When there are no events occurring in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the concrete building becomes an empty boring block of inactivity in the downtown area, but that may soon change. Events D.C., the city agency that runs the Convention Center, has hired retail brokerage, design, and strategy firm, Streetsense, to help them finally lease the building's vacant retail space. Washington Business Journal reported that the building's first new retail and restaurant tenants will be announced later this fall, and work on the building's facade and streetscape will begin in the next 12 months. Artistic elements, murals, and plant installations will also be incorporated along 9th Street NW. All of these changes are meant to better connect the Shaw and U Street neighborhoods all the way down to New York Avenue NW. The Convention Center currently consists of 11 retail locations, totaling roughly 19,000-square-feet of space.
· Convention center tries to lease its retail space yet again [Washington Business Journal]
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