What's the latest news about the Mosaic District? (Reston, Williamsburg: apartment, leasing)

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by FC Merrifield

First, I was making a joke, hence the sarcasm. Second, you have no idea what you're talking about if you think stores like South Moon Under, Neiman Marcus, and Lou Lou are small retailers.

Nieman is hipster?

[bmwguydc]

It is not a regular Neiman Marcus at Merrifield, but a Last Call. It's not the same target demo as the main store, upscale outlet, but not a stand alone Neiman Marcus. It looks good, but I wonder about the traffic on Gallows and Lee as the intersection is improved, but with all the new trips, it could make for an intersection that will remain congested.

As to pedestrians, the development itself is friendly, but the surrounding roads will need improvement, depending upon what is next to develop on adjacent parcels.

[FC Merrifield]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

Nieman is hipster?

Nope, at least not that I know of. But I'm sure they'll sell expensive scarves.

Sigh. I was just making a joke that the stores tend to sell expensive accessories. And then I mentioned Neiman's specifically as a store that would sell such items, but is hardly a small retailer. As mentioned above, this Neiman's is actually an outlet store so they will be selling stuff that were in the regular store last season.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by FC Merrifield

Nope, at least not that I know of. But I'm sure they'll sell expensive scarves.

Sigh. I was just making a joke that the stores tend to sell expensive accessories. And then I mentioned Neiman's specifically as a store that would sell such items, but is hardly a small retailer. As mentioned above, this Neiman's is actually an outlet store so they will be selling stuff that were in the regular store last season.

I gotcha.

The word "hipster" is used to such an extent as an all around attack word, with so many different meanings (folks with tight jeans who drink PBR? any young educated person who lives in a city? anyone with aesthetic preferences vis a vis walking or architecture?, etc) some of us are sensitized to it.

[FC Merrifield]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

I gotcha.

The word "hipster" is used to such an extent as an all around attack word, with so many different meanings (folks with tight jeans who drink PBR? any young educated person who lives in a city? anyone with aesthetic preferences vis a vis walking or architecture?, etc) some of us are sensitized to it.

I see. I had no idea that the word was insulting and personally don't consider it that way. I guess I just view it as a word to describe a current (well somewhat current) trend. But if I HAD to describe it, I would also add black plastic-rimmed glasses, a knit cap, woven scarf, and vintage shirt.

[Do a Barrel Roll]

The hipsters aren't what I would be concerned about. This Mosaic District seems more marketed to the popped-collar, G-Town bar-hopping, preppie/yuppie Rosslyn-Ballston corridor crowd. Which is a shame, since I'm sure there are at least a few more young people beside myself who can't stand the yuppie/preppy/hipster snobbery and douchebaggery that tends to come with every urbanized neighborhood within DC and the inner beltway towns, but don't want to be stuck in a typical suburban environment to escape smug. Fairfax County can make a killing attracting these young people (like myself) who want to live the urbanized lifestyle but with more of a modest down-to-earth middle class vibe. Rockville Town Center, and to a lesser extent, Reston Town Center, are the closest examples of this, but those are more of the exceptions than the norm.

[brooklynborndad]

The public sector can influence the physical shape of development, but the details of retail are certaily in the sphere of the private sector.

as long as TOD is scarce and priced at a premium, its going to be marketed to those with high incomes, and with the greatest need/desire to be in a high density area. Thats only like to change when TOD becomes less scarce, because we provide more of it. The new TOD will still not be cheap (because new multifamily housing is relatively costly to build, even after we reduce the location premium) but older high density housing stock (now priced high due to demand by slightly less affluent folks priced out of the new stuff) should become more affordable.

[tysonsengineer]

Theres nothing that says it will be only upper middle class aimed stores. I dont really want to get into a fight about this, but that corridor has always been a bastion for ethnic and diverse small businesses, and there is nothing in the way Mosaic is being done that will change that fabric. Will they start off as partial anchor stores in order to create a solid retail core and recoup cost? Yes, thats the case with anything that is new, money doesnt grow on trees and developers need to be paid back for the hundreds in millions they put in; hence the target and high end retailers.

I am still against the target (as I am with "high end retailers" that sell cheap goods like Bulova etc at ridiculous markups), seeing as there is one all of 3 miles away on route 50 at 7 corners. They are magnets for traffic havoc, they discourage walking for shopping inherently in their nature, and they use up the same space as 30 small businesses that could be doing the same type of sales and keeping that money circulating in our region instead of in the hands of a multi-national corporation that has no affiliation here. When you buy from local stores that dollar you spend is recycled 75 times more than buying from mega-stores. And yes, small businesses DO sell better goods because their reputation is everything. One upset customer could mean their entire business goes under from bad word of mouth.

If supporting someone who is actually a member of our society, running a store in this model, is being a hipster then hand me a pair of those idiotic glasses and cotton scarves and start calling me a hipster I suppose.

[FC Merrifield]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

Theres nothing that says it will be only upper middle class aimed stores. I dont really want to get into a fight about this, but that corridor has always been a bastion for ethnic and diverse small businesses, and there is nothing in the way Mosaic is being done that will change that fabric. Will they start off as partial anchor stores in order to create a solid retail core and recoup cost? Yes, thats the case with anything that is new, money doesnt grow on trees and developers need to be paid back for the hundreds in millions they put in; hence the target and high end retailers.

I am still against the target (as I am with "high end retailers" that sell cheap goods like Bulova etc at ridiculous markups), seeing as there is one all of 3 miles away on route 50 at 7 corners. They are magnets for traffic havoc, they discourage walking for shopping inherently in their nature, and they use up the same space as 30 small businesses that could be doing the same type of sales and keeping that money circulating in our region instead of in the hands of a multi-national corporation that has no affiliation here. When you buy from local stores that dollar you spend is recycled 75 times more than buying from mega-stores. And yes, small businesses DO sell better goods because their reputation is everything. One upset customer could mean their entire business goes under from bad word of mouth.

If supporting someone who is actually a member of our society, running a store in this model, is being a hipster then hand me a pair of those idiotic glasses and cotton scarves and start calling me a hipster I suppose.

Look, I actually like Mosaic and am excited about it. My point was that it seems like most of the stores were high end/trendy so it would be nice to mix in some other types of stores as well. But you seemed to take my comment as an attack on small local businesses (which they are not) and support for multinational conglomerates. At this point, Target seems to be the only store in the development selling clothes at a moderate price range. If there was a way to keep those prices through small local businesses then I'd be all for it. But it seems like if Target wasn't there, I bet the space would go to similar retailers like Anthropologie, and not local small businesses. Sometimes people just want a t-shirt for 10 bucks and only Target would provide that in Mosaic.

I'm not necessarily against the high end stores in Mosaic either. Whether it's high end or moderate, I would just like to see more choices.

[brooklynborndad]

new construction is costly - I guess this applies to retail as well. So the retailers going in are mostly going to high end, or chains with very "efficient" supply chains. Cheap indie stores (which I guess would draw the kind of people I think the word "hipster" applies to better) thrive where aging real estate means lower commercial rents. Its simply not possible to build actual old buildings from scratch. So you can wait till these new developments age, or you can go to the neighborhoods that can accommodate cheaper indie stores.

As for Target, it seems to be that for better or worse large chain discount stores are part of our retail picture for some time. WRT to development, I will judge each store by its layout, ped friendly or not, and its results. I wouldnt assume the Mosaic Target will have the same modal mix as other Targets (similarly I will judge each of the new DC Walmarts on their own) As for labor and sourcing practices, I am concerned about those, but I see them as seperate issues.

As a matter of urbanism you could establish rules to encourage more small stores, but I think FCM is correct, in a new development like this that would mean more high end stores.