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This should go a long way to urbanizing these fringe area's of D.C. coming into the city! From an urban planning perspective, this is a huge win for D.C. Walmart is coming whether we like it or not, but it needs to be built to urban form and now all 6 will be! Two of them will have apartments above them. Two will have apartments built into the mixed use town center. Two will be street fronting and urban with retail but without apartments.
I wonder who will move into the apartments. Given the lower desirability of that auto-centric / industrial area, seems like a great opportunity to provide lower or middle income new housing instead of more luxury condos. A few more similar developments could make this area a functionally nice gateway at some point with such easy access to the highways and the Arboretum right there.
It's been interesting watching these big box stores that made their name during the heyday of sprawl try to figure out how to follow the money into urban environments emerging in both cities and suburbs. Target's certainly been a great asset for the city, though it seems pretty bold to bring 6 Wal-Marts in at once. Seems like they should test the waters first but they no doubt have the data that supports it.
I wonder who will move into the apartments. Given the lower desirability of that auto-centric / industrial area, seems like a great opportunity to provide lower or middle income new housing instead of more luxury condos. A few more similar developments could make this area a functionally nice gateway at some point with such easy access to the highways and the Arboretum right there.
It's been interesting watching these big box stores that made their name during the heyday of sprawl try to figure out how to follow the money into urban environments emerging in both cities and suburbs. Target's certainly been a great asset for the city, though it seems pretty bold to bring 6 Wal-Marts in at once. Seems like they should test the waters first but they no doubt have the data that supports it.
The New York Ave. location will not have apartments. It will be a mixed use location similar to DC USA in Columbia Heights. The developers want it to be DC USA of the east as they say. It will be two floors and provide an urban format like DC USA. The East Capitol location will have apartments though which is right across from a metro station.
I think these will be major draws for PG county Maryland. The New York Ave. and East Capitol location's are right on the line with Maryland and will be heavily used by Maryland residents. That is a nice change from D.C. tax dollars going out to the suburbs. It's about time Maryland residents started buying in D.C. instead of the other way around.
That's cool. Wal-Marts do take away from small businesses. On the other hand, they are needed in the urban environment. If they are urban-friendly (lacking the massive parking lots), and are built with apartments above them, and everything else. It sounds great!
When I lived in NYC and SF, there were a lot of things I simply didn't know where to go to get, and I found myself taking advantage of a Wal-Mart out in the middle of nowhere, just so I can find what I needed to find.
That's cool. Wal-Marts do take away from small businesses. On the other hand, they are needed in the urban environment. If they are urban-friendly (lacking the massive parking lots), and are built with apartments above them, and everything else. It sounds great!
When I lived in NYC and SF, there were a lot of things I simply didn't know where to go to get, and I found myself taking advantage of a Wal-Mart out in the middle of nowhere, just so I can find what I needed to find.
The only good thing is that these Wal-Marts are coming to areas of DC that are almost totally devoid of commerce, be it small or big businesses. I am against Wal-Mart coming into small towns and driving family shops out of business, but in this case, I think it's great that a big retailer is finally taking an interest in a part of DC that isn't NW, and the location near the Maryland border is very smart and strategic from a taxing perspective.
Wondering how these things will age. What happens when people are living atop a huge shuttered store?
Has a Walmart ever shuttered? Serious question.....
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