Huge Open-Air Mall in Congress Heights Opens with 13 Local Businesses

By Kayla Benjamin WI Climate & Environment Writer and James Wright, WI Staff Writer

Inside a sunlight-filled, 22,000 square-foot wooden building on St. Elizabeth’s East, visitors can soon find everything from gym classes to beauty products to chicken wings. Thirteen of D.C.’s emerging entrepreneurs will offer their wares from inside Sycamore & Oak, an Interim Retail Village (IRV) that opened on Wednesday, June 14.

“This opportunity was just perfect for me to expand my business to retail,” said Yarné Glascoe, hairstylist and owner of Salon on the Ave. “It's right here in my own community and we’re investing in our living.”

Glascoe’s new shop, Vaya Beauty, will offer toxin-free beauty products from Black-owned brands.

The Sycamore & Oak project, led by developer Redbrick LMD and the Emerson Collective, aims to incubate community and retail concepts while providing employment opportunities for neighborhood residents.

It will remain in operation for three to five years, Emerson Collective program manager Dana Hall said. After that, the site’s development will continue on to a second, more permanent phase. The physical building—which is made of a modern building material called mass timber and incorporates several other eco-friendly elements—will be disassembled and rebuilt elsewhere.

Meet A Few Of The Entrepeneurs

One of the business owners setting up shop in Sycamore & Oak is Joe Houston, owner of WeFitDC, a gym. Houston said his gym will offer fitness classes, personal training, and specialties such as yoga to customers.

“I feel really blessed to do this,” said Houston, 29. “St. Elizabeth’s is special to me because my mom was once here. I feel like this is a homecoming of sorts.”

WeFitDC will employ five personal trainers “including myself,” Houston said. He would not disclose how much he pays for monthly leasing but said “it is reasonable.”

Next to WeFitDC is the Congress Heights Community Training and

Development Corporation Center (CHCDT). The center, based in Ward 8 and led by businesswoman Monica Ray, is designed to train people for jobs, mainly those who reside in east of the Anacostia River neighborhoods.

The CHCDT trains over 100 residents a year for the Washington job market. Earlier this year, the center received $3.5 million from JP Morgan Chase to enhance its training and administrative operations.

The Museum, a clothing firm that specializes in informal casual street wares highlighting fashion and art in concert, operates its second store in the District at the IRV, next to the CHCDT. The Museum was co-founded by LeGreg Harrison and Muhammad Hill. Their first store stands on Rhode Island Avenue, NE. The Museum has conducted business with such entities as NBA star Steph Curry, sports apparel companies such as Under Armour and FILA and NFL teams such as Washington Commanders.

Harrison said the IRV store will carry such items as running shoes and polos. They have hired four residents of the neighborhood to work in the store.

“I want to thank the D.C. Department of Employment Services for helping to train our employees,” Harrison said.

Soon, Harrison said he would like to have some of his merchandise with the emblem “Great Day in Congress Heights,” which resembles “Great Day in Crenshaw” for that Los Angeles neighborhood and “Great Day in Harlem” for the legendary New York City area.

Other businesses in the IRV include Black Bella DC’s wellness shop specializing in herbal products and solutions for pain reduction, skincare, antiaging, weight loss and offering natural bath and body goods.

Dionne Reeder, a restaurateur, plans to continue her culinary pursuits by operating Dionne’s that will offer everyday cuisine.

William Passmore, a managing partner at Redbrick, said the initial concept for the site envisioned a “town center” for Congress Heights. The building’s design, comes from David Adjaye, the architect behind the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It features high ceilings and lots of natural light.

“In Ward 8 and in Black neighborhoods across the country, we deserve something that looks like like this, that feels like this,” Hall said.

“CO-CREATED” ALONGSIDE COMMUNITY

During the design process for the building, Hall said, Emerson Collective sent out a survey asking the site’s Congress Heights neighbors what they wanted to see from the project. In addition to the restaurants and retail shops, the site includes a large event space with a stage and an outdoor play space for kids. Both of those features, Hall said, came from suggestions in the 350 survey responses the company received.

“We took all of that feedback, we analyzed it, and we incorporated it,” Hall said. “We think of this as a space that was co-created with the neighborhood.”

Efforts to include community members in the process continued even after construction began—Hall said representatives have given more than 300 tours of the property over the last six months. Many of those tours went to curious passersby.

“I see people walking in from the metro pathway, they stop and they start taking pictures,” said David Odeis, Redbrick construction manager for the project. “They're excited about it, and you see a smile on their face.” WI

Read more on www.washingtoninformer.com