The quiet community is an often sought after, seldom attained dynamic in any major city...and the District is no different. The communities surrounding Ft. Totten have been one of these rare species, and are now facing extinction straight in the face. The
announcement that Wamart is moving ahead with a bold plan to open six locations in the District, one of which will anchor the
Ft. Totten Square Development, will certainly usher in a new community dynamic. The
often controversial box store giant's plan will add some 1,600 jobs in the district and create almost 600 construction jobs in the process. The Ft. Totten location will occupy most of the first floor of the Ft. Totten Square project and sit below some 350 apartments along Riggs Rd, NE.
Much of the community seems split regarding the planned development, and this will surely fuel the fire for both sides. While the neighborhood will surely be faced with all manner of city planning and public safety issues, this announcement will surely add a turbo booster to the stagnent
Ft. Totten Square project and help bloster not only jobs but also increase property values. Regardless of the stance, this unexpected announcement looks to be moving ahead...at what speed and where the speed bumps lie are still unknown.
8 comments:
So far, it seems most people I have talked to have mixed feelings. As stated, it will definitely help move all the development plans forward, but at the same time, it's the biggest of big boxes. Should be interesting to see what it brings with it (retail and otherwise) and what it plows over (I think the Giant on Riggs will take a huge blow). Wish there was a time frame, as that would have been helpful. Hickok Cole (architect) did do a nice job though, and we could have definitely been much worse off (ie, just a big blue Walmart box).
While not my first choice, I believe Walmart will bring a positive commercial development to the area. Retailing is sorely needed in this neighborhood, and while I would have rather seen a Target for the sake of variety, Walmart should jump start some activity.
KMart on Sargent Road will take the biggest blow. The Giant on Riggs Road will survive. Fort Totten needs more than that 7-Eleven at the Metro. I like the fact that it will be close to the Metro which is much better than trying to get to the Walmart on New York Avenue.
TTL, in what world does Walmart increase property values in a neighborhood? My issue with this proposal is that it will be a 120,000 sq ft supercenter. Originally, the developer stated it was targeting a grocer anchor with a footprint of anywhere from 50,000-85,000 sq ft, with ancillary retail on the order of sit-down restaurants and gourmet fast casual. Now with this supercenter, where do you put any ancillary retail? And even if there is ancillary retail, who wants to come in with Walmart? We'll end up with a restaurant like Applebee's. Walmart/Applebee's together do not increase property values.
To be clear, I didn't buy my home last year with the expectation that any development in the neighborhood would increase property value. I wanted a place to live, not an ATM, so I'm actually not concerned with seeing the value of my home go up. But saying that having a Walmart in the neighborhood will increase property value is a little absurd.
In some ways though, having this huge store might be a good thing, b/c now maybe the Cafritz development will actually bring restaurants and other retail instead of trying to get a grocer as well. Or maybe we'll live many more years with a roped off vacant apartment building now that Walmart is in the neighborhood.
@Uchenna, I'm not going to get into a flame war with you. But if you are buying a house in a neighborhood where there are several planned developments and they are not going to increase property value...why did you buy it? As a 10 year resident, I am personally 50-50 on this announcement. While the ultimate benifit or detraction is yet to be known, the fact that this will for sure speed along the development of a MAJOR eye sore and bring some economic feesability to these projects (and like you said attract other businesses) is a good thing...
JoeF, no flame war intended. I bought in this neighborhood with the intention of staying a very long time. My comment was really addressing the statement about increasing property value, and we just disagree on that. I could have left it as "I disagree with that statement," instead of saying it was absurd, so fair point.
I do care about having quality development and retail in the neighborhood and fully recognize that while I do not personally patronize any Walmart stores for several reasons (and have issues with the political climate that would welcome 6 Walmarts with more still to come in the city), there are plenty of people in the neighborhood who are excited about the development, and if development can offer retail for some people, that's a good thing. This developer has a decent reputation for building quality development, so on balance I'm not thrilled, but I'm fine b/c at least there is other development slated, which will hopefully get financing soon.
I do recognize that the last sentence of my last message might have read as snarky, which is not what I intended. There is concern on the part of other developers about the viability of retail that can co-exist with a Walmart.
I recently bought a house in the neighborhood. I purchased my home with the understanding that this development was taking place. I am 50-50 as well about the WalMart. Of course I want retail and if a WalMart speeds up the construction process- than that's awesome. However, a WalMart supercenter would be massive and likely take up space for additional retail. I feel that we definitely need some restaurants and other types of retail in the neighborhood. As long as their is space for more than just the WalMart then I'll be ok with it. As of now though, I think I would be much happeir with a higher-end grocery such as Whole Foods and perhaps 2-3 small restaurants that I could frequent, and maybe some kind of other retail store.
I don't know much about the Cafritz development plans though. I would welcome some infomation on that one. Maybe that development could provide more restaurants/retail options.
I have an emphatic "Noooo!" to the Walmart argument. While I appreciate the benefit a megacenter may bring to the city in taxable revenue and jobs, it's a near monopoly that will run out all the fantastic little business in surrounding neighborhood which will diminish jobs as well. Not to mention it's just a source of cheap crap. I don't miss living in Newport News, VA where I grew up in a Walmart-super center-centric city. Give me a grocery like Wegmans or Harris Teeter and a handful for boutique type shops. A good coffee shop. A good pho spot. And a good sub/pizza shop and I'll be thrilled.
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