Ye Olde Public Market: Mixed-Use Development Project in DC to Save a Piece of the Past
By Caitlin Jones
2 min read
Tax Credit Advisor — July 2012 — In the late 19th century in the District of Columbia, when local political giant Alexander “Boss” Shepherd pushed an array of public works projects to enhance the city’s image, Washingtonians had their choice of several public markets where they could shop vendor stalls for fresh foods and meat as well as socialize. These included the Central Market, located where the National Archives now stands; the Western Market in Georgetown, now a Dean & Deluca gourmet food store; Eastern Market on Capitol Hill, which was renovated and still operates; the Northern Liberties Market at Mount Vernon Square, which is no longer around; and the O Street Market in the Shaw neighborhood, which is about to get a facelift. The last is being restored for its original purpose as part of a massive $360 million urban infill project being undertaken by Roadside Development LLC, a Washington, D.C. real estate firm and developer that specializes in mixed-use projects. The remaining walls and 85-foot corner tower of the brick historic O Street Market building, which was heavily damaged by a 2003 snowstorm that caused the roof to collapse, will be incorporated into an 82,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Giant Food supermarket. It will replace a small aged Giant grocery store that stood on the site until it was closed and demolished in 2011. The new supermarket is but one element of a one million-square-foot mixed-use development being constructed on the site, called CityMarket at O.
