Downtown D.C. is anticipating the 2003 arrival of a major destination with the new Gallery Place (map, #9).
The $225 million mixed-use project broke ground in July 2001. Gallery Place spans 640,000 sq. ft. and will house a 14-plex stadium-style theater, 200,000 sq. ft. of retail space, 180,000 sq. ft. of office space, 65,000 sq. ft. of entertainment space, 193 apartments and 650 new parking spaces.
Downtown has experienced a rebirth with a growing number of people choosing to live downtown, notes Herb Miller, chairman of Washington, D.C.-based Western Development Corp. Western is developing Gallery Place in conjunction with The John Akridge Companies.
Gallery Place will be a key anchor to the revitalization occurring along the 7th Street Corridor. Located on 7th between G and H streets, Gallery Place is in close proximity to a unique mix of cultural and entertainment attractions including 50 museums and 300 historic landmarks. Gallery Place has 70 restaurants within a six-block radius, and the project sits directly above one of the city's major Metrorail hubs — Gallery Place/Chinatown.
A 65,000-sq.-ft. Jillians will serve as the entertainment anchor, and developers are negotiating with a variety of name-brand tenants to fill the remaining 200,000 sq. ft. of retail space. “We are currently working with several destination fashion and shoe retailers that are world renowned,” Miller says. “The idea is to have a critical mass of several of these retailers.”