Georgetown Park

Last updated

Georgetown Park is a mixed use shopping mall and condominium complex in the Georgetown historic district of Washington, D.C. The Shops at Georgetown Park are located at 3222 M Street, NW. In 2014, the complex received an $80 million renovation and is an important tourist attraction.

Contents

The Shops at Georgetown Park, 2006 The Shops at Georgetown Park.jpg
The Shops at Georgetown Park, 2006

History

The first phase of the complex opened in 1981. Parts of the structure predate 1838 when it was used as a tobacco warehouse that opened up directly onto the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. [1] In the 1850s, the building was purchased by John E. Reeside and Gilbert Vanderwerken and converted into stables for their omnibus line. The building continued to be used as stables for the first horsecar line, the Washington and Georgetown Railroad. It was later converted into a machine shop for streetcars. The parts of the building that face the canal and the facade of the M Street entrance remain from those earlier periods. After the demise of Washington's streetcars in 1962, the building served as the United States Defense Communications Annex E before being converted to its current use. [2]

Shopping center

In 1975, Donohoe Construction Co., in partnership with Western Development Corp., acquired the historic site to develop as a combined shopping and housing complex, The Shops at Georgetown Park. One engineering magazine called it the most complicated construction job on the East Coast. The project involved preserving the 100-plus year old facade on Wisconsin Avenue; building a 300-space underground parking garage into solid rock; and adding superstructure to the 10-foot (3.0 m) thick, 35-foot (11 m) high canal wall. Upscale features of the building included wood-floored hallways, a block-long skylight with cast-iron braces, brass and glass elevators, and hand-built oak kiosks. Construction costs came to $50 million for the retail center, $25 million for the condominiums, and $20 million for store interiors and fixtures.

The Canal House opened as the first phase of the project in 1980, with a Conran's homegoods store topped by 35 condominiums. At opening of the second phase on September 27, 1981, the "shopping park" had 100 stores and 128 condominiums. Original stores included the first East Coast branch of Abercrombie & Fitch, a 16,000-square-foot branch of Garfinckel's, Ann Taylor, and Scan Furniture. Among the stores opening Washington branches were Davisons of Bermuda, a women's high-fashion shop from Miami; La Vogue, a Richmond-based women's wear store; Le Sac, a New Orleans–based boutique; Senor David, a New York retailer of Italian menswear; a Linea Pitti tailor shop; Mark Cross, the leather goods store; and Godiva Chocolatier. The shopping park was deliberately designed not to have a major anchor store. [3]

In 1998, Western sold the property to a company controlled by AEW Capital Management but retained a “right of first offer” to repurchase the mall. Anthony Lanier of EastBanc, Inc., another developer, claims Miller sold that right to EastBanc in 1998 in exchange for a 7.5 percent stake in the mall. Miller claimed the right had expired in May 2002. EastBanc sued Western in 2006, and Western moved to repurchase the property on its own in 2007, suing EastBanc and Lanier personally for malicious filing. [4]

On September 10, 2008, Bloomingdale's announced plans to open a three-level, 82,000-square-foot (7,600 m2) anchor store at The Shops by August 2011. The store was to be modeled after the chain's concept store in New York's SoHo neighborhood to carry select contemporary men's and women's apparel. With this announcement, Western believed Georgetown Park would become "the highest fashion and trend center in the whole Washington area"; [5] however, the deal fell through in the summer of 2009 due to the ongoing legal dispute with EastBanc. In the autumn of that year, Western defaulted on a loan worth at least $70 million, and the property went into foreclosure. The vacancy rate had risen to 56 percent by April 2010. [6]

In 2010, the property was purchased out of foreclosure by Vornado Realty Trust and investment firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. The new owners embarked on a major renovation [7] for a grand re-opening in the spring of 2013, adding discount retailers including DSW and T.J. Maxx. [8] In 2013, H&M opened in the center, and was the first location in the U.S. to sell home goods. [9]

Jamestown purchased the center in 2014 and was renovated at a cost of $80 million. The name has since been simplified to Georgetown Park. A Washington Sports Club closed in 2020. [10] Forever 21 opened in 2016 but closed in 2020. [11] [12] As of 2023 tenants include T.J. Maxx, Anthropologie, H&M, J. Crew, Pinstripes Bowling Alley, and a DC DMV service center. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tysons Corner Center</span> Shopping mall in Virginia, United States

Tysons Corner Center is a shopping mall in the unincorporated area of Tysons in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It opened to the public in 1968, becoming one of the first fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping malls in the Washington metropolitan area. The mall's anchor department stores are Macy's, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's. The mall also features prominent specialty retailers including Everlane, Fabletics, Untuckit, Oak + Fort, Intimissimi, Aesop, and Warby Parker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanford Shopping Center</span> Shopping mall in Palo Alto, California, U.S.

Stanford Shopping Center is an upscale open air shopping mall located on Route 82 at Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto, California. It is on the campus of Stanford University although the university only owns the land and not the actual buildings or stores. Also, unlike the main academic campus, the shopping center and the neighboring Stanford University Medical Center are part of the city of Palo Alto, not the census-designated place (CDP) of Stanford, California. The shopping center buildings are 94.4% owned by Simon Property Group, which manages the property and leases the land from the university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloomingdale's</span> American luxury department store chain owned by Macys Inc

Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which acquired the Macy’s department store chain in 1994, when they became sister brands. Ultimately, Federated itself was renamed Macy’s, Inc. in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fashion Island</span> Shopping mall in California, U.S.

Fashion Island is an outdoor regional shopping mall in Newport Beach, California. Opened in 1967 by The Irvine Company as the anchor to their master-planned Newport Center district, Fashion Island is anchored by Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friendship Heights</span> Neighborhood in Ward 3, United States

Friendship Heights is an urban commercial and residential neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C., and southern Montgomery County, Maryland. Though its borders are not clearly defined, Friendship Heights consists roughly of the neighborhoods and commercial areas around Wisconsin Avenue north of Fessenden Street NW and Tenleytown to Somerset Terrace and Willard Avenue in Maryland, and from River Road in the west to Reno Road and 41st Street in the east. Within Maryland west of Wisconsin Avenue is the Village of Friendship Heights, technically a special taxation district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potomac Mills</span> Shopping mall in Virginia, United States

Potomac Mills is a shopping mall located in Dale City, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The first mall developed by the Mills Corporation, it was acquired in 2007 by Simon Property Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Lakes Crossing Outlets</span> An enclosed shopping mall in the city of Auburn Hills, Michigan, a northern suburb of Detroit

Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, formerly Great Lakes Crossing, is a shopping mall in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The site of the mall was originally to have been occupied by a different mall called Auburn Mills, which was never built due to financial issues of its intended developer, Western Development Corporation. Great Lakes Crossing was built on the site and opened in 1998. Constructed and owned by Taubman Centers, Great Lakes Crossing Outlets is the largest outlet mall in the state of Michigan. It features 185 stores, with anchor stores including Burlington, Primark, Bass Pro Shops, TJ Maxx, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Marshalls; other notable attractions include a 1,000-seat food court, a 25-screen AMC Star movie theater, Round1, Legoland Discovery Center, and Sea Life Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawgrass Mills</span> Shopping mall in Florida, United States

Sawgrass Mills is a shopping mall in Sunrise, Florida, owned by Simon Property Group. With 2,370,610 square feet (220,237 m2) of retail selling space, it is the eleventh largest mall in the United States, the largest single story outlet mall in the U.S., the largest shopping mall in Broward County, the second largest mall in Florida and the Miami metropolitan area after the Aventura Mall, and the third largest shopping mall in the southeastern United States. With over 21 million annual visitors, Sawgrass Mills is one of the most visited attractions in the state of Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Valley Fair</span> Shopping mall in California, USA

Westfield Valley Fair, commonly known as Valley Fair, is a prominent shopping mall in Santa Clara, California. Valley Fair is the largest mall, by area, in Northern California and has higher sales revenue than all other malls in California, including the two in Southern California which have larger area than Valley Fair. Valley Fair is the thirteenth largest shopping mall in the United States. It is located on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Santa Clara, California. The mall features Macy's, Macy's Men's and Home Store, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's.

Boulevard Mall was a shopping mall located north of the city of Buffalo at the western edge of the Town of Amherst in Erie County, New York, United States. The name derives from its location on Niagara Falls Boulevard, which divides Amherst from the Town of Tonawanda. Boulevard Mall features a gross leasable area of 904,000 square feet. The mall retains the traditional retailers Macy's, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Gabe's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garfinckel's</span> United States historic place

Garfinckel's was a prominent department store chain based in Washington, D.C. that catered to a clientele of wealthy consumers. Its flagship store at 14th and F in the city's F Street shopping district is listed on the National Register. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 1990 and ceased operations that year.

Shops at CenterPoint is an open air strip mall located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It opened in 1967 as Eastbrook Mall, a year before the larger Woodland Mall opened across the street. Throughout 2012 and 2013, the center underwent renovation tearing off half of the mall to become an outdoor shopping mall instead called The Shops at Centerpointe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stratford Square Mall</span> Shopping mall in Bloomingdale, Illinois

Stratford Square Mall was a shopping mall that opened on March 9, 1981, in Bloomingdale, Illinois, a northwestern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Originally owned by Urban Retail Properties Co., the 1,300,000-square-foot (120,000 m2) indoor shopping mall was designed by RTKL Associates, and built by Graycor of Oakbrook Terrace, IL. There are six vacant anchor stores that were last occupied by JCPenney, Carson Pirie Scott, Sears, Round One, Century Theatres, and Burlington. The former Marshall Field's/Macy's space was demolished in 2019 to make way for a new Woodman's Food Market grocery store building. The mall was bought by Namdar Realty Group in 2019. On January 22, 2024, the Village of Bloomingdale purchased the mall and gave all of the remaining tenants in the mall a 90-day notice. The mall closed on April 21, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Flint Mall</span> Former shopping mall in Montgomery County, Maryland

White Flint Mall was a shopping mall, located along Rockville Pike, in Montgomery County, Maryland, that closed in early 2015 and demolished thereafter. Its former anchors were Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale's, Dave & Buster's, H&M, Loews Theatre and Borders Books and Music, the last four of which acted as junior anchors for the mall. Lord & Taylor, the mall's final anchor, operated until 2020, five years after the mall's initial closure and demolition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fashion Valley (shopping mall)</span> Shopping mall in California, United States

Fashion Valley is an upscale, open-air shopping mall in Mission Valley in San Diego, California. The shopping center hosts 1,720,533 sq ft (159,842.7 m2) of leasable floor area, making it the largest mall in San Diego and one of the largest in California. It is managed by the 50% owner Simon Property Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Harbour</span> Mixed-use development at 3000 and 3050 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., United States

Washington Harbour is a Class-A mixed-use development located at 3000 and 3050 K Street, N.W., in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The southern edge of the development borders the Potomac River on the Georgetown waterfront. Designed by Arthur Cotton Moore, the complex consists of two curved towers and three other buildings attached to them, all of which are in the Postmodern architectural style. The complex contains luxury condominia, offices, retail space, restaurants, and underground parking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Park Square</span> Shopping mall in Washington, United States

River Park Square is a shopping mall and entertainment complex in Spokane, Washington. The shopping center was originally opened in 1974. Following years of decline, the center was redeveloped in 1999 using public and private funds in an effort to revitalize downtown Spokane. The mall, still privately owned by Cowles Company, is anchored by Nordstrom and contains an outpost of AMC Theatres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Corners Shopping Center</span>

Seven Corners Shopping Center was the first major shopping center to open in suburban Washington, D.C. It is located in Seven Corners, Fairfax County, Virginia. At its opening in 1956, it was the largest regional shopping center in Virginia. The backsplit two-story mall structure was revamped in the mid-1990s as a dual ground level power center. There are plans to replace the center with a thoroughly new development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockville Town Center</span> Shopping mall in Maryland, United States

Rockville Town Center is a town center in Rockville, Maryland. Opened in 1995, it replaced the demolished Rockville Mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayfair Center</span> Shopping mall in California, U.S.

Bayfair Center is a regional shopping mall and power center in San Leandro, California. It was among the first malls in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. Anchors are Target, Kohl's and a 16-screen Cinemark Century cinema. The Macy's anchor store closed in 2024. Junior anchors are Staples, Old Navy, PetSmart and 24 Hour Fitness.

References

  1. Historic American Buildings Survey, Canal Warehouse description (DC-144), Page 1 (retrieved Sep 11, 2008).
  2. Historic American Buildings Survey, Canal Warehouse description (DC-144), Page 2 (retrieved Sep 11, 2008).
  3. "Georgetown Gets 'Shopping Park'," by Jerry Knight, The Washington Post, Sep 27, 1981, p. H1.
  4. Castro, Melissa (2009-07-31). "Bye-bye Bloomingdale's". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  5. Mui, Ylan Q. (Sep 11, 2008), "Bloomingdale's to Come to Georgetown Mall", The Washington Post, p. D4
  6. Rein, Lisa; O'Connell, Jonathan (April 14, 2010), "Half-empty Shops at Georgetown Park headed to auction next month", The Washington Post
  7. O’Connell, Jonathan (July 1, 2012), "No new tenants yet for Georgetown Park", The Washington Post, archived from the original on June 30, 2013
  8. Iannini, Emma (February 15, 2013), "M Street Mall's New Tenants Draw Opposition", The Hoya
  9. Peirano, Michele (November 13, 2013). "New Georgetown H&M First to Sell Home Goods in U.S." Patch (Georgetown, D.C.). Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  10. Prince of Network (June 19, 2020). "Washington Sports Club Announces Permanent Gym Closures in Gallery Place/Chinatown and Georgetown". Popville. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  11. Devaney, Robert (April 11, 2016). "Forever 21 Coming to M Street". The Georgetowner. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  12. "Forever 21 closings 2019: What stores could close as part of the company's bankruptcy". USA Today. October 1, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  13. "Home". georgetownpark.com.

38°54′16.78″N77°3′49.5″W / 38.9046611°N 77.063750°W / 38.9046611; -77.063750