Harris Teeter Leases at Constitution Square in NoMa, Washington, D.C.

[Luke_Wilbur]

 

Harris Teeter will open a 50,000 square foot full-service grocery store in the rapidly emerging NoMa (north of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhood of Washington, D.C., under a 20-year lease announced today by StonebridgeCarras. The upscale North Carolina-based grocery chain will locate at Constitution Square, a mixed-use complex located directly west of the New York Avenue Metro station in the heart of NoMa. The store, located at the corner of First and M Streets, N.E., is scheduled to open in the winter of 2010/2011.

 

Constitution Square, under development by affiliates of StonebridgeCarras of Bethesda, MD and Walton Street Capital of Chicago, IL, was recently selected for a 521,000 square foot 15-year lease for the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). This lease announcement came a day after NPR announced its decision to relocate its headquarters to 1111 North Capitol Street, N.E. in NoMa.

 

Constitution Square’s first phase of development, scheduled to break ground in April and deliver in 2010, will total 1.6 million SF and include the Harris Teeter Store; Two Constitution Square with 589,000 SF, 88 percent of which will be occupied by the Department of Justice; the 340,000 SF One Constitution Square speculative office development; a residential building with 440 apartments; and 30,000 square feet of additional retail space.

 

The KLNB Retail team of Cary Judd and Melissa Lower Welch represented Harris Teeter in the lease transaction. JBG Rosenfeld Retail is the leasing agent for the balance of the Constitution Square retail space. SK&I Architectural Group of Bethesda, MD is the architect for the retail and residential components of Constitution Square.

 

A key aspect of completing this transaction was the District's commitment to provide a tax incentive to assist with the cost of providing 150 parking spaces for the Harris Teeter store. The Constitution Square Economic Development Act of 2008 was passed by the District of Columbia Council in January, 2008 and signed into law on January 29, 2008 by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.

 

"We talk a lot about the importance of building dynamic new neighborhoods -- and NoMa is Exhibit A," said Mayor Fenty. "First NPR, then the Justice Department, and now a high-end, full- service grocery store -- all within a few feet of a Metrorail station. It’s clear now that NoMa is no longer just a plan – it’s a reality.”

 

"The vision of NoMa is a true mixed-use environment – combining office, retail, and residential uses to create a neighborhood out of a former industrial warehouse center,” commented StonebridgeCarras Principal Doug Firstenberg. “To truly accomplish that vision requires a great grocery store. Harris Teeter simply represents the best grocer to help us create this neighborhood. We greatly appreciate the District’s support with enactment of special legislation to address the challenges of providing the right plan and parking necessary to attract a quality store such as Harris Teeter to an urban location."

 

"Harris Teeter has been studying the NoMa market for the past several years,” noted Harris Teeter President Fred Morganthall. “We found that Constitution Square's mixed-use plan provides the type of urban location where we can provide an outstanding grocery store and become an

integral member of this emerging commercial and residential community."

 

Morgenthall added: "To create a 50,000 square foot store on a single level is highly unusual at the hub of a burgeoning urban area like NoMa. The combination of the location, the quality of the Constitution Square development, and the floor plan of the store will allow us to bring all of the best aspects of Harris Teeter stores to NoMa, such as our Fresh Foods Market, Fisherman's Market, and Farmer's Market."

 

“Our shared vision for NoMa has been a mixed-use, walkable, livable community that enhances the quality of life for the existing residents while also attracting new residents to this growing area,” noted District of Columbia Council Member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), whose Ward includes Constitution Square. “A critical component to achieving this vision is having an easily accessible full service grocery store. Bringing Harris Teeter to Constitution Square and NoMa fulfills this key need.”

 

“The District needs to carefully target its investment in development projects that will both meet the needs of our citizens as well as provide a reasonable return on our investment,” said Council Member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who co-sponsored the Constitution Square legislation. “At Constitution Square, the District has been able to help secure a Harris Teeter grocery store that will meet the needs of our current citizens and help attract new residents, and already has been instrumental in attracting the Department of Justice and NPR to NoMa.”

 

"It is quite unique for a high-end, full-service grocery store like Harris Teeter to commit to a new store so early in the development of an emerging neighborhood,” said Elizabeth Price, President of the NoMa Business Improvement District. “You just have to look at how grocery stores have transformed neighborhoods in other parts of the District to realize the significance of this lease.”

 

NoMa is an emerging mixed-use neighborhood north of the U.S. Capitol and Union Station in Washington DC. Private developers have invested approximately $1.5 billion to date with plans to develop over 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space in the area covered by the NoMa BID over the next 10 years. The BID provides daily street and sidewalk cleaning, safety ambassadors, marketing, events, and other services to make NoMa a clean, safe, and vibrant neighborhood for businesses, residents, and visitors. For more information about the BID, including an interactive development map, see the BID Website at

 

http://www.nomabid.org.