May 14, 1984;41 years ago(May 14, 1984) (phase I) April 25, 1985;40 years ago(April 25, 1985) (phase II) June 2005;20 years ago(June 2005) (Eat at National Place)[1]
Closing date
2005–2008;18 years ago(2008) (as a shopping mall; Eat at National Place closed on May 26, 2020)
Eat at National Place Food Hall main entrance in October 2010
General information
Status
For The Shops: Operational, but only as street-level retail and dining on the ground floor and office space on the upper levels For Eat at National Place: Defunct
In 2015, owner Quadrangle Development Corporation intended to demolish the mall and replace it with a 283,000 square feet (26,300m2), 13-story building.[3] However, due to historical reasons, that plan was abandoned.
Since June 2005, a small food court developed by GGP (though initially broke ground by Rouse in 2004) with 10+ vendors, branded Eat at National Place, operated in a portion of the space, but the court closed permanently in May 2020.[4]
History
The Shops at National Place's 14-story atrium, interior view, ground level, c.2012
Pre-construction and development
Planning of The Shops at National Place started in July 1980 as part of a major $28 million redevelopment project of the adjacent National Press Building by the National Press Building Corporation. The project would involve restoration of the 1927 structure, as well as adding 80,000 square feet of retail and office space, including a 14-story atrium. The redevelopment project aimed to revitalize downtown Washington, D.C., with the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation supporting private investment in the area through tax credits and other incentives for historic preservation. Architect HTB, Inc. of Oklahoma City was selected to design the work, ensuring to not disturb any existing amenities during construction.[5]
Construction began in February 1982, and a ceremonial groundbreaking held on January 31 projected for an estimated completion in around 1983 or 1984. The project included connecting the National Press Building to nearby properties through an enclosed multistory atrium to form the concourse of stores and restaurants.[6]
The National Press Building Corporation selected The Rouse Company of Columbia, Maryland, to develop the retail portion of the project. Founder James W. Rouse and CEO Mathias J. DeVito cited that they were willing to help with development, following their successful festival marketplace model used previously on Harborplace in Baltimore and Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston. The Washington Post famously described Rouse's intention for the project as "gambling", as it attempted to squeeze in its Baltimore/Boston model in a building where doing such was risky.[7] However, since the retail was going to be in the building, Rouse could not rely on its usual architectural firm for developing festival marketplaces, being Benjamin Thompson & Associates, Inc., making this the company's first festival marketplace in a large city without Thompson involved. Not only that, due to D.C. preservation rules, invasive structural reinforcements were prohibited, meaning the company could not build a "Pratt/Light Street Pavilion"-like structure on the site. Additionally, Thompson was in the process of designing the competing Old Post Office Pavilion (which was also a festival marketplace), which further made choosing him and his firm unavailable.[8]
As a result, after negotiations due to those rules, Rouse decided to develop The Shops as an underground and atrium-linked shopping space beneath and attached to the National Press Club headquarters.[8]
Grand opening
By late 1983, the project was almost complete, and The Shops at National Place opened its first phase on May 14, 1984. It was designed as a central piece in revitalizing downtown Washington, D.C.'s traditional downtown shopping core along F Street, NW, west of the Woodward & Lothrop flagship. The mall replaced the former flagship stores of Raleigh's and Joseph R. Harris Co.
Marion Barry at the grand opening of The Shops at National Place
The first phase included 53 stores, and was developed by The Rouse Company. The 71,000-square-foot (6,600m2) retail complex was hailed as "part of a very important renaissance of downtown Washington." The Shops opened concurrently with a new 774-room JW Marriott Hotel (the first in that chain), and refurbished National Theater and National Press Building.[9][10] Melart Jewelers and Sight and Sound Electronics were part of the first phase located in the JW Marriott lobby.
The 40-store phase two of The Shops opened April 25, 1985. It included August Max, Record Town, and Brooks Fashions among the original tenants. The complex featured a 15-story atrium for the refurbished National Press Building and 450 spaces of underground parking. At the opening ceremony, then-mayor Marion Barry proclaimed "Downtown is coming alive!"[11][12]
Decline and closure
The Shops at National Place's struggles began in the late 1980s. It had a poor design that was isolated from the street, making it hard to access, with the majority of its tenants being "tucked in." It was seen as a miscalculation by The Rouse Company, as the company built the mall inside of a historical 15-story office building, even though the company was optimistic that it would be highly successful. James Rouse himself later admitted that the mall was inefficiently designed, leading to parking problems and high maintenance costs.[7]
The interior of Eat at National Place in August 2010
The Rouse Company began construction on Eat at National Place in 2004, as an attempt to modernize the facility and keep it competitive. The Shops at National Place, along with the rest of Rouse's portfolio, was sold to General Growth Properties (GGP) in November 2004 following a $12.6 billion acquisition of the company.[14] Following the mall's struggles, GGP closed a portion of The Shops to completely redevelop it into a food court called Eat at National Place (stylized as eat at National Place) which had its grand opening in June 2005. Unlike Rouse's proposal, GGP partially demolished portions of the mall for redevelopment. It was a last-ditch effort to revitalize the mall, and the food court housed both local and national food vendors, including Five Guys and Moe's Southwest Grill.[4]
Despite the attempts of revitalization by adding a food court, in 2008, due to many vacancies in the mall, competition from Union Station and struggles from the Great Recession, The Shops at National Place officially closed its doors, except for the food court, and the passageway to the JW Marriott. The structure was renovated in the 2010s to modernize it. Following the mall's struggles, GGP spun-off 30 underperforming properties, including The Shops, to Rouse Properties in January 2012.[15] Rouse Properties later sold the mall to Quadrangle Development Corporation because it was no longer profitable.
Permanent closure notice of Eat at National Place on May 26, 2020
Eat at National Place closed permanently in May 2020 following challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. It ceased operations on May 26, 2020, with a notice posted on the entrance doors and its website thanking patrons, office workers, tour groups and visitors for "helping patronize our Food Hall for the past 15 years", and all signage—including the hanging "Eat at National Place Food Hall" signs on the arches—were removed. Since Verizon Wireless was located inside of the food court, it had to be relocated to 1318 F St NW after the food court closed to remain accessible to customers. The new store was rebranded as just Verizon.[16][4] The food court's closure proved that Eat at National Place acted as a "band-aid" rather than genuine redevelopment; it helped office workers and generated lunch traffic, but it did not solve actual reasons for why the mall failed, such as architecture.
Redevelopment
As of January 2026, the former mall space has been repurposed for office and street-level retail and dining, such as District Taco, Corner Bakery Cafe, and a Verizon store. In 2016, part of the defunct mall was occupied by Wells Fargo Bank, but that eventually closed. The "The Shops" signage from one of the mall's entrances were removed in 2024.[17] The defunct Eat at National Place space remains vacant, though there is a Starbucks adjacent to it. Despite The Shops' current function as mixed-use, some of its spaces besides the food court, such as the 14–story atrium, remain largely abandoned.
Former Eat at National Place space in January 2026
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