For the purposes of this post, the western section is defined as the area starting on the northern side of Florida Avenue, NE by 3rd Street, going over to 4th Street, and then running up the western side of 4th Street until Penn Street. You can view our interactive map here (note: this is not perfectly drawn to scale and does not perfectly reflect lot lines, etc). The properties are colored by owner; the color purple indicates that the property is not owned by one of the large development companies.
Union Market Western Section
The western section of Union Market is the area most likely to see significant changes soon. This area has several large warehouse buildings that are either owned by major developers or are for sale currently. Plans have already been announced for three of these parcels, and one will break ground soon.
Before moving on to individual properties, it is important that we provide some background context on Edens, the company that operates the new Union Market building and that owns much of the land in the area. Edens, a South Carolina company, specializes in large retail projects across the United States. They usually focus on retail, but many of their projects include large portions of residential or office space. Some of their nearby projects include Jenkins Row in Southeast and the Mosaic District in Fairfax. Edens completely renovated the Union Market building and has a vision for how to revitalize the entire area that includes significant housing and food-oriented retail. The company also has the money to buy properties and redevelop them quickly; the company got a $1.5 billion investment late last year and, according to The Washington Post, plans to expand the value of the properties in its portfolio from $4 billion to $7 billion.
Now for the specific properties, beginning in the southwest corner on Florida Avenue (view interactive map here):
320 and 350 Florida Avenue
- 320 Florida Avenue (green on map): this land is currently occupied by a Burger King but was purchased by Level 2 (Level 2 is working on the residential aspect of Edens’s 1270 4th Street project). The company plans around 200 apartments and retail for the space but has yet to file formal plans.
- 350 Florida Avenue (red on map), Gateway Market: this lot starts on Florida Avenue and moves up 4th Street. The land is currently empty. The land was purchased by Edens after it had already gone through the zoning process under different ownership (the Choi Family, also major landowners in the area, previously owned it), and Edens recently modified the plans. Now Gateway Market will feature 170-216 residential units, including 20% affordable housing, and will also have major retail space on the ground floor. Edens initially had planned to break ground this year but has now stated that it will be early next year.
After Gateway Market, imagine turning left down Morse Street and walking to the end of the street (view interactive map here):
300 and 350 Morse Street
- 300 Morse Street (yellow on map): this major warehouse property is currently for sale.
- 350 Morse Street (turquoise on map): D.C. titan Douglas Development purchased this warehouse last year for $14.5 million. No plans have been announced yet for the property.
Retrace your steps on Morse Street and turn left down 4th Street heading north and looking to the western side of the street (view interactive map here):
- 1250 4th Street (red on map): Edens owns this corner unit that is isolated from the larger Edens property at 1270 4th Street. No announced plans.
- 1252 4th Street (purple on map): this inline unit is owned by an independent owner and separates two Edens properties.
- 1270 4th Street (red on map): this property is currently a large warehouse (Washington Cash & Carry) but is owned by Edens. The company is currently going through the permitting process but is planning a large residential (apartments) building with major retail on the first and second floors. At a recent Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting, Edens revealed that they have a major culinary retail tenant for this space.
- Parking lot, 1340 4th Street, 1344 4th Street (purple on map): the parking lot and the two adjacent buildings are owned by independent owners.
- 1346 4th Street (red on map): Edens owns this building and has announced that Masseria–an Italian restaurant by former Bibiana chef Nick Stefanelli–will be opening there in summer 2015.
- 1348 4th Street (purple on map): this property is currently a PNC Bank and was previously a Riggs Bank.
- 301 New York Avenue (purple on map): the space behind these properties (to the west) on New York Avenue is currently a U-Store Self Storage
In the next post, we will examine the future development of the middle section of Union Market.
Special thanks to Washington Business Journal for their previous reporting on the real estate deals in Union Market and to ANC 6C 06 Commissioner Tony Goodman for his help in answering questions about the area.
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