City Ready to Develop ‘Dupont Down Under’ Again…
Dupont Circle, the view from above ground.
Update: Sean Madigan from the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development says he doesn't expect the city to issue a request for proposals until January.
I missed the Dupont Down Under's brief era of existence.
Back in 1995, the old trolley tunnels below Dupont Circle were transformed into a food court and retail space. Some fifteen months after opening, the place closed down.
Plans for a supermarket and a health club never came to fruition. It turned out the brainchild of the vision, a man named Geary Simon "had some undisclosed business credentials: He had twice been convicted of real estate and insurance fraud, and he'd topped that off by being convicted of telephone fraud while serving time in Allenwood Penitentiary in Pennsylvania," according to a 2002 Washington City Paper story.
Since Simon's time in charge, there have been lawsuits galore and various unfulfilled dreams and visions for the site. But this week, the Dupont Current reports that the city is getting serious about finding an occupant for the space.
At a recent meeting for Dupont Circle's ANC, a representative for the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development said the city "expects to issue a request for proposals for the site sometime this month...Proposals would be due mid-February, he said, and a project could be selected as early as spring 2010."
Image by thisisbossi, Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License
4:43 pm
It will be interesting to see who responds to the RFP. I worked at Connecticut Avenue one block south of DuPont Circle when DuPont Down Under opened up in 1995. It was like descending into a catacomb. Most of the small shops were not completed for months after the opening and the few that were open suffered from absolutely NO STREET VISIBILITY! Finally, when the gates were closed at night, the homeless slept and urinated at the gates, since they were hidden from view. It failed miserably last time.
I just don't see how you'll be able to attract the general public after the initial opening because the entire space is UNDERGROUND. With no street visibility and having to walk down stairs to get to the damn place, it's not likely to succeed unless you get a tenant who has a business that doesn't rely on normal street visibility to attract patrons.