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The Department of General Services finally issued a request for offers on the old Emma Mae Gallery space, which Sandra Butler Truesdale finally vacated last year.* It’s 2,500 square feet, ready for anything.
It’s also the second big retail solicitation for a District building that’s gone out lately. The last one, for the Department of Employment Services on Minnesota Avenue NE, went to a cafe and a local restaurant group that plans to open a culinary and hospitality institute. Another District-owned retail space, the food court at Judiciary Square, was recently re-populated with slightly more appetizing fast food vendors. The other big empty space in the Reeves Center, the former Municipal Deli, is supposed to be turned into a customer service center for the District Department of Transportation.
Paint job by DGS, not me.
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UPDATE, 5:30 p.m. – As a commenter points out, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton worked very hard to make sure that the T Street Post Office re-opened in the Reeves Center. The obvious destination, since post offices typically like to have a door onto the street, would be the space that’s supposed to be used for DDOT. A DGS spokesman won’t confirm that, since they’re still in negotiations with the Postal Service, but it looks like DDOT’s service center thingy is probably doomed.
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* CORRECTION, Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. – This post originally switched the old gallery and deli spaces, since it seems that DGS has been changing its mind as well.