Big box retail at Poplar Point?

Development

Big box retail at Poplar Point?

by David Alpert • September 15, 2008 11:05 am

And Now, Anacostia discovers a WBJ article reporting that private developers are planning big-box retail at the southern edge of Poplar Point, near the Anacostia Metro.

According to the article (most of which is behind a pay wall):

[Jeff] Epperson and [Richard] Powell, the partners behind Urban-City Ventures LLC, are in the final stages of negotiations to bring big-box retail to private land on the southern end of Poplar Point, where they say have purchased about 200,000 square feet along both sides of Howard Road SE, northwest of the Anacostia Metro station.

Howard Road northwest of the Anacostia Metro must refer to this area:

Image from Google Maps.

But the plans we've seen for Poplar Point seem to incorporate that area:

The Howard Road area lies directly between the Anacostia Metro and the rest of Poplar Point. If and when the area is developed into the mixed-use, walkable neighborhood Clark and the DC government envision, the path from Metro to the neighborhood is one of the most important sections.

Fortunately, despite the scary "big box" term the reporter uses, the developers don't seem to be completely oblivious. It sounds like the developers plan mixed-use development that's at least somewhat walkable. Until Poplar Point really gets going, though, big-box retail may be the only viable land use to draw people to what's now a very isolated area amid freeway ramps.

Epperson and Powell are also trying to build something that will gel with the long-term vision Clark and the District have for the rest of Poplar Point... Bereket Selassie, of Clark Realty Capital, said he had been working with Epperson and Powell toward a master plan "that hopefully increases the value of the land to be transferred to the city, as well as the surrounding properties." With a stalled housing market and a growing delay for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s anticipated move to St. Elizabeths Hospital, retail is the best option, Epperson said.

DC hopes to replace the cloverleaf in the top picture above with a narrower urban diamond interchange, freeing up more land for the future neighborhood and shortening the dead space between the Metro station and Poplar Point. If these developers are serious about building a project which fronts onto a pedestrian-friendly street, with parking behind, the project could represent a first real step toward activity in this part of the city. A bad project, on the other hand, could impede the creation of a walkable neighborhood and pin the cloverleaf land between a freeway and a cluster of sprawl. We need to keep a close eye on the evolution of this project.

13 comments

Tags: Anacostia, DC, development, Poplar Point, retail

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The silver lining of the real estate bust (Mar 9, 2009)
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David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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As a soccer fan and urbanist, I just would like to point out that the soccer stadium is pictured with no surface parking lots. The same seems to be true with the big box retail.

We must remember that a use is not bad in and of itself. It is the context of the use. Big Box stores kill walkability if they're surrounded by parking lots. However, our experiences with Best Buy in Tenleytown and Columbia Heights have shown that if done right, they can be a use that attracts more foot traffic and adds to eyes on the street. The same is true of urban stadiums. The big difference between Verizon Center and RFK is that one has acres of surface parking and the other doesn't. The economic and social developments in their respective neighborhoods couldn't be more strikingly different.

by Cavan on Sep 15, 2008 11:25 am • link • report

200K sf is not very big (Home Depot and a small parking lot). Encouraging garage or limited parking would be a positive in terms of generating enough scale to attract shoppers.

by Rich on Sep 15, 2008 12:29 pm • link • report

The Target/Best Buy complex in Columbia Heights seems to be doing pretty well. And generating A LOT of foot traffic on Irving and 14th. Doesn't hurt that it's right on top of the Metro, either. This could work well if planned/executed correctly.

by monkeyrotica on Sep 15, 2008 1:33 pm • link • report

There isn't the kind of demand needed to support big box retail there as well as at Skyland as well as the City Interests project. I am not sure of the nature of the extant big box retail on that side of PG County, but there are incredible amounts of big box retail not too far away in the New Carrollton area and out Central Avenue.

Also note the current retail crash... such as the article in the WSJ last week. The likelihood of people from MD and VA to drive past the same stores and instead come into the city to shop at these types of stores is remote. then again, it isn't my money.

by Richard Layman on Sep 15, 2008 2:03 pm • link • report

Richard- Remember that many of the people shopping out in MD and VA are live in.... DC. This is more about capturing the nearest market rather than relying on those from out of state to come in and shop. I think the bix box retailers that will suffer be the ones in PG, Alexandria, and Fairfax because DC shoppers will no longer have a reason to make the hike out there.

by SG on Sep 15, 2008 2:32 pm • link • report

Decent retail options in that part of PG are incredibly limited. You have to go out to Bowie and Largo to find anything resembling the kind of retail NoVA residents take for granted. It's not a case of big chains muscling out the smaller retailers. The retail in that part of Anacostia is lousy! Ward 8 doesn't even have a single grocery store. A Target/Walmart would go far to provide decent food items and general consumables.

by monkeyrotica on Sep 15, 2008 2:43 pm • link • report

As much as I don't like many big-box store set-ups with all the parking lots, the east side of DC needs better retail. I hope this gets done in a way that strikes a balance between being accessible to people with parking garages and in a mixed-use setting.

by Vik on Sep 15, 2008 3:48 pm • link • report

Richard,

Skyland is only getting one big box -- still undetermined/publicized. Everything else is very out of the way (plus I have Zero desire to ever shop in suburban PG), why I am going to the columbia heights Target tonight..

the area of DC east of the river is very large...

definitely not defending the idea of more big box, but I think you might be surprised at our buying power

by DG-rad on Sep 15, 2008 4:02 pm • link • report

As noted, it's important to distinguish Big Box retailers from Big Box retail. One is a type of store, the other is the form it takes. Many traditional big boxers have been amenable to urban-style designs and locations. Target, Best Buy, and even Home Depot have been open, whereas Walmart and others are not.

Big box form here would be disappointing, but a big box retailer would be a fantastic draw. I'll have to see a rendering to make a judgment.

by Alex B. on Sep 15, 2008 4:53 pm • link • report

There are 580,000 residents in DC. At best that supports a total of 4.35 million s.f. Now that doesn't take into account visitor sales, but they aren't shopping at big boxes here. I'm just saying that there is only so much demand, and the stores out Central Ave. and off the Beltway and/or 450 aren't that far. People from Capitol Hill could maybe be enticed instead of going to Alexandria. But maybe not.

by Richard Layman on Sep 15, 2008 5:43 pm • link • report

Richard, if developers know one thing, it's money. They can't build stuff like that on spec, they need tenants at least penciled in. And to get that kind of agreement in place, there's more than a little market research going on.

Poplar Point has great potential. It has Metro access. It sits adjacent to a freeway exit. It sits at one end of a massive choke point (the Douglass bridge) to enter and exit the downtown core of DC. It terminates the Suitland parkway.

There are a lot of negatives, but the potential for that site in general is sky high. Frankly, shooting beyond the immediate neighborhood is not a bad thing for the initial phase of such a development. Get people down there and get them comfortable with the area.

by Alex B. on Sep 15, 2008 6:22 pm • link • report

It has taken the City so long to do nothing on this project. The economy is in such misery, I don't think anyone will want to invest in a new business venture in such an untested market. The longer the City takes, the less likely this thing is successful.

by Willardo DuPont on Sep 15, 2008 7:15 pm • link • report

Well even with the economy blaring, one third of this project wouldn't be done in the next two years, and we might find 2011 quite open to urban growth. If they build these big anchor retailers in a healthy, good-practices manner, they might help get people to come and see the future neighborhood and at least put it on the map, like Pentagon City.

From a design perspective, this gives the city time to muck around with the plan to see what trends are shaping the needs for the area.

by The King of Spain on Sep 15, 2008 9:31 pm • link • report