Neighborhood Notes - Foxhall: 4 October, 2000
This week Home Depot announced it will not develop the former
Sears/Hechinger building at Tenleytown, citing constraints on the building envelope,
deliveries and parking making it just unworkable as a full-size store.
Also announced was a brand-new 23-acre development in
North-East, anchored by a K-Mart and Giant, and possibly Home Depot. While loss of Home
Depot at Tenleytown is a concern, perhaps in this market a smaller, more focused store
would be more appropriate, leaving out displays of kitchens and bathrooms, leaving yard
plants to nursery companies, and omitting the lumber yard.
If this sounds impracticable, ask Strosniders, who just
cloned their successful Bethesda hardware store into Silver Spring. In fact, the
Tenleytown building might be too big for that kind of store! Another idea (from Sally
Fallon in Palisades) is a joint project at the MacArthur shopping center - ask Safeway to
expand their current store (smallest Safeway in the U.S) at grade while turning the rear
lot into a multi-story garage AND at the same time adding a second floor hardware store,
directly accessible from the upper garage level.
You might ask, well what about the Tenleytown building?
Why not let it become a City Services West Center, as D.C. just did creating an East
Center in Penn-Branch. The Tenleytown building is right on top of a Metro station, so is
readily accessible from all over. One reason we lack good parking enforcement on this side
of the city is the lack of public facilities for parking attendants to even use the
restroom! While in the short-term surely Georgetown BID could step up to the plate in this
regard, longer-term having enforcement and services staff for e.g. DCRA, DPW, DMV and DCPR
based closer to residents should have a positive effect in city follow-through.
© Bob
Andrew, Foxhall
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