed by L.F. Jennings. This will be the 296th Whole Foods to open in the U.S., Canada and U.K., according Liz Burkhart of Whole Foods.

Washington DC real estate development news

Southwest Safeway: Hello, Goodbye

While neighbors bide their time, waiting for a new Southwest Safeway to open at Waterfront Station, the old Safeway will likely stick around a little longer; at least its corpse will. Developers have now applied for a raze permit for 401 M Street, SW, beginning the process to demolish the old building. The store closed its doors for good April 6th and the new Safeway will show its wares to new neighbors with a "sneak peak" on the 15th and grand opening on April 16th.

According to Craig Muckle, Spokesperson for Safeway, the team does not expect demolition to begin until sometime this summer, though an adjoining wall between the old and new stores will come down prior to the new store's opening.

Safeway's newest store at the Southwest Waterfront Station will bring relief to residents who have long complained of the lack of necessities, such as bread and milk, that were routine.

Waterfront Station will also include new space for a CVS and Bank of America, as well as an additional 85,000 square feet for restaurants and “neighborhood service-related” retail. The project is a joint venture between Forest City Washington, Vornado/Charles E. Smith and Bresler and Reiner, Inc., and will add more than 2.5m square feet of new development on the site.

Washington, DC real estate development news

New Tenleytown and Georgetown Safeways

Take that, Whole Foods. Thursday was a big night for Safeway in northwest DC, with the group announcing that the Georgetown store would seek LEED certification, meanwhile the plan for the Tenleytown location continues its review by the ANC.

The Georgetown "social" Safeway, at 1855 Wisconsin Ave, NW, is expected to complete this May the replacement for the store demolished in April of 2009. Safeway will submit their Torti Gallas-designed building for review by the U.S. Green Building Council, expecting LEED certification for the final product.

Up the hill, the ANC continues to review a similar plan for the Tenleytown Safeway at 4203 Davenport St., but not without much heated debate. The zoning change for the Tenleytown store is set to go before the Zoning Commission on January 14th of the new year. The new design involves a two story building replacing the squat, windowless monolith that now presents its backside to Wisconsin Avenue.

Assuming PUD approval, renovation of the Tenleytown store will not start until the Georgetown Safeway is completed to avoid closing two nearby stores simultaneously.

The two buildings are Safeway's salvo in the supermarket wars; Safeway has been on a binge of renovating and rebuilding its stores to respond to increasing competition among grocers. Whole Foods will answer when it opens its next DC-area store this summer, just five blocks up the street, and Giant will open its flagship on Wisconsin Avenue in 2011, but Harris Teeter seems to have been elbowed out of the Wisconsin Avenue scrum.



Correction: In the original report DCMud indicated the Tenleytown store had received ANC approval. It was brought to our attention by the ANC this was not the case. There was a miscommunication between our staff and the source of the story. We apologize for the mistake.

Whole Foods - Gentrification Comes Belatedly to Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase may get its first Whole Foods, the much-anticipated second "anchor" to the Shops at Wisconsin Place, by the spring of 2010. While the Bethesda-Chevy Chase corridor may seem like a scripted stage setting for the Whole Foods phenomenon, Chevy Chasers have until now had to drive all the way down to Tenley for their organic Gruyere, or eke by (gasp) on Giant or TJ's foodstuffs.

New England Development (NED), Archstone and Boston Properties are jointly developing the Wisconsin Place shopping center at the Chevy Chase-DC border. The entire development took five years to complete. Today, the shopping center features 432, SK&I-designed, upscale apartments, 295,000 s.f. of office space, and 305,000 s.f. of swanky shopping destinations including Cole Haan, White House/Black Market, and Bloomingdales—a.k.a. "Wisconsin Place Anchor Number One."

Turner Construction began working on the shell that would become the new Whole Foods back in August of 2004. Just this past July, Wisconsin Place General Manager, Christine Norris assured DCMud that work on the grocery's escalators had already begun.

Now, four months after that update, construction by L.F. Jennings is underway and Amanda Orr, Communications Rep for NED, told DCMud that Whole Foods is "slated for a spring opening, for sure," but she could offer no more detail because the Whole Foods powers-that-be "made it very clear that they don't want any outside media reps speaking on their behalf."

Unfortunately, when it comes to answering questions about the new store's square footage, its design, and even the estimated Spring 2010 grand opening date posted on the Wisconsin Place web site - Whole Foods PR rep, Katie Hunsberger is only willing to confirm that the store will open sometime in the first half of 2010. And yes, we know River Road has its own, in a bad strip mall.

We got it: What happens in Whole Foods, stays in Whole Foods.

Chevy Chase Real Estate News

Giant Controversy on Wisconsin Ave Development

On Thursday, the Zoning Commission reconsidered several elements of the previously approved application for the planned Giant grocery store and surrounding redevelopment. The Commission approved the Planned Unit Development (PUD) for Friendship-McComb SC, Inc. along with their developer, Street-Works, in July, but both the community and the developer took issue with parts of the Commission's decision. Prior to last night's hearing, the Wisconsin-Newark Neighbors Coalition (WNNC) had filed a lawsuit to prevent the project, challenging, as they had previously, the Zoning Commission's authority to make the zoning amendment. The development will replace the abandoned 1950's era G.C. Murphy Co. store and existing Giant, which will yield to a proposed 55,000-s.f. grocery and additional retail, residential, and office component. Parent company Stop & Shop owns the site bounded by Idaho Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, and Macomb Street and divided by Newark Street, all of which now contains a mostly-abandoned, one-story retail and surface parking. According to Sharon Robinson, a Consultant for the Giant Team, Giant requested more "specific language that would facilitate evaluation of compliance" with the approval. In July the Commission order stated, "the applicant shall also fulfill any other commitment or promise it made as referenced in the findings of facts above, even if not specifically stated in one of the above conditions." Surprisingly, developers found that language vague. The request was deferred until the October 19th meeting, with the Commission asking the applicant and the community to define “off peak hours” in relation to a parking discrepancy. WNNC's beef with the Commission, besides its alleged lack of authority, has to do with

residential parking permits. The group requested that the Commission consider, again, the amount of planned parking. Previously, the District Department of Transportation, the Office of Planning and the Zoning Commission staff all agreed that the residential parking provided (1 per unit in the multi-family residential and 2 per townhouse) was more than adequate. But the appeal received a big ole "Denied" stamp last night. In response to the lawsuit, Giant posted a statement on its website saying they were not surprised a suit was filed, given the contentious nature of the PUD process. They say the appeal is subject to a judicial process that could take"two or more years to complete." Giant reaffirmed its commitment to the new store as well as to the large group within the community who supports the new development.

Washington DC retail and commercial property news

Adams Morgan Safeway Facelift Revealed

With the supermarket battles having long since become a mainstay of development, not to mention indicator of neighborhood revitalization, we feel obliged to point out the existence of new grocery stores. And sometimes even old ones with a nip - tuck, as in the case of the Adams Morgan Safeway at 1747 Columbia Road. City officials will be marking the occasion too, at 2pm tomorrow (Friday), when DC Mayor Adrian Fenty cuts the ribbon on the newly minted Safeway.

The store has remained open for the past four months during construction, an attempt to bring it up to speed with the newish Harris Teeter around the corner. Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle told DCMud that although the re-do would not entail the start-over makeover given several other area Safeways, this would at least "a complete interior renovation and decorum upgrade,” he promised. “It will look like…our other upgraded Safeways, of which there are now nine or ten in the area.” We'll see if its enough to make the mayor stay and shop.

Bethesda Safeway Reinvention, Running Out of Monikers

With expansion and reconstruction well on its way at the Social Safeway in Glover Park, and several other Safeway stores in the works, Safeway, Inc. is setting its sights on demolishing and rebuilding another of its DC area locations, this time in Bethesda. The store, at the intersection of Bradley Boulevard and Arlington Road, lacks one of the monikers so commonly applied to the stores in DC (its only Yelp reviewer dubbed the location the "Superfluous Safeway"). The pitch to the MCPB? The new design will be a "civic gateway" (Civic Safeway?) to Bethesda's Central Business District (CBD). The planned structure would replace the single-story, 25,568-sf., 1950's era building with a modern, 43,097 sf. two-story building with elevated sales floor located above structured parking at and below ground level, much like its Social sibling. The architect for the project, Rounds VanDuzer Architects, plans to use a variety of materials to break up the largely unfenestrated building with pavilion-like structures, including a brick base with stone, steel, stucco and glass accents. Improved sidewalks and streetscapes will provide pedestrian access from several points on Arlington Road and at the corner of Bradley Boulevard. Though there is no direct access to the adjacent Capital Crescent Trail, the plan provides for a covered bike station with drinking fountain and air pump on premises to improve bike access - so you can bike to the grocery. Additionally, the plan includes vehicular access directly from Arlington Road and via a right-in, right-out driveway off Bradley. The storefront will feature a revolving public art exhibit, orchestrated by the Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District. Safeway will also provide financial support to the Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP) for beautification of the Capital Crescent Trail retaining wall which runs along Arlington Ave., a response, in part, to local resident concerns. The staff recommended approval with conditions, most notably meeting requirements for stormwater management, and achieving LEED certification at minimum. Transportation conditions include adding bike lockers in the parking garage as well as showers for all those employees who commute via the poor man's metro. The plan goes before the Montgomery County Planning Board for review tomorrow, July 23rd.

Bethesda Maryland retail and commercial real estate news

Social Safeway Set for Demolition Next Month

Following last year's announcement that Georgetown's old "Social Safeway" at 1855 Wisconsin Ave, NW would disappear (temporarily) in 2009, now executives at the supermarket chain say the aging facility will meet the wrecking ball as soon as it closes up shop once and for all on April 26^th.

"Demolition will start immediately [following the store closing]," said Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle. "We plan to have it done for a March 2010 opening." In the meantime, shoppers at Safeway are stocking up on discounted food as if there were light snow in the forecast.

But fear not, valued customers. As stated above, the new and improved Social Safeway is planned to open next year with a 21^st century design - courtesy of Torti Gallas Architects - and a new floorplan that will largely abolish the current store’s massive and congestion-prone parking lot. By reclaiming part of its underutilized footprint, the from-scratch storefront will bare more resemblance to CityVista’s so-called “Sexy Safeway” rather than it’s former incarnation. Muckle tells DCmud that the new building’s design is the result of a lengthy approval process that the company underwent with locals and DC authorities.

“We had a number of visits with [the Old Georgetown Board] and [the US Commission of] Fine Arts. We went back a couple of times as there were some revisions requested along the way. But I don’t recall there being anything wildly out of line or that needed to be redrawn significantly,” he said. “We did spend a lot of time with the ANC, so I think we can say safely that the ongoing conversation really made the process much less challenging.”

In the meantime, renovation procedures take a much more low-key tactic at the "Not So Safeway" at 1747 Columbia Road, NW. That store will remain open when it goes under the knife (as early as early next month) and, although the store will forgo demolition, the end result will be much the same as in Georgetown.

“Under the current situation, [we couldn’t close the store]. We would have liked to, but if we’re not able to that, we’ll do the in-place remodel. It will be a complete interior renovation and decorum upgrade,” said Muckle. “It will look like…our other upgraded Safeways, of which there are now nine or ten in the area.”

Washington DC retail and commercial property news

Columbia Pike is for Squares

Because no revitalization effort is complete without open green space, the Arlington County Board approved the master plan for Penrose Square, a 33,000 s.f. square planned for Columbia Pike's Town Center last night. Designed by a twelve-member citizen Working Group and landscape architectural firm Oculus, Penrose Square is the first and largest of three squares planned for the Town Center, and will include a tree-covered terrace with movable seats and tables, public art, a centrally located paved plaza, and an interactive water fountain.

The square will be developed in two phases. Phase One, a $2.4 million endeavor, will begin construction in mid-2010 and will deliver 17,760 s.f. Phase Two will be coordinated with the redevelopment of the Fillmore Shopping Center site and will cost an additional $2 million. There is no set completion date.

The parcel was dedicated to the county by Carbon Thompson Development, which is planning a mixed-use Penrose Square development that will include a 57,000 Giant supermarket with 325 residential units above it that will be completed in 2011. The project, which was approved in 2006, will also deliver structured parking (325 retail and 400 residential spaces) and 40,000 s.f. of retail space.