I spoke with Sam Simone from Mill Creek Residential yesterday about the possibility of adding more retail to the NOMA West Project, located at Harry Thomas Way and Eckington Place NE. The current project has approximately 13,000 sq ft less retail space then originally planned. The developers have sited market conditions as the primary reason for the decrease. For a couple of months now the community has tried to negotiate more retail space. At this time the retail space will remain at 1200 sq ft. The lender that is financing the project is unwilling to allow the development team to deviate away from the current plans. However, the developer is willing to accommodate a retail tenant that needs more space by removing additional units. The retailer requesting more space would be responsible for financing the expansion.
While this is not the desired outcome, I believe the community can still work to get a retailer of their choosing into the space. I have been talking to several residents who have already started to create list of possible retailers for the site.
I want to invite the broader community to participate in this discussion and share their ideas for possible tenants. Once we agree on a type of retailer we can work on luring a specific one to the site.
Feel free to share your ideas here or email me directly.
