Developer Peddles a New Vision for an Old Market

Until the early 1930s, many Washingtonians shopped for groceries at an outdoor market of more than 600 vendors that stretched along Constitution Avenue from Seventh Street to Ninth Street. When the market was razed in 1931 to make way for the National Archives, many of the vendors relocated to the current market site, which opened that year.

For generations, Jews, Italians and Greeks owned the market's meat, poultry and produce shops. A handful of those businesses remain, including A. Litteri, an Italian grocery that opened in 1932, and Leo Dekelbaum & Sons, which has been selling meat from the same Morse Street address since 1935.

These days, the market retains its hustle and bustle as delivery trucks make their drop-offs, haulers push handtrucks stacked with fresh produce and shoppers load up with a week's worth of groceries, if not more. Only the workforce has undergone change, as previous generations of white merchants retired or died and were replaced by Africans, Chinese and Koreans such as Choi, who opened his business in the market in the late 1970s.

In more recent years, vendors and wholesalers have complained about brick-faced warehouses falling into disrepair, and about crime -- factors that they say may be driving away customers.

At the same time, as real estate values across the District have risen, developers and investors have shown new interest in the neighborhood around the market, prompted in part by the opening of a new Metro station at New York Avenue. Across from the station, the federal government is building a $138.5 million headquarters for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. About a mile away, at New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road, developer Jim Abdo plans to spend $1 billion remaking 15 acres into housing and retail.

With all the impending changes in the area, Choi and his allies say that the market is outdated and that there would be a demand for new housing in the area, particularly among buyers priced out of more upscale neighborhoods and already moving into gentrifying areas such as Trinidad. The developer envisions as many as 900 residential units: a mix of rental apartments, townhouses and condominiums, about 20 percent of which would be set aside as affordable housing. The complex also would include a hotel, offices, a bowling alley and an outdoor amphitheater.

The plan has won initial praise from District planning officials who agree that the market needs an overhaul. "I like the fact that the market will become more of a destination, and I like the fact that it's near the Metro station, Gallaudet and people who are starving for retail," said Deborah Crain, the Office of Planning's neighborhood coordinator for Ward 5.

However, Crain questioned whether Choi can get cooperation from the dozens of property owners who would need to sell. She expressed concern over the potential razing of some of the market's older brick buildings, suggesting that they should first be reviewed for their historic value. And she said her office plans to study the market's role in the region, including how much it is used by restaurateurs and shoppers.

A key player in the market's future, and one that could disrupt Choi's plan, is Gallaudet. Choi is hoping he can buy Gallaudet's land at the development site if the D.C. Board of Education gives Gallaudet a public school building, Hamilton Junior High School, which is next to the university.

Paul Kelly, Gallaudet's vice president for administration and finance, said the university is studying the developer's plan and has not decided whether to sell the two properties, which he said add up to four or five acres and include a parking lot where Choi hopes to build townhouses.

Kelly said the university has tried to buy the junior high school at various times since 1981 but has been rebuffed by the Board of Education, which uses it as temporary classrooms for students in schools that are being renovated.

Referring to Choi's project, Kelly said: "We don't know how serious the redevelopment is. We're not committed to anything. At this point, our land is not for sale."

Paul Pascal, a lawyer who has long represented 10 property owners in the market, said his clients are receptive to hearing details of the developer's proposal. "I have an open mind, and my clients have an open mind," he said. "If the right deal came along, it would be looked at."

One of Pascal's clients, Sonny Dekelbaum, 43, an owner of the butcher shop that was founded by his grandfather, said his family would sell its Morse Street building for more than $1 million, far more than the $300,000 that he said an appraiser recently concluded it was worth. The price, he said, would have to include the "cost to relocate or go out of business."

"If someone comes with the right price, I would leave," he said.

The developer, Ray said, is well aware that the costs of persuading owners to sell their properties may add up. But he said their goal is to persuade the proprietors to invest in the project and relocate to a new market on the site.

"This site will be developed," Ray said. "It's not a matter of whether, it's a matter of how."