Background Parts of the structure predate 1838 when it was used as a tobacco warehouse that opened up directly onto the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In the 1850s, the building was purchased by John E. Reeside and
Gilbert Vanderwerken and converted into stables for their
omnibus line. The building continued to be used as stables for the first
horsecar line, the
Washington and Georgetown Railroad. It was later converted into a machine shop for streetcars. The parts of the building that face the canal and the facade of the M Street entrance remain from those earlier periods. After the demise of
Washington's streetcars in 1962, the building served as the
United States Defense Communications Annex E before being converted to its current use.
1975–1981: Development and opening In 1975, Donohoe Construction Company – in a
joint venture with
Western Development Corporation – acquired the historic site to develop as a combined shopping and housing complex, known as
The Shops at Georgetown Park. The project involved preserving the 100-plus year old facade on Wisconsin Avenue; building a 300-space underground parking garage into solid rock; and adding superstructure to the thick, high canal wall. Upscale features of the building included wood-floored hallways, a block-long
skylight with cast-iron braces, brass and glass elevators, and hand-built oak kiosks. Construction costs came to $50 million for the retail center, $25 million for the condominiums, and $20 million for store interiors and fixtures. The Canal House opened as the first phase of the project in 1980, with a
Conran's homegoods store topped by 35 condominiums. At opening of the second phase on September 27, 1981, the "shopping park" had 100 stores and 128 condominiums. Original stores included the first East Coast branch of
Abercrombie & Fitch, a 16,000-square-foot branch of
Garfinckel's,
Ann Taylor, and
Scan Furniture. Among the stores opening Washington branches were Davisons of Bermuda, a women's high-fashion shop from
Miami; La Vogue, a
Richmond-based women's wear store; Le Sac, a
New Orleans–based boutique; Senor David, a
New YorkNew York retailer of Italian menswear; a Linea Pitti tailor shop;
Mark Cross, the leather goods store; and
Godiva Chocolatier. The shopping park was deliberately designed not to have a major anchor store., suing EastBanc and Lanier personally for malicious filing. Chez Mama-San and
Sharper Image closed in 2007 and June 2008, respectively. On September 10, 2008,
Bloomingdale's announced plans to open a three-level, anchor store at The Shops by August 2011. The store was to be modeled after the chain's concept store in New York's
SoHo neighborhood to carry select contemporary men's and women's apparel. With this announcement, Western believed Georgetown Park would become "the highest fashion and trend center in the whole Washington area"; however, the deal fell through in the summer of 2009 due to the ongoing legal dispute with EastBanc. In the autumn of that year, Western defaulted on a loan worth at least $70 million, and the property went into
foreclosure. In February 2010, only 47 independent stores were still in operation. The vacancy rate had risen to 56% by April 2010.
2010–2020: Redevelopment as Georgetown Park In June 2010, the property was purchased out of foreclosure by
Vornado Realty Trust and investment firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. for $61 million. Following the sale, Vornado began plans to redevelop the failing mall, and in September 2011, they began forcing remaining tenants out and refusing to renew leases. Historic independent boutiques and specialty shops were pushed out in massive waves. On September 4, 2012, The Shops at Georgetown Park was officially closed from the public, and was slated for heavy interior demolition. The redevelopment would significantly reduce the number of tenants from over 130 at its peak to just 15, and only a small handful of businesses with exclusive exterior access remained. Georgetown Park had a grand reopening in the spring of 2013, adding discount retailers which continued to open throughout January 2014. This included
HomeGoods,
DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and
TJ Maxx. Instead of trying to pull people inside the shopping center or compete with high-fashion boutiques, many of the new stores had exclusive exterior entrances, and the building's floor plan was updated to feature large-format tenants. In November 2013,
H&M opened in the center, and was the first location in the U.S. to sell home goods. The general contractor of the renovation was DAVIS Construction. In February 2014, Pinstripes Bowling & Bocce, a
bowling venue and restaurant, had its grand opening. Vornado Realty Trust put the center up for sale in May 2014.
Jamestown L.P. of
Atlanta, Georgia acquired the center in August 2014 for $272.5 million, and renovations were finished at a cost of $80 million. The name has since been simplified to
Georgetown Park.
Forever 21 opened at the center in January 2015 at 10:00 a.m. EST. Forever 21 later expanded in April 2016, taking over the former H&M space. In October 2019, Forever 21 announced that it would close over 180 stores nationwide after filing for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Georgetown Park location was included in the mass closure. Washington Sports Club (WSC) closed its doors in June 2020, following the
COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present In mid-August 2021, Jamestown filed a historic preservation application detailing a massive conversion that would turn over of upper-level retail space into roughly 166 residential units. In July 2022, the non-profit arts group Capital Fringe took over the abandoned Forever 21 space (as well as the former DSW and Washington Sports Club footprints) to construct small, 51-seat pop-up
indie theaters for the
Capital Fringe Festival. Zoning was approved to turn long-vacant, windowless below-grade retail space into a 125-unit self-storage facility, optimizing non-traditional commercial real estate that year. However, nothing has happened .
Uniqlo was announced to take over the former
J.Crew space on April 30, 2025. == See also ==