The Shops at National Place was a three-level, indoor shopping mall located in downtown

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in the 16-story National Place Building. It is located on the block bounded by

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4) ...

, F Street, between 13th and 14th Streets NW, the former site of the

Munsey Trust Building The Munsey Trust Building was a historic high-rise office building located in Washington, D.C., United States, on E Street, N.W., between 13th and 14th Streets (adjacent to the National Theatre in the nation's capital city). History The building ...

. It was located near the Metro Center station of the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

system. , owner Quadrangle Development Corp. intended to raze the building and replace it with a , 13-story building. , a small food court with nine vendors, branded "Eat at National Place", operates in a portion of the space, but the court closed in May 2020. A few retail shops face the street.

History

The Shops opened in two phases during 1984 and 1985. It was designed as a central piece in revitalizing downtown Washington, D.C.'s traditional downtown shopping core along F Street, NW, west of the

Woodward & Lothrop Woodward & Lothrop was a department store chain headquartered in Washington, D.C. that began as the capital's first department store in 1887. Woodies, as it was often nicknamed, maintained stores in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Its flagship s ...

flagship. The Shops replaced the former flagship stores of

Raleigh's Raleigh Haberdasher, more commonly called Raleigh's, was a high end, local men's and women's furnishings store based in Washington, D.C. History The first store opened on February 16, 1911, at 1109 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, in the Raleigh Hotel. M ...

and Joseph R. Harris Co. The first phase of 53 stores opened on May 14, 1984, and was developed by The Rouse Co. The retail complex was hailed as "part of a very important renaissance of downtown Washington." The Shops opened concurrently with a new 774-room JW Marriott Hotel (the first in that chain), and refurbished National Theater and National Press Building. Melart Jewelers and Sight and Sound Electronics were part of the first phase located in the JW Marriott lobby. The 40-store phase two of The Shops opened April 25, 1985. It included August Max, Record Town, and Brooks Fashions among the original tenants. The complex featured a 15-story atrium for the refurbished National Press Building and 450 spaces of underground parking. At the opening ceremony Mayor

Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry (born Marion Barry Jr.; March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as the second and fourth mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served ...

proclaimed "Downtown is coming alive . . .!""Cityscape: The News Place," ''The Washington Post,'' Apr 27, 1985, p. C1. In 2008, due to many vacancies in the mall, the mall was closed, except for the food court, and the passageway to the JW Marriott. What will be done with the former mall is not known, it may be converted to office space, reopened, converted to a big-box store, or renovated and reopened.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shops at National Place Shopping malls in Washington, D.C. Shopping malls established in 1984 1984 establishments in Washington, D.C. National Place