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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not "downtown" but still in the middle of DC-- I had to run an errand at Union Market today around 2 pm, and it was absolutely hopping. I drove to save time and I shouldnt have-- lot at UM was totally full, 6th Street spots totally full, no street parking on surrounding streets. Finally found a spot in the garage under the Latin market over on 4th. UM itself was packed, lines at bunch of stalls, indoor tables full, many outdoor tables as well. This was Wednesday afternoon, a lot of the weekend stalls were not even open, same with the bars. The Latin market was more dead but I popped into trader Joe's for a minute and it was busy too.

I've had similar experiences recently in Navy Yard, the Wharf, and Georgetown.

There is absolutely no reason you can't recreate this downtown with the right investment.[/quote]

La Cosecha lost a bunch of tenants![/quote]
Not only do they have no dedicated parking, they turned the street parking in front into a parklet. Hopefully they figure it out before the whole concept fails. [/quote]

Why would it be the parking given that Union Market is doing great? Two cars parked in the parklet space make zero difference. This is a city - there isn’t unlimited space for parking anyway. What actually will help is redoing Dave Thomas Circle to make it easier to walk/bike there. A better pedestrian connection from NoMa metro as well. 
[/quote]
Because Union Market has an adjacent and convenient surface parking lot. [/quote]

La Cosecha is steps away. Try again. [/quote]
Blocks away. Do you even live in this city? [/quote]

La Cosecha is like two blocks away.  And there are small shops in between.  This is a city- if people are that lazy they can’t walk two blocks then they are going to have complaints no matter what.[/quote]
You have no idea how consumer behavior works. You wonder why this place is not doing as well as Urban Market and you cannot figure out that someone who parks at Urban Market would probably just rather eat something there than walk several blocks away. Seriously LOL. [/quote]

I live in the neighborhood and La Cosecha has a ton of dedicated parking -- it right under the building and free for the first three hours. It's arguably much better than the parking at Union Market because it's in a parking garage so you can also park and go to La Cosecha without going outside in inclement weather, and is much more handicap accessible because there is an elevator.

People park at Union Market will walk to La Cosecha or other eateries in that part of the neighborhood. People park where they can park.

The two markets are very close -- two blocks. In between you have places like Last Call, St. Anselm, Maman bakery -- all of which are technically closer to La Cosecha actually. The new Pastis is on the same street as La Cosecha and not visible from Union Market. The Trader Joe's, Warby Parker, and Framebridge are all closer to La Cosecha.

The reason La Cosecha has struggled compared to Union Market is because they tried to scale up very quickly, I think figuring they could capitalize on the success of UM. The space is very built out with more permanent installations and fewer stalls (there's actually a lot of turnover in the stalls at Union Market, but it's not that hard for them to get replacement tenants because the stalls are fairly cheap to rent -- much harder to turnover a larger cafe space with a bar and seating, or a full restaurant build out like the one at the now-closed Las Gemelas at La Cosecha).

I also think La Cosecha has struggled with identity. By billing themselves as a Latin market, they narrow the potential businesses that can go in there (no such restriction at UM). It also means there's slightly less variety there, which might impact consumer interest. I say this as someone who love Las Gemelas and went often, and hits up Peruvian Bros. for empanadas once a week. Living in the neighborhood, I have friends come here often and it's harder to convince people to meet up at La Cosecha than Union Market, because I think people are unsure what to make of it and feel Union Market offers more options. La Cosecha is actually nicer (better seating, more pleasant outdoor area, and because it's less crowded, it's easier to sit) but I get that UM is more convenient to people.

The problem with La Cosecha is NOT lack of parking (they have free parking). It has to do with other things related to pricing and concept. They also got pretty screwed with their timing, due to the pandemic, which compacted their already accelerated scale up time.[/quote]

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