First Restaurants at Revamped L’Enfant Plaza Promenade Open for Business

This week marked the opening of Roti Mediterranean Grill (Monday) and Potbelly Sandwich Shop (Tuesday) at the L’Enfant Plaza Promenade food court. Roti’s hours of operation are: Monday – Friday from 6:30am – 8pm and Saturday from 11am – 4pm. It’s closed on Sundays. Potbelly will be open Monday-Friday from 11am – 7pm and Saturday from 11am – 5pm. It’s also closed on Sundays. This is the third Potbelly to open in Southwest (the others are located at 3rd & D Street and at The Portals on the 1200 block of Maryland Avenue).

Above and to the right are photos of the line at Roti during lunch today - the line wrapped around the corner. Lines were long at Potbelly on its second day of operations, but a security guard wouldn’t allow me to take photos (I guess I look like a terrorist or a scout from Quiznos?). Other retailers and restaurants will open in the next few months, including Gateway Newstands (spring), Frozen Yogurt Indulgence (spring), Gourmet Too (spring), Au Bon Pain (summer), Mamma Ilardo's (summer), Five Guys (summer), and Moe’s Southwest Grill (summer).

Below is a YouTube video shot yesterday by Chase Communications of the grand opening.

L’Enfant Plaza is owned by the JBG Companies and the renovation was designed by SmithGroup. Phase I of renovations began in November 2009, which included the food court area near the Metro entrance. Phase II began on March 1 and will last approximately 30 months. The rest of the retail promenade will be redone during this phase with nationally-recognized retail and a large glass atrium will be built where the glass pyramid now is located. Below is a rendering of the glass atrium (a section of the retail corridor in Phase II is rendered above left).

Renderings courtesy of SmithGroup

CVS Opens at The Portals

CVS is now open at The Portals, the large mixed-use development project along Maryland Avenue. The store actually opened a week ago, but I noticed the Grand Opening signs yesterday when I drove by the site. Back in the Spring, we reported that CVS was slated to open at the Portals, after Madison Retail Group signed the tenant to a 10,000 square foot space. I'm sure the workers in the office buildings and the neighboring Mandarin Oriental Hotel are happy to see the opening of CVS, the largest retailer to open to date at The Portals. CVS is located in the 3rd phase building, as seen in the above photo. Other retailers at The Portals include Starbucks, Potbelly's, and a pay-by-the-pound food provider, as well as the restaurants at the Mandarin. Here are the hours of operation for CVS:

Monday - Friday: 7am - 9pm

Saturday - Sunday: 9am - 9pm

CVS Coming to The Portals

Retail broker Madison Retail Group recently signed a deal with CVS to occupy 10,000 square feet of space at phase three of The Portals complex, which was developed by Republic Properties. CVS will join current retailers Starbucks, Potbelly's, and a pay-by-the-pound food provider once the pharmacy opens this summer. Jennifer Price from Madison tells Southwest...TLQTC that there remains over 20,000 SF of retail space available in the first three phases of The Portals. Included in that total is 10,000 SF of space that was once slated for the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. That theater subsequently decided to locate to Penn Quarter. Price is targeting a sit-down restaurant, a smaller-scale food provider, and eventually a performing arts venue like an Improv for the vacant retail space. Once phase IV and V are built, those office buildings will have an additional 14,000 square feet of ground floor retail. There is a dearth of sit-down restaurants in Southwest, so hopefully Madison can bring one soon to The Portals. Above is a photo of The Portals complex taken from across the Tidal Basin in October 2008 - on the left is the phase III building and the Mandarin Oriental hotel is on the right. Maryland Avenue bisects the site.

Measles Outbreak Possible in SW

DCist reported yesterday that several locations in the metro area were potential exposure sites for measles (Rubeola) in early April, including two sites in Southwest - the Potbelly's on 3rd Street on April 4th and Safeway on April 8th & 10th. According to WebMD:

Measles is a very contagious infection that causes a rash all over your body. It is also called rubeola or red measles. It is very rare in the United States because most children get the vaccine as part of their regular childhood shots. The first symptoms of measles are like a bad cold-a high fever, a runny nose, sneezing, a sore throat, and a hacking cough. The lymph nodes in your neck may swell. You also may feel very tired and have diarrhea and red, sore eyes. As these symptoms start to go away, you will get red spots inside your mouth, followed by a rash all over your body.

If you think you may have been exposed, call 311 if you are a D.C. resident, or the D.C. Department of Health at (202) 737-4404.