Old Town Area Gets New Lease on Life
by Karen M. Lundegaardr,
Staff Reporter
Local developer Douglas Jemal has purchased the G.C.
Murphy site in Old Town Alexandria and plans to lease
the store to Barnes & Noble booksellers.
"It's real close," Jemal said of the Barnes
& Noble deal in the 40,000-square-foot space. Several
employees at Murphy's said they were unaware it might
close.
It is Jemal's third purchase in two years at the improving
intersection of King and Washington streets, an area
long marked by boarded-up storefronts.
Although it is the physical heart of Old Town, the intersection
has been a grab bag of conflicting retail uses -- with
stores ranging from a Banana Republic and a Gap outlet
to wig shops.
If the Barnes & Noble deal goes through, it would
help revitalize the area -- and cause stiff competition
for a Super Crown bookstore that opened recently a couple
blocks away.
Jemal bought the Roy Rogers location, on the southwest
corner of the intersection, and leased it California
Pizza Kitchen, which opened a month ago. He also bought
the former Henry Africa building for $850,000 and leased
it to Alexandria's first brew pub, which should open
this fall.
"We're making a change," Jemal said. "[The
area] needs to be re-retailed to service the people
who live there and go there. People just do a lease
to do a lease. They're not taking into account the tenant
mix of the area."
Tom Hulfish of McEnearney Commercial, an Old Town real
estate firm, said he is negotiating a deal with JJ's
Hallmark Shop to open a 5,000-square-foot gift shop
in the former Steven Windsor store next to G.C. Murphy.
Orvis, the upscale fishing and sports gear retailer,
is also interested in the area, according to Hulfish.
"There's a lot going on here right now," Hulfish
said. "We have some vacant space for awhile. California
Pizza Kitchen has picked up interest. [And] the city
eased up a little on their restrictions on restaurants.
Some of the actions and the stringent rulings in the
past helped create some of the vacancies in retail."
Melton McGuire, the owner of the brew pub, said he initially
had a difficult time selling the city on his concept,
which he calls a good restaurant that also brews beer.
City officials have been loath to allow more restaurants
in Old Town - which already has several score -- because
parking is limited. But they finally relented on the
Henry Africa site because it had stood vacant for so
long.
McGuire, 31, and owner of McGuire Software, a consulting
and software company, said he thought his Virginia Beverage
Co. was the type of establishment Old Town was missing.
Assistant city manager Tom Brannan said a group of Alexandria
businesses and the economic department are now examining
the retail uses along the King Street corridor.
"We have some concerns about some areas along the
avenue where there has been significant turnover,"
Brannan said.
But, he noted, fast-food restaurants play just as significant
role as trendy restaurants such as California Pizza
Kitchen, which opened a month ago.
"This is a market that serves many different kinds,"
Brannan said. "There is room for the eclectic mixture.
That's what makes Old Town thrive."
Richard Flaherty, executive director of Alexandria Economic
Development Corp. Inc., said it was just a matter of
time for the Washington/King intersection. Given development
and increased interest on the west end of King Street,
near the Metro station, and the always thriving waterfront
area, this middle section would also prosper.
Brannan said he doubts the city would have any opposition
to a Barnes & Noble bookstore. "It's exactly
the kind of store that we'd like to attract to Old Town.
Barnes & Noble officials did not return calls seeking
comment before press time.
