Tag Archives: Georgetown Mall

Carol Buckley at the Current reported yesterday that the new owners of the Georgetown Park mall are in negotiations to bring in a Target and a Bloomingdale’s “Soho” store (the department store’s smaller more “hip” version).

The deal doesn’t sound final, but GM trusts Buckley’s source enough to be confident that deals are in fact near. One thing not mentioned in the article, however, is the effect of Anthony Lanier’s on-going litigation against Western Development over ownership of the mall.

In fact, as mentioned in the article, Bloomingdale’s already tried to bring a Soho store to the mall three years ago. That deal was called off because of Lanier’s lawsuit. Obviously enough has changed to the landscape for Bloomingdale’s to take another chance.

The irony in all of this is that back in 2009, Anthony Lanier gave a long talk to CAG about his vision for Georgetown. He said that he wants it to be true that the only reason you have to leave Georgetown is to go to the airport. And to that point he said that if he got ownership of the mall, he would seriously consider bringing in a Target and putting it in the basement. The idea being that having a Target in Georgetown means Georgetowners can avoid many trips to the suburbs, bringing the neighborhood that much closer to his dream. And by hiding it away in the basement, it doesn’t affect the historic feel of the neighborhood. Continue reading →