Organizers of a Woodley Park group seeking a city Main Street grant hope to reduce the number of commercial vacancies and help existing businesses flourish along Connecticut Avenue NW just south of the National Zoo. (Photo by Chris Kain)

Woodley Park looks to launch Main Street program in October

Funding also available for 14th Street NW as Glover Park explores possible future effort

By Michelle Goldchain On Jul 27, 2018 Last updated Aug 6, 2018

Woodley Park’s commercial corridor has yet to set itself apart as a must-see destination. Later this year, efforts will begin to change that.

Ryan Wegman, executive director of Friends of Woodley Park and vice president of assets and development for Sherry’s Wine and Spirits, told the DC Line that he expects the group Friends of Woodley Park to transform into Woodley Park Main Street — with official city recognition and $175,000 in startup funding — as of Oct. 1.

Washington’s Main Streets program was created in 2002 through the National Trust for Historic Preservation with the goal of supporting traditional retail corridors in the city. Currently, there are 16 active and accredited programs, including Barracks Row, Shaw and Eastern Market. The most recently added Main Streets are Georgetown and Ward 7 — which joined the program in 2017 — and Congress Heights, Tenleytown and Van Ness, which were added in 2016.

Organizer Ryan Wegman sees Woodley Park’s architectural character and many long-standing businesses as assets in building more of an identity for the retail corridor. (Photo by Chris Kain)

Efforts first began around May of 2017 to create a Main Street for Woodley Park, with Wegman spearheading the efforts. After growing up in Naples, Fla. — which he describes as “the most ideal planned community” due to its relaxed atmosphere, aesthetically pleasing landscaping and diverse retail mix — Wegman said he saw great potential for Woodley Park’s commercial corridor.

“Seeing Woodley Park, with all of its historic limestone, a lot of the architecture that we have, and the existing businesses and the people who are behind them, I felt that there was a will for maintenance and being seen as more than just a passthrough from Dupont Circle to northern Connecticut Avenue up to Chevy Chase,” he said.

When it comes to his goals, Wegman says, “It wasn’t about seeing multiple outgrowths or seeing expansion, or high-rises or any of that.”

He adds, “We’re not the bad guys … It was more about bringing stability and aesthetic improvement.”

Wegman said he hopes to see a drastic reduction or elimination of commercial vacancies, stabilization and positive growth for the existing businesses, and beautification of the area to make it one of the most attractive commercial and residential areas in the District.

According to Wegman, the Van Ness, Tenleytown and Barracks Row Main Streets as well as District Bridges and the Woodley Park Community Association were helpful in assisting him in the process.

Peter Brusoe, a board member of the Woodley Park Community Association, said the process for creating a Main Street program begins with reaching out to local businesses, creating a board of advisors and then getting approval and grants from the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development. The agency’s website further states that each program is led by local volunteers and community development professionals and requires a “well-defined vision” with mission statements as well as “broad-based community support.”

The Marilyn Monroe mural atop Salon Roi is one of Woodley Park’s iconic features. (Photo by Chris Kain)

“We have tried on-again and off-again many years to sort of have a business community in Woodley Park,” said Brusoe. ”Woodley Park is my favorite neighborhood in DC, and we’ve sort of had a carousel of different businesses in and out of here. … I think maybe the third time’s the charm, and I think with Bryan at the helm and funding from the city, I think we can finally get it to where it needs to go.”

“The future for Woodley is looking bright,” added Jessica Wasserman, owner of Wasserman & Associates and an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Woodley Park. As one of the founding members and the first donor of the Woodley Park Main Street effort, she wrote in an email, “If Woodley is to increase its vibrancy and streetscape and provide new services for its residences and the many zoo goers who visit, Main Streets will play a key role in bringing together businesses and residents.”

Woodley Park is one of two neighborhoods envisioned for Main Streets designation under the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development’s current solicitation, with applications due Aug. 3 from qualified nonprofit groups looking to operate the programs. The second covers the 14th Street NW corridor from Massachusetts Avenue to Chapin Street, along with several adjoining blocks on P Street, Church Street and W Street.

At least one other Northwest neighborhood is considering whether to seek a Main Street program as part of their efforts to improve their own commercial corridor.

In Glover Park, the extended closure of Whole Foods amid a legal battle between the grocery chain and its landlord has helped spark a neighborhood effort to boost the Wisconsin Avenue NW commercial corridor between Georgetown and the Washington National Cathedral. (Photo by Chris Kain)

In late June at a community meeting in Glover Park, locals spoke about their goal of seeing their commercial district catch up to those in other areas of the city. Despite construction of a new mixed-use project that will include a Trader Joe’s store, the neighborhood’s concerns have swelled in recent months given the number of vacancies along Wisconsin Avenue. Of particular concern is the shuttered Whole Foods market, which is tied up in a continuing legal battle between the upscale grocery chain and its Glover Park landlord over renovation plans and the terms of the store’s lease.

Residents asked Erkin Ozberk, the D.C. Office of Planning’s Ward 3 planner, for an up-to-date analysis of the neighborhood’s commercial market with a description of needed improvements and how they can be accomplished.

The most recent study completed on Glover Park’s commercial district was in 2006. The report was prepared by the HNTB Corp. for the DC Office of Planning and then-Mayor Anthony A. Williams. At the time, the survey estimated that the retail vacancy rate in the neighborhood was 2.4 percent, with approximately 54 percent of Glover Park’s retail space occupied by Neighborhood Goods & Services tenants such as grocery stores, drugstores, spas/salons, hardware stores; 29 percent in the Food & Beverage Establishment category; and 17 percent in the General Merchandise, Apparel, Furnishings and Others category.

Jackie Blumenthal, vice chair of ANC 3B (Glover Park, Cathedral Heights), said research is underway on the possibility of setting up a Main Street in Glover Park, though it is still in the exploratory stages. Substantial progress isn’t expected until the fall, she said.

In Woodley Park, backers are looking forward to obtaining approval from the city for the new Main Street program and getting long-awaited initiatives underway come October. “It’s going to happen,” Brusoe said. “It’s basically a done deal.”