Walmart, Fort Totten Square Move Forward

• January 30th 2013

by Shilpi Paul

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On Wednesday morning, with dirt-moving construction equipment working away in the background, officials gathered to ceremonially break ground at Fort Totten Square, a mixed-use development most notable for its upcoming urban-style Walmart.

The JBG Companies development, which will include 345 apartments, 130,000 square feet of retail, and 740 underground parking spaces, is going up on the northeast corner of the intersection at Riggs Road and 3rd Street NE (map). Construction began in mid-December and is expected to take between 24 and 28 months.

Councilmember Muriel Bowser, who used to be the ANC commissioner for the area, spoke about how the new development will create jobs in DC, and offer retail options for residents who often complain of having to go to Maryland to do their shopping. (Henry Jordan, a representative from WalMart, stated that 300 new jobs will be created with the new store.)

“We need to end retail leakage,” reiterated Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Vincent Hoskins. “We’d rather spend our money in the District of Columbia than in the state of Maryland.”

JBG and WalMart are working on another mixed-use project at 77 H Street NW. A third WalMart on Georgia Avenue NW started construction last year, and three more are expected to break ground in DC.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/groundbreaking_of_fort_totten_walmart/6587.