The Retail Village at Sycamore & Oak — an architecturally dazzling commercial timber building that is carbon net zero and houses local vendors from the community — is the first of its kind in D.C.’s Ward 8.
“What do you think of this beauty?!” said Mayor Muriel Bowser to the crowd assembled for Wednesday afternoon’s ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new complex.
Bowser was one of several city and business leaders attending to christen the new shops, which are all staffed by entrepreneurs from Wards 7 and 8. Leaders from these wards said they hoped this new project will create generational wealth for local entrepreneurs, who might not have been given this type of opportunity before.
“This is one thing I know about D.C. residents: They are full of talent, full of ideas, and they want their fair shot, right?” Bowser said.
“It’s a facility where we can incubate businesses,” she added. Many of the business owners who are a part of Sycamore & Oak are opening their first ever brick-and-mortar stores.
The aim is to increase the economic vitality of Southeast D.C. from a retail perspective. But it goes deeper than that.
The new complex will create more than 100 new jobs — and city leaders point out it pairs well with new medical and sports facilities springing up in and around the Congress Heights neighborhood. All of these moves are part of a larger effort to transform and revitalize the predominately-Black area.
At the ribbon-cutting, Bowser also spoke of plans to build two additional structures in Congress Heights — an undisclosed project on an area called “Parcel 6” (which she says they will be submitting a Request for Proposal for soon) and a new community library.
“That’s what we’re offering here,” Bowser said. “More jobs, more business opportunities, better health care opportunities, and more opportunities for homeownership for D.C. residents.”
