As much as I know, I don't know enough (real estate division)

The "Blue Castle," across from the Navy Yard, is home to three charter schools. The site is to be developed by Preferred Real Estate Investments. 100,000 sf. $20 million purchase price. (Photo by Larry Morris -- The Washington Post). For a larger version of this photo, see the link below.

Duncan Spencer reports in his Hillscape column in today's The Hill that the developer of the "Blue Castle" the old trolley barn across from the Navy Yard at M and 8th Streets SE, currently used for charter schools, but about to be redeveloped into retail, has landed Whole Foods and a national bookstore retailer (clearly either Borders or Barnes & Noble).

This will further transform 8th Street SE. I always have said that the area below the freeway is worthless. Clearly, that's merely an indicator of my lack of imagination. You get "the right" developer with the right contacts with premier national retail companies and it's a completely different situation.

Contrast this with the coming of Dunkin Donuts at the other end of the corridor at another gateway, 8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE. I like Dunkin Donuts (they have good coffee), but clearly I like a good bookstore or supermarket even better. Clearly Preferred Real Estate Investments Inc. has better contacts.

And this kind of quality retail will likely get all the office workers in the contractor buildings along M Street SE and the people within the Navy Yard out onto the street to shop. In fact, now the southern most part of 8th Street SE will be the hopping retail part instead of the northern (north of the freeway section).

Also see this article from the Post from last December, "Developer Buys 'Blue Castle' in Southeast."

Index Keywords: real-estate