Updates to McMillan Historic District
Daniel J. Sernovitz (WBJ) -- Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners is in talks with a replacement grocery store for the Reservoir District, the long-planned redevelopment of the historic McMillan Sand Filtration Plant, after chain Harris Teeter pulled out.
It's unclear when Harris Teeter opted not to open a 52,000-square-foot grocery store at the site, but the development team remains committed to finding a similar tenant for the project, per Toniann Mendelzon, spokesperson for Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners, part of the larger Vision McMillan Partners team that also includes EYA and the Trammell Crow Co. More news on that is to come, she said.
"We are currently in negotiations with a different grocer," Mendelzon said in an email. She did not identify the potential replacement.
Work on McMillan's Parcel 4, comprising roughly 280 apartments over the grocery store, is expected to get underway no later than spring 2025, according to previous filings with D.C.'s Zoning Commission. Where previous renderings prominently displayed the Harris Teeter logo on the storefront, current images show only a generic "Grocery Store" sign with a plain red box logo.
It's been a long road for the District-selected development team as it has sought to advance the 25-acre site's redevelopment, largely the result of multiple legal challenges by opponents. Harris Teeter was first mentioned as a tenant at the project, located by North Capitol Street, First Street, Channing Street and Michigan Avenue NW, in 2004.
Since then, the Vision McMillan team was selected, and later reconfigured, to tackle the project. Legal challenges were lodged and resolved. Sand was eventually turned. In May 2023, the development was rebranded as the team sought to both connect the project to the nearby McMillan reservoir and distance itself from the effort's challenged history.
And, earlier this year, the team revealed plans to deliver the first of the project's 146 townhomes while the District opened a recreation center and park at the site.
As for the other pieces, Trammell Crow Co.’s portion will feature three medical-office buildings totaling 900,000 square feet, each with a distinct health care focus — the site is walking distance from Children's National Hospital, the VA Medical Center and MedStar Washington Hospital Center. The Jair Lynch component is slated to include roughly 430 apartments, 85 senior units, the grocery store and other ground-floor retail across two buildings.
Meanwhile, The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), which acquired Harris Teeter Inc. in 2013, announced plans a decade later to sell 10 D.C.-area Harris Teeter stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers LLC, the owner of Piggly Wiggly and other market brands, as part of its proposed acquisition of Albertsons Cos. Inc. (NYSE: ACI), which remains under regulatory review. It trimmed that list to a half-dozen last month.
Other grocers have since moved to capture a greater share of the region's food dollars, including Aldi, Lidl, Wegmans and The Fresh Market, among others, though it's unclear which may emerge as Harris Teeter's replacement at the Reservoir District.
