Georgetown Park

Georgetown Park is a shopping mall and condominium complex in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Shops at Georgetown Park are located at 3222 M Street, NW.

History

The first phase of the complex opened in 1981. Parts of the structure predate 1838 when it was used as a tobacco warehouse that opened up directly onto the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. [ [http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/dc/dc0000/dc0046/data/002.tif Historic American Buildings Survey, Canal Warehouse description (DC-144), Page 1 (retrieved Sep 11, 2008)] .] In the 1850s, the building was purchased by John E. Reeside and Gilbert Vanderwerken and converted into stables for their omnibus line. The building continued to be used as stables for the first horsecar line, the Washington and Georgetown Railroad. It was later converted into a machine shop for streetcars. The parts of the building that face the canal and the facade of the M Street entrance remain from those earlier periods. After the demise of Washington's streetcars in 1962, the building served as the United States Defense Communications Annex E before being converted to its current use. [ [http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/dc/dc0000/dc0046/data/003.tif Historic American Buildings Survey, Canal Warehouse description (DC-144), Page 2 (retrieved Sep 11, 2008)] .]

The Shops at Georgetown Park

In 1975, Donohue Construction Co., in partnership with Western Development Corp., acquired the historic site to develop as a combined shopping and housing complex. One engineering magazine called it the most complicated construction job on the East Coast. The project involved preserving the 100-plus year old facade on Wisconsin Avenue; building a 300-space underground parking garage into solid rock; and adding superstructure to the 10-foot thick, 35-foot high canal wall. Upscale features of the building included wood-floored hallways, a block-long skylight with cast-iron braces, brass and glass elevators, and hand-built oak kiosks. Construction costs came to $50 million for the retail center, $25 million for the condominiums, and $20 million for store interiors and fixtures.

The Canal House opened as the first phase of the project in 1980, with a Conran's homegoods store topped by 35 condominiums. At opening of the second phase on September 27, 1981, the "shopping park" had 100 stores and 128 condominiums. Original stores included the first East Coast branch of Abercrombie & Fitch, a small branch of Garfinckel's, Ann Taylor, and Scan Furniture. Among the stores opening Washington branches were Davisons of Bermuda, a women's high-fashion shop from Miami; Le Vogue, a Richmond-based women's wear store; Le Sac, a New Orleans-based boutique; Senor David, a New York retailer of Italian menswear; Mark Cross, the leather goods store; and Godiva Chocolatier. The shopping park was deliberately designed not to have a major anchor store. ["Georgetown Gets 'Shopping Park'," by Jerry Knight, "The Washington Post", Sep 27, 1981, p. H1.]

On September 10, 2008, Bloomingdales announced plans to open a three-level, 82,000 square foot anchor store at The Shops by August 2011. The store is reported to be modeled after the chain's concept store in New York's SoHo neighborhood to carry select contemporary men's and women's apparel. With this annoucement, Western Development Corp., which continues to own the property, believes Georgetown Park will become "the highest fashion and trend center in the whole Washington area." ["Bloomingdale's to Come to Georgetown Mall," by Ylan Q. Mui, "The Washington Post", Sep 11, 2008, p. D4.]

References

External links

* [http://www.shopsatgeorgetownpark.com The Shops at Georgetown Park]
* [http://www.georgetownparkcondos.com/ Georgetown Park Condominiums]