Mall Begins New Era Soon

Photo by Mr. T in DC.

The Current reported this week that the large anchors of the new Georgetown Mall will open next month. Those anchors are TJ Maxx, its sister store Home Goods, and a “flagship” H & M. The new J Crew has already opened. Pinstripes, the fancy bowling alley, will be open later this year.

When GM originally broke the news about TJ Maxx and Homegoods, he also was tipped that Michaels might also come. It doesn’t appear that that is likely to happen now. But from plans that GM has seen, there are still some spaces left to fill, including one or more restaurant spaces. So the final final makeup of the mall won’t be in place too soon.

The Current mentioned that the new stores created controversy. That’s probably true, but at this point, most Georgetowners that GM speaks with are simply resigned.

The bigger question is how long until Vornado/Angelo Gordon, having revamped the distressed property, will put it back on the market? GM suspects this will happen in 2014 at the latest. Will the new owner make further changes? Probably not right away, but maybe down the road.

But one can always dream that a developer like Eastbanc comes in and redoes the whole property all over again, this time with a much better vision. Not likely. At all. But one can dream…